If anyone is interested I posted a survey of variegated sycamore maples
(from the garden here) to the maple forum; can be seen at

http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/fo...ad.php?t=82839

-E

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 16/05/2014 14:58, Emery Davis wrote:
If anyone is interested I posted a survey of variegated sycamore maples
(from the garden here) to the maple forum; can be seen at

http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/fo...ad.php?t=82839

-E

Very nice. Puget Pink and Miracle Rose are particularly attractive -
especially with the leaves being somewhat more divided than the ordinary
sycamore.

But they are /still/ sycamores! Are any of them sterile (which would
make them much more attractive)?

--

Jeff

On Fri, 16 May 2014 18:58:58 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/fo...ad.php?t=82839

-E

Very nice. Puget Pink and Miracle Rose are particularly attractive -
especially with the leaves being somewhat more divided than the ordinary
sycamore.

But they are /still/ sycamores! Are any of them sterile (which would
make them much more attractive)?

Hi Jeff,

Puget Pink is a seed strain now, not a real cultivar, and so unreliable.
Miracle Rose is much better and unlike some of the other pinks the new
growth is _always_ very pink, so it has a second showy period in July.
But Miracle Rose is rare; a more popular cultivar which resembles but
more reliable than Puget is 'Prinz Handjery.'

Excellent question about sterility. I don't know if any can truly be said
to be sterile, but perhaps "as good as" many set few seeds. I haven't
seen any seed at all on the slow growing shrubby cultivars, but that's
not to say there won't eventually be some. Still not like the native
sycamores... I massacre tens of thousands of the seedlings every spring
and they still have a habit of showing up, roots well set, under a shrub
or in a bed (always the most inconvenient place).

cheers,

-E

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

"Emery Davis" wrote...

If anyone is interested I posted a survey of variegated sycamore maples
(from the garden here) to the maple forum; can be seen at

http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/fo...ad.php?t=82839


I've often wondered what would happen if you grafted a Japanese Maple onto a
Sycamore rootstock, would you get a quick and eventually large growing
Japanese Maple? Basically the reverse of the use of most tree rootstock
which are to dwarf the tree.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On Sat, 17 May 2014 11:11:26 +0100, Bob Hobden wrote:

've often wondered what would happen if you grafted a Japanese Maple
onto a Sycamore rootstock, would you get a quick and eventually large
growing Japanese Maple? Basically the reverse of the use of most tree
rootstock which are to dwarf the tree.

Sycamore is called "universal rootstock" for maples (in general), but
what this means is that it works everywhere, once in a while, and badly.
Normally maples are only grafted to species within the same section, but
I have a few obscure ones grafted onto sycamo they basically stay
sickly for years before getting their feet under them. So even if you
got it to take, I don't think you'd get a strong growing plant.

The "dirty little secret" that Japanese Maple producers don't tell you is
that the understock is all seed grown, and (aside from red/green, and
then only sometimes) no attempt is made to pick rootstock that matches
the plant. So you might buy what's ostensibly a large growing cultivar
only to find it inching along because the stock was on its way to
becoming a dwarf. Or a "hardy cultivar" where the base freezes and kills
the plant, even though the top is fine. Plus a lot of the rootstock is
already sick, so the plants are doomed anyway. IMHO this issue is the
main reason many people have such trouble with them.

I'm waiting for someone to introduce tissue cultured stock, but it hasn't
happened yet. Seed is too easy and cheap.

-E

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy