Visiting Davidsans

( SHHHH our little secret)

Davidsan’s Japanese Maples is a certified state inspected registered nursery. But that is not all it is. Davidsan’s is virtually unknown locally . If you were to call everyone in our area phone book  of 250,000 you are unlikely to find more than a hundred that have ever heard of us … as compared to tens of thousands in other parts of Illinois as well as other states throughout the country who have connected with us through the internet. We do NOT advertise. We have NO sign. We have NO employees . We just don’t want to be “another” retail nursery. We want to have something special for those “other” JM nuts and addicts like ourselves . We certainly don’t want to lose money but we have no inclination to get rich from this either. If it ever became a major work project it will no longer be enjoyable. With that said if you would like to visit read on.

If you are within driving distance for a day trip or even a quick overnight trip I encourage you to consider stopping by. Not only will you be able to see many planted out trees in various stages of growth but also you can pick out exactly what you want .I have already had many dozens of folks asking to stop by.. I only ask the following:

1. Come only after mid to late April when both greenhouse trees and planted out trees are fully leafed.

2. Be sure to give me plenty of advance notice so we can pick a time together . As I have said on this site many times I am “a one man show” . I can only handle two visits a day ( one in morning and one in afternoon ) for individuals or small groups only. each “tour usually takes 1- 2  hours sometimes more.

3. Make a list of types, color, size, and placement of  the tree or trees that you are interested in and what price ranges pot size and overall you want to spend. This will avoid mass confusion and extremely difficult to impossible decision making.

4. You do not have to buy anything obviously, it is not required for a visit. But I ask that everyone considering a visit be honest and if you are just looking ( lookie Lu’s),  picking my brain or otherwise have other or ulterior reasons for coming, with never a thought of ever doing business with me now or in the future, please do me a BIG favor and use my Web site Email me or call me .. My advice is always free and unlimited, and I am always available to ask a question of offer advice .I like talking to folks and don’t care where they buy from. But my time is not unlimited … and it is a burden, as a one person operation, to waste a bunch of time with folks, on tours of my facility, that really never have any intention of ever doing business with me . Please if the above is you, use the above specified other free services I am just a quick email or phone call away .

DANGER LURKS !!

WITH SPRING JUST AROUND THE CORNER

(  EARLY LEAFING OF JAPANESE MAPLES )

Ok  many of us have had a VERY hard winter …some are still in it . We are all impatient for spring and we all want just  to see  our beautiful JM’s to leaf out in their glorious splendor . But unlike  being late to your wedding , late to the air teminal or being female “late”… “Japanese Maple late” is a GOOD thing.

The three things that can hurt or doom your4 JM’s are W. C. E  (sorry that doesn’t spell anything) but it stands for WETNESS ( too much rain or watering)… COLD ( too cold , generally periods at -20 below for planted trees) …. EARLY ( as in early spring/ early leafing).

Right now we DON’T want an early spring .. it can be disastrous as we all found out three years ago. What it does is leave your trees unprotected if there is a cold spell …. A mild frost will probably not hurt your tree but an extended cold freeze period will likely doom it. All Jm’s have secondary leaves so if your tree is hit by a mild cold period it will shed those early leaves and shoot out new ones . Usually this is no big deal but stunts the growth that year and your tree will NOT be as full. If you get a hard freeze over a few days it gets much worse … the sap is running like crazy in your trees from the early spring warm temps and the freeze literally freezes the sap it pops the bark and feeding the top becomes impossible … what you will have if you are lucky ;>)  is a nice green Acer Palmatum root stock coming up from  the roots which are well protected by soil …  All above the graft, the true cultivar, will be toast!! (And all of this is why I never recommend early leafing varieties to northern folks. It takes this adage to the extreme and makes  “late” just too early. For northerners basically hardy late leafing trees are preferred and safest.

If you get a very late cold period or have a very early spring with a normal cold spell…there are a very  few things you can do and they only work really well at upper twenty’s to very low 30’s temps .. Once you get into mid to lower 20’s and  teens you task becomes much harder if not impossible. Your best bet cage the tree(s) and cover it with a tarp being careful the tarp does not touch any of the tree. Of course that only works with small JMs. and the tarp must be removed in the morn as soon as the temps get above freezing .. wait to long and you will open it up and find a wilted smelly rotting mess… You must do this every day until it is above frost or freezing at night . If you just have a couple of JM’s that is ok … allot of JM’s well…. not so easy . This worked for me in the past and saved many trees but not all and it was allot of cold hard work!!

