good substitute for japanese maple in full sun

[bj taylor]

the dwarf peach, bonfire, looks alot like japanese maples in leaf structure & branch structure and handles full sun. the leaves are a burgandy color. the info says it prefers acidic soil. i have anything but acidic & i have two that are doing well. they propagate pretty easily from their seeds. the fruit is more ornamental than anything because of its size. the info also says it will grow to six feet. mine stay about 3 feet tall & 4 feet wide.

i love japanese maples. years ago i spent some good money on one. planted it in a barrel on my front deck in full sun. guess what? i've learned since then, but to this day, i still don't have one. :/

 

[bobm]

I have something similar ... I planted 2 " Black Lace " Elderberries last Dec. Currently they are 3' tall each with 2 trunks and the leaves just burst out and they are almost a true black. The leaves are supposed to remain black and are cut leaf like the cut leaf maples. They are supposed to grow muti-trunked and about 6-8 feet tall and have edible berries. I will try my had to make elderberry wine when I have enough of a crop to make it. row

 

[897tgigvib]

Those are a very beautiful variety of Elderberry with those colorful flowers too Bob, not just the deep purple leaves. Might want more than 2 of them for making wine though. They are not the most productive variety. Can't think of the name, golden canada or something like that, with green leaves, produces more and is also very nice looking. Canadian Golden Elderberry? That one is at least twice the size bush, more red colored berries. I wonder if having two kinds would make better pollination. It's beautiful too. In Montana at the greenhouse nursery my boss said she tried one with variegated leaves before I worked there but the winter was too long for them and they languished and died. She does a few experiments like that each year.

I hear tell Elderberry seeds have some toxin in them. One of the smarter folks will know more about that, but it is something to at least be careful about.

If I remember right, Elderberries come in several separate species. Some of them produce best in full bright sun and others need afternoon shade. At the nursery we had all of them together in the trees section among taller things so they all got filtered sun. I kind of thought the Golden wanted more light, but did well enough in the filtered sun. The clusters were just not as full and heavy as they should have been, and I do recall the tags saying full sun.

 

[thistlebloom]

I had not heard of that peach before BJ. It really is a pretty little guy isn't it?

 

[nelson castro]

The good thing about Japanese maples is that with its delicate and colorful leaves, can be used as a focal point for a garden. It can also serve as a backdrop for other plants in a landscape or for accenting a rock garden. As well as its leaves are great as it turns green in the summer, changing to a showy display of yellow, orange, red or purple in the fall.