Florida Red Maple Bonsai

The japanese red maple prefers wet to moist soils.

Florida red maple bonsai. Unless irrigated or on a wet site red maple is best used north of usda hardiness zone 9. It does prefer moderately moist to wet soil. He lives in tallahassee and is intimately familiar with native southern species for use as bonsai particularly red maple and bald cypress. In january the tree bears tiny red flowers followed by conspicuous bright red winged samaras or keys which remain on trees for several weeks serving as indicators of spring.

If you ve been yearning for great fall color check out our native red maple acer rubrum. Also japanese red maple is a common name for certain acer palmatum and acer rubrum just red maple in the latter case. Red maple has an oval shape and is a fast grower with strong wood reaching a height of 75 feet. Let the water absorb from the holes in the bottom of the pot.

More bonsai die due to improper watering than any other cause. So make sure you have the space for this beauty to grow. As you would guess by its common name florida maple acer saccharum subsp. The leaves appear in late spring as the maple seeds mature small showy red flowers begin to bloom in late winter or early spring second week in february in northern florida and bloom through march.

Read more about the red maple on gardening solutions. Florida red maple acer rubrum is one of the most traditional color changing trees we can grow in central florida. Floridanum grows well in florida. A japanese red maple bonsai is a living miniature tree and not a house plant.

It is a fast grower and can grow 35 80 feet tall and 25 35 feet wide. The vibrant red fall foliage is eye catching and come spring red maple puts on a show with beautiful red flowers and samaras dried fruits. This maple provides beautiful fall colors in muted yellows and oranges and older trees have attractive ribbed gray bark. Trees are often much shorter in the southern part of its range unless growing next to a stream or on a wet site.

Therefore your bonsai must be maintained in a cool cold environment during the winter season. Bw the species acer rubrum is commonly known as the red maple swamp maple or florida maple. Red maples are naturally found in wet areas but will grow in other locations if they receive adequate irrigation. Water daily but keep good drainage to prevent root rotting.

It is a tree to 90 feet plus 30 m usually smaller. As a guide around thanksgiving day it is time to prepare your bonsai for its winter dormancy period which should last approximately three 3 months. The florida grown stock do not need cold temperatures to stimulate flowering but out of state stock does and should be avoided. The red maple as bonsai by jim lewis introduction jim lewis is a frequent contributor to the internet bonsai club.

This species acer rubrum is locally abundant in the fakahatchee which is far south in the everglades so a locally sourced one will do great in any part of central fl.