So be careful what you wish for …Be very happy if you have a nice late spring. It is just what the Doctor ordered !!

Spring Promotions

Availability and price list

Check your email in box

For

Our spring newsletter with our special spring promo.

YES PAPER BARK MAPLE ( GRISEUM) IS AVAILABLE SEE BELOW IN RED

Unlike most other Jm sellers I don’t do fall promos to reduce inventory by getting rid of seconds, left overs, and often times less than desirable Jms ( ie: crapola) , Fall is a time when you can’t really even enjoy the half -baked promo for 9 months!!

At Davidsans we do our promos when you really want your Jm… after a long uninspiring winter of discontent.

All  promos will be listed here on Davidsans web site. But if you want an early jump go to contact page and email me. Just ask to be put on the mailing list . This will insure you of an early first read on both the spring promo and the updated availability list, as well as all future promos. If you order something and miss the promo info you will automatically get it anyway…but promos will be based on $ spent so be sure to check back to insure your order fits in the promo based $ structure.

If you think you are on the email list but didn’t recieve my newsletter and are now reading this . One of three things has happened:

#1 You are not on my E-mail list. Please contact me and ask to be added contact me

#2  You are on the list but your email has changed or I have an old one.  Please contact me with changes

#3 You only accept emails from folks you know and it was blocked. Or you have a “severe” spam blocker.Or you don’t accept emails with attachments. Just unblock me at the below email address, or email me and I will respond with the newsletter.

The newsletter with attached availability list and price list was emailed out Friday morning 1-29-10.

To make it easier to straighten out any the above problems, or just to get on the mailing list  and / or  just the availability and price list contact me at my business E-mail:

Davidsan5611@yahoo.com

PLEASE ALSO BE ADVISED I ACCIDENTALLY  LEFT OFF THE SPRING AVAILABILITY LIST BOTH  PAPER BARK MAPLE (GRISEUM) AND JAPANESE EMPEROR OAK (QUERCUS DENTATA PINNATIFIDA).

BOTH ARE AVAILABLE AND CURRENTLY IN STOCK . PLEASE EMAIL ME IF THOSE ARE OF INTEREST TO YOU .

COMING SOON

***A video tour of Davidsans posted right here in cyber space. Visit us without leaving your computer.

*** Basic JM “How To”  care and cultivation videos by Davidsan posted on this site.

( Both will also be available at YouTube)

***  Davidsans will have a Face Book Page and possibly Twitter with drawings and specials just for those places..

PLEASE STAY TUNED

Update

As spring approaches we are busy putting all our newly offered cultivars up on the site . We hope to have  jpegs of the new cultivars up on line by next june… In the meantime we are updating allot of our current photos with new much better ones as well as adding many that  for one reason or another were never put up. These jpegs better show each trees beauty and individuality . We hope this helps everyone a bit . In addition if you have looked at a specific tree you are interested in the past you may want to look again since many now have different and much better jpegs. Our hope is by next summer to have boffo jpegs of everything we offer up on the site. The fact is we were hurrying last spring to put up as many as possible we went for quantity not quality .. Now this will change.

As always we are glad to send jpegs of individual cultivars for purchase( next spring once they have leafed out ;>)  )  to those that are not just window shopping. We will be pressed for time next spring but will be glad to do so for SERIOUS shoppers only. As much as we would like to do so for everyone it takes mucho time approx 1/2 – 3/4 hour to do one or two specific jpegs  so unless you are really serious about buying we ask you look at the stock photos we have on site and not ask for photos of specific trees . I am basically a one man show and taking a bunch of jpegs on a lark is just too much to ask of me … I hope you all understand.

I hope by mid Feb. to send out an availability list to everyone on my mailing list, so you can all make lists and have a good chance of getting what you want since all trees will be of limited quantities …If you have never emailed me thru the site, please do so on the contact page of this web site if you want to be added to the mailing list . Have a great holiday season and remember our slogum “A World Without Japanese Maples Is Madness”

DAVID(SAN)

If you are looking for truly special Japanese Maple(s) at a reasonable price you have arrived at the right place.

