This is by far one of the most outstanding maples you will ever lay your eyes on especially in the fall of the year because of its lovely color. Its aptly named Lions Head because of the very compact growth of the leaves and they tend to look like a lions mane.
ShiShi will always seem to remain as the last maple in your garden to loose its awesome appealing fall color. The trees leaves are green to pale greenish yellow during the rest of the season. But oh boy hold on to your hat in the fall of the year because that is when the shishi out shines all the other maples.
It can have any where from a deep red to orange looking leaves in the fall and the way they grow so compact on the short stubby limbs makes this a rare beauty to say the least.
It is pronounced SHE SHE GAH she rah this is not only the name given for this lovely Japanese Maple but also the name for a Lion’s Head Goldfish. These gold fish were developed by Buddhist many years ago and were kept in the pools in there temples.
It is by the way also the name of a Camellia that seems to bloom at about the time of the year that the maple is starting to put on its fall color. Of course most of us bonsai artist are simply drawn to this tree because of its short stubby and twiggy branches and the fact that it can be even further brought down in size.
If planted in the garden it will reach heights of around six feet but will take many years to get there because as is noted in my articles and the trees themselves they are probably one or the slowest growing of all the maples..
I have had my eye on one of these beauties for many years now in a nursery but have still not bought it because they are rather expensive. But this year I did finally buy one and although it is not bonsai yet it will be I promise you. But never the less I have taken a picture of it and although not much to look at now wait till it is finished and then you will see what I consider to be a very special tree for bonsai.
I also bought a small starter tree this spring and perhaps when it is a little older and has reached some size then I can obtain some cuttings and start some young trees.
If you plan to grow a SHISHI for yourself then you will want to be sure you follow the rules as with all bonsai and remember to water regularly during the season and only slack off during the winter months when the plant is dormant.
Maples will always almost do very well if you keep them somewhat shaded in the late summer when it really starts to heat up outside in the garden.
I can certainly speak from experience because I have nearly lost some of my prize maple bonsai by neglecting them late in the summer. But then again if your lucky enough to discover your mistake soon enough you can almost always revert the sudden death of a maple even thou the leaves have entirely burned up and are crumbled toast you can save it as long as the root has not totally dried out. They will almost always make a come back they are really pretty hardy that way. But of course the rule of thumb here is too not let that happen hopefully.
I have one maple that was planted in the ground by the patio door in my garden and every year it seemed to nearly burn up the trees leaves because there is no shade there. But now the tree is finally doing well as it has aged and I finally dug it up and planted it in a huge pot even thou the pot is not bonsai style and the tree is not bonsai either but of course not all trees and plants in my garden are bonsai. This particular one is a coral bark maple and is lovely.
Most maples are fairly easy to propagate from cuttings taken in the early spring before the wood has hardened off and since most do grow fairly fast it is rather easy to get a nice starter plant in only a couple of years. Although I tend to grow most of mine from seed gathered in the fall and then sowed the next spring.
Well I could rave on for days about maples because next to the pinus family of trees they are my next favorite choice to grow as bonsai. I will close this post for now and wish you all of the best success if you try to grow Shishigashira as a bonsai. All I can say is if you do you will always be fascinated with it.
Here you find another picture a little closer just to give you some idea of the leaf structure of this plant.... and the picture at the top of the page is a Shishi that i have had in training now for four years.. and the picture in the middle of this article is the plant that I purchased this season and plan to yet bonsai as soon as I can find a suitable pot...This one will be a real undertaking as this plant is already over twenty years old and planted in a large nursery pot and I will need to gradually work the root system down in size to get it into the pot I have in mind for it... But keep coming back and soon you will see it as a full fledged bonsai I promise.
Thanks for reading. Updated 2013 from original article
By: Harold Yearout ©Copyright 2005 Harold Yearout All Rights Reserved for more information feel free to contact me:
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