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Ozarks GardeningtreesMaples
toronado3800

Acer shirasawanum Autumn Moon...will it burn?

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
4 years ago

This thing is a striking blend of yellow, orange and red. If I understand as it nears its sun exposure limit you get more red so I'm nervous as its the end of a wet and cloudy May and it looks soo good!
Exposure is pretty darned near full sun and St Louis area.

Featured Answer
  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    You all saw it right from hundreds of miles away. That little fellow is burning. Sun from 0900 to 1900 is obviously too much for it here at least as a fresh transplant.


    I thought about just plopping it up and moving it today, then figured a stressed plant and a July transplant don't go together. My plan is to get some shade cloth tomorrow and see if I can't nurse it through the summer. Next spring I'll almost certainly move it.

    Comments (17)

    • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
      Original Author
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      The pic



    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      4 years ago

      Those look more like fall colors. It tends to have some reddish edges as it is leafing out but is more gold than anything else in season. The real coloring doesn't develop until fall. Full sun is probably a bit strong for it, especially with the midwest's summer heat.

      Mine is in more or less full sun (PNW) and is a full peachy-gold color - no red or orange.

    • User
      4 years ago

      Love the rabbit fence, wire color and safety pommels. :-)

    • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
      Original Author
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      Yeah, I need to keep the wildlife and kids away. The bunnies and tree rats I'm not soo concerned about. The kids just might find a way to impale an eye or something on a post. I pay extra for the green coated wire lol. It doesn't rust and looks like I'm trying to make it blend in :)


      What do you think has it showing fall colors? It went in the ground last fall, I watered a bit. This spring has been WET. Everything would probably be fine w/o supplemental watering and I'm usually pretty good about not over doing it.


      I meant to give it a little more shade but in the middle of the summer the neighbor's oak and maple just aren't much help after I removed yet another ash tree.

    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      4 years ago

      "What do you think has it showing fall colors?"

      I'd guess just sun stress. I think full sun in the St Louis area is just a tad too harsh.


    • j0nd03
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago


      Mine emerges pretty red then fades to a bright yellowish orange. I initially had mine planted on the south side of the house in quite a bit of shade but even the 4-6 hours it did receive were too much for it. It is now on the north side of the house (in a bed that needs to be weeded!) and is doing great! Only grows about 6-8" a year but it is looking really happy with the new conditions.

      Edit: trying to get my pic to upload...

    • Sara Malone Zone 9b
      4 years ago

      Here's mine in April. Shaded in late afternoon, otherwise full sun.


    • mblan13
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      Mine is in full sun in spring/fall and part sun in summer. The lower and inner leaves are a kind of chartreuse green, the upper and outer leaves that get more light are light to brick red. I didn't notice any issues with sun damage. It started off as a beautiful tree but a few years back the entire right of the tree died off. I might pull it and do a trunk chop/root prune and put it in a pot it next year.

    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      4 years ago

      Here is mine in full sun.

      And you can just kinda see in the close ups a slight reddish edge to each leaf. That is all the color it gets until fall.

    • Nick (9b) Modesto Area
      4 years ago

      GG it looks great !

    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      4 years ago

      Thanks, Nick :-) But don't look too closely. I neglected it one summer a few years back and an entire branch died off :-( You can still kind of see where I whacked it off rather unceremoniously...........I need to go in and clean that up.

    • Nick (9b) Modesto Area
      4 years ago

      Here is mine at the pond with a sunshade . It gets real late afternoon sun otherwise it’s filtered light from the shade cloth .


    • Sara Malone Zone 9b
      4 years ago

      GG are you sure that that is not 'Jordan'? All the 'Autumn Moon' that i have seen look more or less like mine. That chartreuse color looks like my 'Jordan'.

    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      4 years ago

      Sara, I suppose it could have been mislabeled......I never considered that. But I have had it for at least 10 years (maybe longer - don't exactly remember) and it was purchased from a very reliable nursery here where I get most of my JM's and it was labeled specifically as 'Autumn Moon'. I wonder, since it is container grown, if that might be influencing the color to some degree.

      New spring growth is very peachy-orange with red edges, just as AM is supposed to present (and does not have Jordan's pink petioles). And it does develop more color with summer heat, such as we have here in the PNW, as well as producing AM's typical fall color.

    • Sara Malone Zone 9b
      4 years ago

      The photo of mine was taken when it was in a container - I later moved it to the ground when it seemed to want to get big. There is also 'Aureum'. And stuff is mislabeled all the time. Even from Buchholz, Iseli, etc. But goodness knows cultural conditions can influence color shape and so on.

    • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
      4 years ago

      I also have an 'Aureum'. Bigger in size all the way around from AM and a clear gold color. I have that one positioned against the woods behind it and and boy, does that gold pop out against all that deep green!!

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