Davidsans Japanese Maples considers itself the home for “extreeme” and ” truly special ” Japanese Maples. We specialize in hardy / cold hardy trees for  the Midwest and other northern areas as well as those cultivars that can take  sun for southern areas. We  make it our mission to search out, find and offer one of the webs largest selection of  rare, hard to find Japanese maple cultivars.

We pride ourselves as having one of the webs  best selection of  truly unusual impossible to find, just darn right cool dwarf Japanese Maples.

Dwarf JM’s  are perfect for  smaller yards, tight spaces, or that nook needing some color. They also makle excellant container cutlture trees for those folks , that for whatever reason , would rather not , or can’t  plant their Japanese Maples out in their yards.

Davidsans also is one of the very few places willing and able to ship larger Japanese Maples. Most seller really don’t want the hassle of shipping larger specimens and refuse to do so. As a collector I found it very frustrating and was forced  to buy mostly very small trees…even though i was willing to pay the obvious extra cost of shipping larger ones. From this experience I made it a point to offer larger trees for shipment  I also found being located in the middle of the country gave me a great opportunity to ship them in to you within 2-3 days  and the cost was allot less than the one or two West Coast nurseries that do offer larger trees. Davidsans is the place to get larger Japanese Maples both reasonably priced and shipped to your door in a very expedient manner.

BONSAI

One area that dwarfs do especially well,  is as Bonsai . Davidsans has a huge selection dwarf JM cultivars ( many virtually impossible to find elsewhere) that are perfect for Bonsai. These, generally small leaf cultivars, include many older very rare Japanese varieties that have been used as bonsai for centuries in their asian homeland.

Davidsans does not carry “quasi”/”bogus” cultivars known as seedlings AKA seed grown plants that are improperly and deceivingly named after the mother tree (such as improperly naming  generic JM’s, for example, “Kashima” or “Kiyo hime” when they are simply generic seed grown trees). These are not true cultivars although many bonsai folks buy them as such, since they are not grafted and therefore have no graft mark. Many bonsai folks feel graft marks make then trunk look less perfect. Seedlings, as stated many times on this site, and by many others, are not guaranteed to even look like their mother. But at any rate can not be marketed as such or ethically named as such.If you are buying a seedling, let say, named “Kashima” on the web or elsewhere you are being scammed .

There is nothing wrong with using seedlings for bonsai whatever they are called. But to pay an high price for something that is not what you are getting is not wise IMHO. I tell folks if you can buy a seedling for a bonsai these should be very inexpensive unless already started as Bonsai.If you are paying cultivar prices for seedling fake named cultivars you are getting riped off.

A well done low grafted JM can give a person a perfectly beautiful Bonsai.  Just as most field grown JMs cannot be ID’d as grafted trees in several years because the mark is basically no longer visible due to the natural growth of the tree trunk and it’s bark . The same holds true for bonsai. The graft mark, if low and done well,  becomes virtually to totally invisible in short time. Even though bonsai growth is often slow , the fastest part to grow is the trunk since leaves branches and roots are constantly trimmed.

DAVIDSANS DOES OFFER UN-GRAFTED BASIC A.p. GREEN AND BASIC A.p. RED ATROPUPUREUM “SEEDLINGS”.  THESE JM’s ARE SEED GROWN AND ARE SUITABLE FOR BONSAI AT EXTREEMLY REASONABLE PRICES..AS WITH ALL SEED GROWN TREES THEY WILL VARY IS COLOR, LEAF TYPE,  GROWTH RATE AND PATTERN. BUT IF YOU DON’T WANT A GRAFTED JM FOR BONSAI THESE ARE YOUR ONLY READILY AVAILABLE AND COST EFFICIENT CHOICE.

If you have interest in Bonsai , please visit my section on Bonsai at the bottom  my “Care and Cultivation section” on this web site. This section will explain why we feel certain expertly done and very low grafted dwarf Davidsan cultivars are best for bonsai while others may not be. You are guaranteed to own a named cultivar bonsai that you can ethically call as such for decades to come

At Davidsans we  carry only those cultivars that you are not likely to find elsewhere.

What constitutes value when you buy a Japanese maple ??

And why should I buy from Davidsans ??

