What a pleasure to view all those magnificent trees. Thanks everyone. Fall color for my plants has just been OK. The 2 standouts, both small plants, are AS 'Red Dawn' and AJ 'Aka omote'. The pic on the tablecloth is from a farmers mkt. where i used some leaves for Autumn decor. Mostly 'Hogyoku' leaves which did color up pretty nicely this year. 'Aka omote' has only gotten really good color on the leaves that got a good bit of full sun for the 1st half of the season. I have 2 'Aka omotes' and the they both are still holding all of the green leaves that never saw full sun.
I had the good fortune to visit Westonbirt this week, the colours of the maples there were fantastic. We seem to have had good conditions for Autumn leaf colour in England this year, some cold nights (but above freezing) in early October followed by a settled period of mild weather. A panorama of the silk Wood area at Westonbirt Arboretum, mature Larch underplanted with the maple collection, a fine setting for Japanese maples in autumn:
Ah Daniel! Nice is'nt it? There are beauties out there and I found two at least on my wish list from this thread.
I went around last week (25/10) and took a bunch of pictures of fall color, not only maples but others that were pretty, liquidambars and cornus mostly. There are too many to post here, so I put up a little web page of the pics. It has been a very odd year, with the drought causing many trees to lose leaves in August, sometimes with little color, sometimes brilliant. Then very drab, and suddenly lots of color. Some plants that don't usually show much, like "Orange Dream" and "Usugumo" are fantastic, but others that are normally great, like A. pictum or A. truncatum, just went brown and fell off. Link to fall color pictures Hope you enjoy. -E
Beautiful colours indeed, Emery. And you are lucky to find such big and healthy "cèpes de Bordeaux". Here it's been too dry and I found no mushrooms at all when I went to the forest two days ago...
Thanks Alain. I just noticed that the pictures we're badly sized by the camera management SW, which caused them to lose definition. I have fixed it. It's a poor year for cepes here too, though the day in question we did get 3.4 kg! Also had some nice Lepiotes a few days ago. But mostly, nothing, as you say too dry. And what we do find is not in the usual places, but in areas that would normally be swampy (not this year). The advantage of the house here is that it's in the forest, so easy to check for 'shrooms: just take the dog out for a quick constitutional. The disadvantage of course is all the beasts, deer, hare and boar, that come and damage the garden. Deer adore fresh maple shoots. :( -E
Here are some photos of my Acer japonicum 'Green Cascade'. it is over 6' tall and 10' wide. - - Amazingmaples.com
This year has been very unusual, weather wise, in my area in this month of October. After a first half of with cooler than normal temperatures (including a few nights with frost) which, as explained earlier in this thread, triggered color change in some trees; we have had an unusual heat wave for the second half of the month. Solid heat wave with sunny, balmy weather each day, with temperatures between 20-25°C ( 70 -80°F) in the daytime and above 13°C (60°F) at night. Plants are confused and some thought that, after a short winter, spring is back again!, like my pear tree which is in bloom!!. As for the maples, those that were green, (the majority), have stayed green (including a few with new growth) and those that started changing with the cold temperatures, remained stuck in an intermediate color and then the leaves turned brown, curled and dropped. This happened to my large 'Osakazuki which has always displayed a reliable bright red and this year got stuck in some sort of unusual orange-red. Just for fun I am attaching a pic, taken today, where in the foreground there is a 'Hogyoku' still green and in the background is the 'Osakazuki', already losing its leaves. Gomero P.S.: The forecast calls for seasonal cool weather starting Nov 1st ;o))
I can see what you're saying, amazingmaples, but I think Katalina is expressing her encouragement in this case -- red's a stimulatory colour, after all. I know what you mean by a person's signature coming up over and over again, and that seems to be a trigger point for some people. In the past, I've had it set up so that a signature appears once per thread (or maybe once per page). I'm considering doing so again, I've taken your point, and I hope others will refrain from discussing the issue here (perhaps start a thread in Forum Feedback if you'd like to, though I think there have been previous discussions). Let's not let this get away from talking about autumn colours in JMs for 2009, because it's a great thread with a lot of sharing from diverse people.
Visiting Westonbirt it was interesting to note that while the majority of the JM's were displaying autumn colours, there was a sizeable minority that were still green, (and also others that were already defoliated). For example, when I encountered two large examples of 'Seiryu', I was disappointed to find one totally green and the other showing less than 10% autumnal foliage. 'Okushimo' was another cultivar noted for Autumn colour that was still green and many others such as 'Deshojo' were largely green. Obviously our weather thus far this fall has not been cold enough, for long enough, to turn these trees, and the mild spell that has lengthened the autumn display of most maples has left these others in limbo. I fear a real cold snap will see them lose their leaves while still green. The weather has been very mild for the time of year recently and it is interesting to see the parallels with gomero's experience some 500 miles to the south, we are probably experiencing some of the same weather systems coming in from the Atlantic Ocean. I am glad we don't have a continental climate; danc has snow already in Transylvania! Here are some more photos from Westonbirt. Some of the most interesting leaves are those that display several colours at once such as 'Umegae': 'Korean Gem' is one of the most intense reds at this time of year: 'Mirte', 'Yasemin' and 'Shinobuga oka': Considering the season a picture af 'Fall`s fire' seems right, and an 18cm leaf of 'Osakazuki':
Sasquatch does your seiryu always show that yellow to orange fall color like the one shown? All of the ones I've seen go from deep green to burgundy and deep red before becoming a nice bright crimson color right before leaf drop.
Gorgeous Maf, 'Umagae' is a favorite plant that I do not own. That 'Korean Gem' is a spectacular plant. I grow an 'Osakazuki' that has huge leaves like the plant you show, but not as much color this year. Great photos thanks for sharing.
Daniel It seems like this topic of fall color has started a nice thread for people to showcase their wonderful japanese maples. Everyone has a right to add to the thread and I do not see a big issue for people topromote their website in a thread if they are assisting in the thread but to only be adding a comment in order to promote their website is out of line. They may continue their practice but it is truely unwanted. What is wanted is photos of the great fall colors of the japanese maples in 2009 Here are a few one photo is an Acer palmatum 'Skeeter's Broom' which is about 7' tall and 5' wide the other photo is an Acer palmatum 'Fairy Hair' which is about 5' tall and 3' wide
I unsubscribe, sorry Mf I really enjoyed your thread to this point. Thanks Daniel, seems I can do no right here. Incidently Amazingmaples I do not need to promote my sites with visitors from every country.
The gold seems to be a regular color as it turns to red. This year, it was going slow, and it's bright red now. I'll try to take pix on Sunday, but here are 2 pix of the tree in October 2007 displaying the typical reds.
Very nice photos everybody. Haven't taken any fall pics this year of individual maple trees , so can only add a mixture of different trees. A wet, and now windy October, with snow forecast for next week. Pics taken Oct.20/09.
We have had a good fall here in Central Illinois. Often a hard freeze ruins the color, especially the Japanese maples. I put some pictures on my blog if anyone is interested. Kay http://summershollow.blogspot.com
What a great display of colors! Yes, maf, the snow was the extra something that made me post that picture. Second snow fall and it doesn't seem to last long. Here too the weather pattern is becoming more and more unstable.
