Floating Cloud Japanese Maple Acer palmatum Ukigumo 3 - Year Tree

I bought this plant 2 years ago. It has grown nicely and it is a wonderful addition to this area of my yard. What a special delicate leaf.

I am greatly disappointed in the Japanese Maple, Floating Cloud that I received. There are actually multiple problems with this tree. This was advertised as a three-year tree and while I cannot conclusively state it's age, I cannot believe that it is actually a three-year tree based on its' diminutive size. The base trunk is quite small and the grafted part is tiny, smaller than I would expect in a year's growth. The majority of the foliage comes from a bud that appears to be formed on the base trunk rather than from the desired grafted portion of the tree. The tree is less than a foot tall measuring at about 9 to 10 inches tall. The bark on the base is split laterally from the graft site and the binding material has obviously broken away and was uncoiled so as to allow the bark not to have healed properly from the initial graft. I have purchased quite a lot of things from Amazon and am not normally one who complains. I have many Japanese Maples some that I have owned for more than 25 years and regularly communicate with many groups on social media and gardening clubs. I have never seen such a poor specimen being sold. I would be disappointed in this tree if it were represented as a one year tree and having it represented as a three-year tree causes me great disappointment. I was looking at several more advertised trees that I would like to buy but now am feeling no confidence in getting value and a good representative of those cultivars for my money. The root system seems OK for the size of the tree, but what is above ground is a disappointment in all ways.

Very much appreciated the care that went into packaging the roots. The tree looks good considering it traveled so far and in a hot month. The pictures are accurate and as advertised tho a little on the smaller end when it comes to main stalks thickness.

Small but doing wellUpdate: Died, new foliage Died in April 2025

Was skeptical. Trees arived - and with so many buyers saying trees were small, they seemed fine for me - These are japanese maples, not fruit trees! This one had a rathe odd angle. Grafts could have been a little cleaner, but the tree was healthy. Not bonsai material, but great for standard garden tree. As a 3rd year graft, mine was probably about 24" tall, but could see 3 levels of lignification, so as advertised. Not sure when grafts were made, but would guess this spring or last fall. They were healed and healthy, even if not the prettiest grafting jobs. The whips were bent over in an adequately large USPS box which was fine as they are still supple enough. Leaves showed some variagation - thoug the Ukigumo is known to typically show more white as they age, and even then can vary from year to year. Also bought a shindeshojo and peacock, which are also harder to find locally I could find some locally, but larger and comensurately more expensive.

Floating cloud.2 year update! It's another year older and its RADIANT! First time I seen it look like this. I took pics of it and I did not filter them, but I still don't think it's true to color but it is EVERY BIT AS AMAZING! It has that bioluminescent effect and is lighting up among all the others right now. I absolutely LOVE it!1 year update. I read bad reviews and this little grafted tree been through hell it’s first few months to my limited knowledge with trees (especially grafted trees). I thought all plants are suppose to cared for like a hydrangea. Well, after researching, I learned “NO” lol... it’s been repotted with different types of soil a few times after it arrived here from shipping (a lot of stress for a tree) but it hung in there and it’s putting on growth and leaving beautifully right now after being just a twiggy little stick. Like “the ugly duckling” is becoming “a swan.” What a reward!!! No regrets here!

DO NOT BUY IN BULK!Purchase your trees individually so they arrive individually and this way you will know what is what. I just purchased 45+ trees from this seller, “Japanese Maples and Evergreens”, and I specifically reached out asking that they label the trees so I don’t have to guess which tree is which. I received 27 of the trees today and they are not labeled, and now I have to guess which is which. This is terribly inconvenient as the light conditions for the trees are all different, and I planned to strategically plant each tree on my land where is would grow best. Because the vendor “Japanese Maples and Evergreens” didn’t label my trees I could end up planting an Ukigumo in full sun when it actually needs mostly shade to thrive. What a pain! Not only did I have to guess today, but when the leaves come in the spring I will have to look at them all again and see if I labeled them right and hope I can tell. This shopping experience has created so much extra work for me, and I am extremely disappointed with the seller’s lack of customer service.While I understand that I purchased trees online I also understand business, and sellers should learn how to still provide customer services even through they are operating digitally. I have purchased trees from “Japanese Maples and Evergreens” in the past (never this many though) and they didn’t label those either which is why I knew to reach out to the seller to ask that they label these trees considering I made such a large order and spent thousands of dollars. Ultimately what I fear is that because of the seller’s inability to respond to inquiries from customers my trees may face a greater chance of not making it because I am not sure what is what. I am a reasonable person and the seller should be able to tell that based on the comments I left on my previous purchases; however, sending a customer 45+ dormant trees with no labels (especially when the customer asked for this) is unacceptable! If a customer purchases a single tree; sure, you may not need to label the tree, but 45+ trees?? Really!!!My recommendation to the seller is that they understand and implement a different set of procedures when customers make bulk purchases vs. individual purchases to avoid confusion. Additionally, if a customer emails a seller an inquire, the seller should at least reply (regardless of the message). If I had purchased these trees from a nursery the trees would have been labeled, and I hope the seller understands that they need to do business online (from a customer service perspective) the same way they would or do handle business in person.The seller advertises bulking the shipping costs when you order multiple trees … well they really only reduce shipping cost by less than 1 dollar for each tree. I would have rather ordered each tree individually, paid the extra dollar per tree so I could have received them in individual boxes with a packing slip that only contains a single tree listed, but instead; I spent around 2 hours trying to guess what tree is what today.What really sucks to me is that I have about 15 other trees in my cart from this same seller and I have to manipulate my cart so I can order 1 at a time to avoid this in the future. RIDICULOUS!!!! I think I may spend my time searching for a new seller!!!Today I am one unsatisfied customer!!!