At Davidsans i sell my trees at a price that is under what I have bought in previous years as a collector. In fact the trees i carry are larger than any I have ever bought as a collector and for allot less dinero. That means if you buy from me you get your monies worth. Can you find cheaper trees… yes..and if you are simply looking for twigs and cheap cheap cheap cheap you will likely be happier looking elsewhere. But if you want a healthy larger fuller tree that is a bargain  for it’s size… you have landed on the right web site What you also get at Davidsans which you will not at other web based nurseries is the personal help you need to make an informed decision on the best tree for your needs and location . Remember I am a one man show and have NO employees so what I sell is never less than it should be and what you get is a quality tree at a very god price.

In addition if you are more experienced collector you will find one of the largest selections on the web again at really good prices for what you receive. You will also find many VERY rare cultivars that you may have been looking for for years and many new cultivars of striking beauty that you will want. As I always tell folks “If it ain’t worth it I won’t sell it“.

This next season I will be offering more sizes of trees at lower prices to fit any budget. Any tree I move up a pot size this fall will be priced at a lower price than that next pot size up is … at “tweener” price. So if you are on a strict budget ask for “UP-POTTED JMS”… they will be very well priced.

NOW Davidsans has much lower shipping rates thanks to ups . As many folks don’t know most nurseries get shipping discounts but DON’T pass them along . At Davidsans we are NOT into making money off shipping, so we have decided to pass the savings along. This  should make shipping our larger trees much more reasonable both  as single trees or as multiple trees in a box. Our trees unlike most other internet twigs or stick trees  are so big this has been a problem in the past because once they get oversize it becomes problematic. This year you should see a definite improvement in ship costs.

JM photographs found on this web site

Photographing Japanese Maples

We at Davidsans get allot of questions about Japanese Maple Photographs .One thing everyone should understand is that color and leaf  form really depend on where you live and where you place it ( amount of sun etc) and age of plant . Yearly weather patterns, and yearly soil moisture can also drastically effect color, leaf shape, plant height and many so called absolutes of JM’s . A Jm will basically look like a specific named cultivar as described and photographed but you can have variations depending on the above… some may be minor some pretty dramatic. And a young tree will usually never have the trees true characteristics for several years even in Jm perfect areas. This is especially true with variegated varieties or those with odd coloration or leaf forms. If you have grown Jm’s for any amount of time you will already know this to be true.

So here are some Q&A concerning this subject.

Q:  When is the best time to ph0tograph JMs and when do you try to do so for this web site

A: Simply put, in the mid to late spring

.

The leaves will always look there best in spring . They will be free of pest marks sun damage . Yes in fall they can be spectacular, but color varies so much from year to year as all Acers do, And you will have a hard time finding perfect leaves that don’t need extensive photoshopping..

The spring coloration is usually pretty much the same for everyone regardless of local weather patterns… and even seems to be less effected by soil type etc. Therefore what you see on a particular web site, if photos are taken in spring, will be pretty much what you will get in spring.

The one caveat it is best not to take photos very early in spring if you plan to show what the leaves and tree actually looks like. If you take the fabulous looking young just “bud broke” leaves you are NOT giving a real representative look of what the tree actually looks like for other than a few days. Of course if you are just taking them as art why not. The only exception to this is those few JMs that constantly shoot out new bunches of leaves through most of the season and are known for that.

Q: Why can’t you have full tree photos on your site

A:  Simply put … most look dopey.

Most Jms are planted around allot of other companion trees bushes etc and it is very hard to get a true idea of what the individual JM looks like.

.Even ones that are stand alone specimen trees tend to be understated in photographs but may look boffo in your yard. There are a few larger specimens of a size that you can actually get a feel for but the are exclusively large dissectums with a thick bushy look.

For most of us who get into Jm’s we plant them not for others BUT FOR OURSELVES.  Of couse we want to show them off and for them to look great in our yards or patios. But you can buy any generic jm dissectum or upright and achieve that . For us “connoisseurs it’s “the look”  . And that look is generally from near firstly and afar secondly . Thus the closer photos of trees and branches along with a description of form and approximate size works great.

Q.   Why can’t you have photos of the trees showing all seasons

A. Simply put:  That would be nice but are you nuts

As I have already said there is so much variation from area weather age and from year to year it would be a real wast of time unless we wanted to make a book of trees without names.

