Japanese maple species help

[zeejet]

My understanding of JM's is that they have wide genetic variation within the species and you can get unique traits depending on the exact seedling you propagate. The interesting ones tend to get cloned over and over, which leads to distinctive 'cultivars' being named and spread. Once you breed and raise a seedling of that cultivar, it ceases to be that same cultivar.

Popular cultivars for bonsai outside of unnamed green or red seedlings include shindeshojo, kiyohime, mikawa yastubusa, sharp's pygmy, and shishigashira. The list definitely goes on, but those are the standouts that I personally see the most and want to add to my own collection.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Sweden seems to be in the range of 7a to 8a, with some 5 and even 4 zones. In the 7a to 8a zones you have a ton of options. Chinese elms, trident maples and "plain" green maples are great choices. They are more forgiving and are far from boring.

I personally love maples and there are so many (literally 100s) to work with. In addition to the green maple, there are other tried and true JMs that are "flashier" - like shin deshojo, katsura etc. But JMs are so nice that we are always trying to expand the types of JMs we can bonsai. (It is pretty awesome when the garden wakes up with an array of colors). As we expand our palette, sometimes we lose things. Some cultivars will be much more difficult to keep alive on their own roots. Others may not provide the best qualities for bonsai (long petioles or giant leaves, for example). I find that others present their own challenges - like shishi and mikawa yasuba which grow tight layers of leaves.

Lots of choices here.