In this video, I compare several yellow Japanese maples and break down what makes each cultivar unique compared to other golden full moon verities. I compare Acer Shirasawanum Aureem (Golden Full Moon Maple), Autumn Moon, Moon Rise and Jordan. If you’re trying to choose the perfect tree for your landscape, this detailed guide covers everything you need to know, including USDA hardiness zones, sun requirements, size at 10 years, mature size, and annual growth rate. I also share my real-world experience growing these Japanese maples in my central Virginia garden, including how they handle heat, humidity, and seasonal changes. Whether you’re looking for the best Japanese maple vibrant spring color or reliable summer performance, this comparison will help you make the right choice for your yard or garden.
12 Comments
Thanks for the great video, love these comparisons you make! Super enjoyable and informative. Your trees look gorgeous.
I have my Jordan in shade for most of the day with some sun from around midday for about an hour.
The plant leaves out an incredible day-glow green. It positively glows in the dark. It will hold a lovely 'highlighter' green color, eventually turning a darker green in the summer. The leaves never turn yellow. Restricting the full sun does result in a less spectacular fall color though. The plant is growing very well in this shaded situation.
I have a ryusen maple under the Jordan that gets hardly any sun at all. I keep meaning to move it, but it's doing fine. I am kind of experimenting with it to see how little sun it really needs.
I have seen maples thriving in pretty dense cedar forests where they are getting little to no direct sunlight whatsoever. When horticulturists call JMs understory trees, they are not joking.
Wish I would have bought aureem instead of Johin. I love that full moon leaf
Nice, beautiful trees. My fav,
I gotta say is Aureum. The bright neon green spring color, the leaf texture and down curling of the leaves, the fall multi color effect, wow, I better stop 😁.
Enjoy your beautiful garden 🍁
My aureum had a rough winter. Next one I buy will definitely be a bigger one.
My Aureum didn't survive over the winter. It had a lot of sun scorch over the late summer so I am not surprised. I am planning to replace it with Moonrise. Do the leaves tend to get darker green on all of these cultivars later in the summer?
Great video with lots of helpful information. Thank you for creating this for us.
I love my Aureum (high shade all day) and Moonrise (sun) here in central Ohio 6B. Autumn Moon was one of the first Japanese maples I ordered, and it died after a year. Disappointing, but there are so many other maples to try! I replaced it with an Uzen nishiki that’s bringing wonderful color to its shady spot. Thanks for an interesting video.
I have Sunny golden full moon A Shirasawanum. Where does this fit in?
I have 2 aureums, 2 moonrise, an autumn moon and a Jordan, all in pots. Aureum very slow growing and has a unique colour, marker pen, almost illumines yellow/ green, Jordan very bright yellow but I find it burns when it gets hot so needs shade, also faster growing than the others. Autumn Moon has orange blushes in the whole leaf, moonrise has a smaller red blush inside the leaf. I live in the UK (colder temperatures) so my moonrises and autumn moon tend to keep their beautiful orange/red colours throughout the Spring and Summer. For autumn colours the aureum is easily the best, in fact my aureums start colouring up from early Summer. I like them all and they are all different, if I had to choose one, it would be aureum because of the unique “glow in the dark” green Spring colours and as stated from early Summer my larger aureum starts colouring up with oranges, yellows, reds and pinks.
Enjoyed it a lot! Keep it up.
Great video. Thank you