Taking a picture of just one tree in one season takes approximately 1 hour. The process starts by taking a bunch of different  shot at different angles, in different light, and backgrounds to be able to show the tree best and most accurately.  then begins the arduous tasks  of downloading the photos, picking out the best one, cropping sizing straightening, and uploading two different sizes to our web site.

If we were to do that  to over 350 cultivars in three seasons and some four ( winter for Griseum and color and rough bark cultivars and some conifers).Well, we would be sure to own stock in the nearest psychiatric  facility where we would end up in short order .

I hope this answers a few questions on photography particularly in respect to this web site and use of photos for informational and help in choosing that special cultivar.

Coming soon to a Davidsans near you!!!

Our spring offerings of really rare JM’s

Yes we have the new Shirazz in several sizes

at down to earth prices!!

OVER ONE HUNDRED NEW CULTIVARS (including Shirazz) ARE BEING ADDED TO OUR STABLE OF SUPER COOL JM CULTIVARS. THESE INCLUDE BOTH NEW AND RARE CULTIVARS. IN ADDITION WE ARE ALSO ADDING AN ASSORTMENT OF DWARF CONIFERS!!

Keep your eyes open on this site. We are about a month away from listing our spring JM cultivar offerings and companion trees. I have searched far and wide for a new and old rare cultivars …and boy have I found them I guarantee you will be blown away by my rare new and old selections at the same or similar prices as last year. Be advised many of these really cool JM’s are in limited quantities… Most of these will be for late spring ( mid April) But I will have a ton of stuff available for my southern friends who want early shipment this year . NO repeat of last years debacle of waiting. I will be able to ship when YOU want it as long as its not severely cold here. If any of you want an early list , please email me or fill out the contact page on this site requesting such. I will be sending as mailing with this list at a more normal time in late Jan or feb. , but with many of the newer cultivars in small quantities you may want the list early. Just let me know

MORE TREE / LESS MONEY

Also in addition to of my increased cultivar selection I will have a greater selection of trees at lower price points for those on budgets .  My prices are based mostly on tree size along with my costs . And in the past my trees have been uniformly large  . You always get MORE than what you pay for at Davidsans … but now the range has been lowered for those that can live with a slightly “smaller” tree. You are  still getting a much bigger tree than you will at other places but smaller than my usual and priced as such. More tree /less money.

List of 2010 new cultivars

A.j 6910                           A.j. Ao jutan

A.j. Dissectum              A.j Junitoye

A.j. Meigetsu                A.j. Woods #2

A.s. Lovette                   A.s. Green Elf

A.s. Green Flag            A.s. Green Snowflake

A.s. Sensu                     A.s. Moonrise

A.s. Mr Sun                  A.s. Ogurayama

A.p Adrians Compact    A.p Agina Milky Way

A.p. Akane                   A.p Autumn Fire

A.p.Aratama               A.p. B17

A.p. Baby Ghost        A.p.Beni Fushigi

A.p. Beni hime          A.p.Beni Kawa

A.p. Beni kosade      A.p. Beni shigitasu sawa

A.p. Beni Shishihenge           A.p.Beni tsukasa

A.p Beni tsukasa shidare   Bonnie Bergman

A.p. Brants Bwarf                A.p. Briella Broom

A.p. Bob’s Big Green             A.p. Bronzewing

A.p. Bumps Red Seed      A.p. Chantilly Lace

A.p. Christi Anne                    A.p. Dark Straw

A.p. Dianes Dissectum         A.p. Dr Brown

A.p. Englishtown                    A.p Fairy Hair

A.p.Falls Fire                  A.p. Filifera Purpurea

A.p. Fujiyama                        A.p Gaki no sugi

A.p. Green Mist                       A.p. Green Star

A.p. Happy Corallinum         A.p. Herbstfeuer

A.p. Hilleri                                 A.p. Hondoshi

A.p. Inaba shidare                  A.p. JJ

A.p. Japanese Sunrise        A.p Johnny’s Pink

A.p. Kagiri nishki   A.p. Kiyo hime yatsubusa

A.p. Komachi hime         A.p. Krazy Krinkle

A.p. Killarney                          A.p. Koyko

A.p. Lima Gold                        A.p. Lozita

A.P. Margret Bee     A.p. Mikawa yatsubusa

A.p. Mitre                         Ap. Mon zukushi

A.p. Murakumo         Ap. Murasaki Kiyo hime

A.p. Musashino              A.p. Muza murasaki

A.p. Nigrum                    A.p. Nishiki gasame

A.P. Ogon sarasa           A.p. Okagami             A.p.  Olsen’s Frosted Strawberry

