FredL

I'm becoming a huge fan of this species. In recent years, it has become a favorite of landscaping firms in this area, so it has become common in suburban landscaping, particularly commercial sites. It is obvious looking at its growth habit that it is very well suited to bonsai culture. What I didn't realize until this Spring is how easy it is to start from seed.

Last Fall, I collected a couple of handfulls of seeds from the front of the barbershop I favor near my home. The seeds looked so ratty that I expected the germination rate to be pretty low, so I took a fair number. I distributed them between a couple of clay pots that I put my bonsai soil mix into as well as two or three other pots that I had young material in. Didn't do any thing else special; just put them with the rest of my trees in "Winter Quarters".

I am now the owner of a real "embarrasement of riches" of fledgling Amur Maple seedlings. Guess I'm going to have to take a serious look at Forest Style plantings now. I've got so many of them, but they're so great looking that I don't know how I'm going to just cruelly discard them. Hadn't really thought much about Forest Style in the past. It's now starting to look pretty appealing!

Fred

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