In this May 2004 edition:

1. Tip of the Month
2. 7-day Seed Sale!
3. News Feed Via "RSS"
4. New Season Grafted Trees

Well, here in central Virginia we've reached that
special time of the year - last frost date! So, fingers
crossed we won't be suffering any frost damage to
our trees and seedlings. As the temperatures last
week and again this week are in the high 80s to 90s -
we've got the opposite problem to deal with - namely
heat stress. That's us as well as the plants!

Tip of the Month:
-------------------

Mulching and Watering - remember that maples like to
have a consistent level of moisture at the roots. That
means watering little and often is better than going
from bone dry to soaking wet and back again. Water
early in the morning or late evening so you don't get
sun burn spots where the water drops act as a
magnifying glass with the sun and scorch the leaves.

Also, do add 3-4" of mulch to help conserve moisture in
the soil. It will also act as a frost protector in winter too.
You may need to top up your mulch as the year goes by
and the material is used up as it is naturally worked into
the soil.

If you are transplanting or repotting use a "shock reducer"
like SuperThrive:

http://japanese-maple.com/superthrive_1oz_super_concnetrate.html

5-day Seed Sale:
------------------

This is definitely the final call for seeds. We have extra
green leaf seed that is already germinated and ready to
plant out! For the next 5 days I reduced the price by
$1.50 to clear out the last of our 2003 seed stock.

http://japanese-maple.com/acer_pal_seed.html

Last call to for Bloodgood and generic red leaf seed.

New RSS Feed for Japanese Maples:
--------------------------------------

It's getting harder to get these newletters through the
spam blockers used by several Internet Service Providers.
Now there's an easier way to read our news!

Sign up for the free news reader here:

http://quikonnex.com/channel/subscribe/japanesemaple/543

You'll be able to access our regularly updated news feed
as well as any other site displaying the orange "RSS" button.

New Season Grafted Trees:
--------------------------------

Our trees are opening out nicely and getting established
in their new pots. Next month we'll start shipping any back
orders for trees we were temporarily out-of-stock on. Call
me if you have any questions about these magnificent
trees.

The following cultivars are ready for shipping now:

Asahi Zuru (variegated)

http://japanese-maple.com/asahi_zuru_grafted.html

Bloodgood (red)

http://japanese-maple.com/bloodgood_grafted.html

Burgundy lace (deeply divided red)

http://japanese-maple.com/burgundy_lace_grafted.html

Butterfly (cream variegated)

http://japanese-maple.com/butterfly_grafted.html

Corallinum (shrimp red in Spring)

http://japanese-maple.com/corallinum_grafted.html

Fireglow (Burgundy red)

http://japanese-maple.com/fireglow_grafted__1.html

Shin deshojo (bright red)

http://japanese-maple.com/shin_deshojo_grafted.html

Shigatsu sawa (reticulated variegation)

Laceleafs:
========

Ever Red

http://japanese-maple.com/Ever_Red_grafted.html

Garnet

http://japanese-maple.com/garnet_grafted.html

Red Select

http://japanese-maple.com/inaba_shidare_grafted.html

We'll have these laceleafs ready for shipping in June:

Crimson Queen
Orangeola
Red Dragon
Tamuke yama
Viridis
Waterfall

Pre-order these trees here:

http://japanese-maple.com/red_dissectum_grafted.html

5. Larger Grafted Trees
==============

We still have a handful of larger trees available. Some
of our long-time, regular customers know how wonderful
these bigger trees look in the landscape and typically
snap them up as soon as we announce their limited
availability.

As we have a lot of new subscribers, we decided to
comb the nursery and select a few more biiger trees. All
these are available on a first-come-first served basis
ordered over the telephone via credit card only. Call:
1-434-825-1589 (8-5PM Eastern). Prices range from
$100 to $180 plus S&H.

Karasugawa - 50" tall

Beni kagami - 30-40" tall

Beni hoshi - 36-40" tall

Beni maiko - 34" tall

Corallinum - 36-46" tall

Arakawa - 48" tall

Ariake nomura - 40" tall

Osakazuki - 44-46" tall

Mama - 50" tall

Sango kaku - 55-60" tall

Shojo nomura - 38-44" tall

Koto maru - 30-34" tall

Okushimo - 40-42" tall

Matsu kaze 22-24" tall.

Happy Gardening Online and In Dirt!

Ken Alston
Chief Plant-aholic
Commonwealth Plants, LLC
http://japanese-maple.com
434-825-1589
===========

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