A.p. Oshio beni     A.p. Osakazuki Aureum

A.p. Oto hime         A.p. Red Autumn Lace

A.p. Red feathers         A.p. Red wonder

A.p. Red Spider Web     A.p. Ruby Stars

A.p. Rhode Island Red       A.p. Sao nishki

A.p. Scolopendefolium      A.p. Shirazz

A.p. Shishi yatsubusa         A.p. Shojo

A.p. Shojo nomura              A.p, Spring Delight        A.p. Seuss Sister

A.p Tamukeyama                 A.p. Tiny Tim

A.p. Tatoo                                A.p. Tskumo

A.p. Tsukushigata                A.p. Ueno yama

A.p. Ukon                                A.p. Us murasaki

A.p. Wabito                            A.p. Waterfall

A.p. Ueno yama             A.p. Wetumpka Red

A.p. Viridis

A. Pseudosieboldianum ssp. Pseudosieboldianum

Here are some new Jm’s  JUST added they should be upm on site shortly several are VERY rare

Flavscens

Alpenweiss

Koyama dani  nishiki

Kurenai jishi ( not to be confused with Kuri jishi)

Hana Matoi

Oregon Sunset

Hagaromo

Harasuname

Okukuji nishiki

Ryumon nishiki

Sawa chidori

Conifers ( new)

( first # is quantity available…. size is listed last)

3 Abies concolor `Candicans’ 1 GAL
2 Calocedrus decurrens `Barrima Gold’ 1 GAL
3 Cham lawsoniana `Ellwoods Pygmy’ 4″ POT
3 Cham lawsoniana `Ellwoods White’ 4″ POT
3 Cham pisifera `Baby Blue Ice’ 1 GAL
3 Cham pisifera `Dwarf Blue’4″ POT
3 Cham pisifera `Golden Sands’ 4″ POT
3 Cham thyoides `Meth Dwarf’ 4″ POT
3 Cham thyoides `Red Star’ 4″ POT
3 Cham thyoides `Top Point’ 4″ POT
3 Fagus sylvatica `Cochleata’ 1 GAL
3 Juniperus communis `Lemon Spire’ 4″ POT
3 Juniperus communis `Little Pyramid’ 4″ POT
3 Larix decidua `Lanarck’ 1 GAL
3 Larix kaempferi `Jacobsen’s Pyramid’ 1 GAL
3 Picea abies `Clanbrassiliana Stricta 1 GAL
2 Picea abies `Goblin’ 1 GAL
3 Picea abies `Inversa’ 1 GAL
3 Picea glauca `Echiniformis’ 4″ POT
3 Picea glauca `Gnome’ 4″ POT
3 Picea glauca `Pixie’ 4″ POT
3 Picea omorika `Froendenberg’ 1 GAL
3 Picea omorika `Nana’ 1 GAL
3 Picea omorika `Pendula’ 1 GAL
3 Picea omorika `Pimoko’ 4″ POT 7
3 Picea omorika `Tremonia’ 1 GAL
3 Pinus cembra `Fastigiata’ 1 GAL
3 Pinus cembra `Pygmaea’ 1 GAL
3 Pinus heldreichii `Smidtii’ 4″ POT
2 Pinus mugo `Ambergold’ 1 GAL
3 Pinus nigra `Black Prince’ 1 GAL
3 Pinus parviflora `Ara kawa’ (warted) 4″ POT
3 Pinus parviflora `Brevifolia’ 4″ POT
3 Pinus parviflora `Ko-Ku-Ho’ 4″ POT 7
3 Pinus parviflora `Yatsubusa’ 4″ POT
3 Pinus strobus `Beran’ 1 GAL 1
3 Pinus strobus `Excitation’ 1 GAL
2 Pinus strobus `Mt. Washington’ 1 GAL
2 Pinus sylvestris `Jeremy’ 1 GAL
4 4 Pinus thunbergiana `Thunderhead’ 1 GAL
4 Sciadopitys verticillata 1 GAL
3 Thuja occ `Skinner Dwarf’4″ POT
3 Tsuga canadensis `Gentsch Dwarf Globe’ 4″ POT
3 Tsuga canadensis `Minuta’ 4″ POT
3 Tsuga canadensis `Starker’s Dwarf’ 1 GAL
3 Tsuga canadensis`Rugg’s Washington Dwf’ 1 GAL
3 Tsuga mertinsiana `Elizabeth’ 4″ POT
8 Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Van den Akker’ 1 GAL
8 Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Green Arrow’ 1GAL
8 Sciadopitys verticillata ‘Winter Green’ 1GAL 15″ H

Mailing List

If you want to be on my mailing list just go to the contact page and fill out and state “put on mailing list “. Don’t worry you will not be spammed!!! I will do, at most, one or two e-mailings pr year  and no snail mailings …(and NO i do not have a catalogue .. this is the 21st century ya know ;>)..) I am just too busy and WAY TOO LAZY to do more . You will get the most up to date list of new cultivars and priority ordering for all my products and occasional sale items.

” The world of undiscovered Japanese Maples”

According to Davidsan

I have decided to start this new section on this home page. Every few weeks I will showing you a special Japanese/Asian maple that deserves the attention of all Japanese maple lovers. This is my third installment. For all previous installments please go to my Blog section and from there to the specific Blog entitled “Davidsans World Of Undiscovered Maples” containing those archived installments. I guarantee that you will find all of these fascinating and informative .

Issue #4

Sekka yatsubusa

Sekka yasubusa is in three words …unique,beautiful,and sturdy . The last word is paticularly appropos since it is a tight upright cultivar that is in no way wimpy even when young or in a pot as some other cultivars. There  are no unseemly  wayward tall growing branches in need of constant trimming. Rather shorter horizontal heavily branched habit. It’s very small shinny leafs form in groups towards the end of branches giving it a pagoda style look although not open as some other such trees. It tends to have a thicker look. Spring color is a very delicate yellow greeen giving way to shiny green in summer and it has a very nice yellow /orange fall color that lasts much longer than most other JM’s. (some say up to 6 weeks)..holding it’s leaves late into fall.It is known for good sun resistance. My Sekka, in it’s current home , potted, in a mostly sunny area,  has shown no burn whatsover
One unusual characteristic is flattened ends of some of its new growth giving it an unusaul look at close inspection. Although this tree looks like a dwarf it can get fairly large in perfect growing areas but I think around here 6 – 10′ max and likely on the shorter end. It also seems to be a very fast grower unlike most other smaller leaf cultivars that seem to take forever to develop into specimens .I would classify it a semi dwarf in the upper Midwest maybe even a dwarf . It should be perfect for smaller spots since it stays compact . It also has “bonsai” written all over it and should be a great bonsai JM.

Below are some VERY late fall ( Nov. 11) jpegs but it is much more yellow for most of the fall period. This particular tree is very young and these shots do not show it’s typical pagoda type habit, but does give you some idea of it’s striking beauty even in a near winter fall period.

Sekka yatsubusa

NEWS FLASH  !!!!!   NEWS FLASH  !!!!!

From Monkey Puzzle Central at Davidsans Japanese Maples

My spring assortment of Monkey puzzles in many sizes will be arriving in April.  I will  be receiving this year, in addition to the larger sizes I had previously, a limited number of  smaller 1 gallon trees that will be priced much less so this year they are within just about everyone’s budget. I won’t be setting the price on these smaller trees til spring, but they will likely be in the 30-45$ range… But be advised you will be getting a much smaller tree with just a few branches (see below for photo) . But these 1 gallon small trees can be shipped inexpensively making the whole transaction much more likely to please those on a tight budget. This is especially meant for those who want one of these cool trees and who have plenty of time to watch them grow into a larger tree but limited funds to buy one from the get go.

Prices for my larger are $79-$225 depending on size…. and shipping is expensive since even the smallest ones ( excluding 1 gallon size) weigh 45-50 lbs ea.An example of shipping and packing a $99… 27″ tree from Davidsans to NYC was around $57,  a $79 20″  tree to Texas was about $52 ..so it ain’t cheap..and we don’t mark up shipping .. we do charge to pack since the root ball needs to be inner crated with 1×2’s ,as do all our trees to insure safe shipment . All my MP  trees  are shippable but only in the $79-$100 range can be done without great expense ( along with any future 1 gallons).  These medium sized trees average 20-28″ tall measured from top of a 12-16″ VERY large root ball which is Ground level when planted…  so don’t be  fooled by their small tape measure height .. these are NOT small trees.  Remember these grow very slowly so even  the 20″ tree is OLD many years and is NOT a twig … A one gallon tree is 2-3 years old. Even a 20″ size 79$ tree is big enough to make a real statement in your yard. They all have  large caliper and many wavy branches and often much wider than tall .. larger 4′ trees  are best pick up only but if you are willing to pay all the oversize charges to get a truly boffo MP  they can be shipped. I have been experimenting with shipping the MP’s  re- potted with my soil mix so that the weight greatly decreased. If this continues to work, shipping this year “may” be less.

If  you are interested please let me know

By the way a little bit of Trivia on Monkey Puzzles

If you watch the original “The Ghost and Mrs Muir” .. The ghost, a sea farin’ captain, planted one from seed in the front yard of his cottage by the seamany years before the current story… it was now huge.. Unfortunately before Mrs muir became acquainted with him and liked him…she had found the tree so odd and  “hideous” she had it cut down. He was furious about it and really busted her chops over it  ( I would have too)… there were very slight glimpses of the large tree in the beginning of the 1957 “non classic”  For me, hearing it was cut down, was the WORST part of the movie .

Davidsans Japanese Maples is located in Springfield, Illinois in what is known as the “deep Midwest corn country”. We are a dependable, customer oriented company now open to the public for limited sales of the beautiful amazing varieties of these “momiji” – the Japanese Maple Tree. We offer over 225 DIFFERENT cultivars of these beautiful trees. The photographs you see here are of our own trees in our own gardens. Please browse the pages here and take advantage of the things we have learned about how special Japanese Maples truly are.

We have also added a few companion trees some of which are of Far Eastern heritage ( not necessarily from Japan), and others that just look the part and will work well in Japanese gardens and settings.You can view these in the “Other Species From Japan” section. These are truly rare items you won’t likely find elsewhere. We hope to add to this “rare companion section” on an on-going basis so check back frequently.

We would also like to remind folks that we specialize in Japanese maples for colder areas but with most cultivars there is a limit of just how much cold they can take if planted out in the ground . Be advised that no one should be without a beautiful Japanese maple even those living in the far north . These trees without exception do great in containers. Containers give flexibility in placement and are easy to care for . If you are like I was, this may be a hard hurdle to leap over, since most of us love planting things in the ground . But once you start growing  Japanese maples in containers you will find it to be in many ways more fun and only a bit more work. Please don’t limit yourself  by excluding such a cool and valuable tree just because you live in the far north outside their in the ground planting range. Planting a container Japanese maples no matter where you live will be a great addition to your yard giving you a true specimen tree  and likely set you apart from others who have no idea they can grow these special trees in your area. I gurantee once you try it you will be hooked like I am.

We are open by appointment only so please Email or call us directly  to set up a day and time to visit . You may come to pick out and purchase your own Japanese Maple from our large selection, or just to view trees, get ideas for your own yard and make possible purchase lists. For those not able to visit please feel free to Email or call  us concerning shipment of cultivars, their cost, or with any other questions ( be sure to include you city and state for zone and shipping purposes). All Emails will be answered within 24 hours whenever possible.

If you would rather call for a more personal contact do so any day or the week before 10 pm central time ( see # below). If we are not able to take the call please leave your name , phone #, area you are from ,and a detailed message .

Unlike most other web etailers , we feel contacting our customers that have contacted us is priority #!. Their is nothing that upsets me more than when I contact some business through email and not hearing back for days, weeks,months or ever. THEREFORE, WE  GUARANTEE WE WILL CONTACT YOU WITHIN 24 HOURS OF YOUR EMAIL  QUERRY.

If you  not hear back from Davidsans within 24 hrs from an email sent from the contact section of this site, please call. No email sytem is 100% perfect. We have added a retyping of email line since a few folks that contacted us,  i was not able to re-contact ( mailer daimon) from mis-spelled email addresses…very frustrating .

But as i said email glitches are not uncommon. I have had a few folks call who used the contact page and i got butkus.. so please call  if you don’t hear back . I am an internet junkie and i check my queries several times a day so it is likely I will contact you within hours . As I stated above I think answering emails is job #1 for any etailer.

David “Davidsan” Myers and Gale Myers (Owners)