Cheering ourselves up with Maples

Thankyou Monica.


D

 

Acerholic, great photos, Skeeters broom will be the next in my collection.

 

It does very well in the sun and heat, so I do reccomend it highly for there in Spain. Have a lovely weekend.

D

 

Emery, I think the Monicasanchez maple is opalus subsp. granatense.
Here in Sierra Nevada (Granada) we have many specimens.
What can be a bit confusing is the shape of the leaf that changes a little with age.

 

Yes @zfrittz I think we are all agreeing. @monicasanchez 's maple is that maple which is now called Acer granatense; this is the same thing as Acer opalus subsp. granatense: Acer opalus subsp. granatense (Boiss.) Font Quer & Rothm. — The Plant List

In the work by the Maple Society species group, we can also see that Acer granatense has been raised in rank and is no longer considered a subspecies of A. opalus: Accepted Names for the Genus Acer | The Maple Society

I had mentioned that A. granatense used to be called A. opalus subsp hispanicum. This was true in 1996 (Maples of the World) where it is listed as a synonym; but in the mean time subsp hispanicum has been sunk into synonymy with plain old Acer opalus.

Taxonomy is ever changing! :) But hopefully Acer granatense is here to stay. As I said it is exceptionally rare outside of Spain.

I don't ever remember seeing that granatense is native on the Belearic Islands, very interesting.

-E

 

In the association of "friends of the bonsai of Granada" we have always thought that the granatense maple originated in Granada, especially in Sierra Nevada and some higher points of the province, although there are also some areas of Malaga, Murcia, Balearic Islands and other places in the south of Spain, but a few years ago and thanks to a repopulation made by the Granada Deputation of autochthonous trees of Granada, it has spread widely throughout Andalusia and can now be seen in many parks and gardens as well as in nurseries.
Around here it is called Granada maple.

 

If anyone is interested, when there are granatense maple seeds I will collect in case someone is excited to plant some.

 

Ha ha! I am that someone @zfrittz !!

 

I'm also that someone @zfrittz.

 

@zfrittz, I would like to be that someone, but my wife says quite firmly, I have no more room. 'Very kind' offer though Fritz.

 

These are a few of mine that have that I planted to give a different combination of textures and colours at various times of the seasons. The first has Sekkan Sugi and the last is Lionheart (miss spellings). Sorry.
Just took these before the heat and after watering. Everything is Soooooo very dry.
Enjoy your Sunday.

D

 

Just visited my eldest daughter for her birthday. It was so nice to see her again, even though no hugs. She wanted to show me a few of her maples that are doing well. She gave me permission to share these with you all. Our daughter and son in law are now ordering 3 more next week. (Hippopotering). Think they are hooked, lol.
They have Atropurpureum, Orange Dream, Wilson's pink dwarf and they thought Bloodgood, but I think its another Atropurpureum as the leaves are turning shades of green amongst the reds.
The last two photos are of Wilson's pink dwarf, it is loving their soil (not clay) and position.
Anyway here they are, my daughter and son in law' s first on the UBC maples forum. I hope it's the start of many.

D

 

When the time comes for the seeds I warn you.

 

Our weather here in western Idaho is changing and has already almost hit a hundred degrees F. So I went out to photograph before some of the trees showed their stress. I love to look at the contrasting colors and textures of maples and other plants together so that is what I concentrated on. Was surprised how my rose bushes (which were there before all the maples) have grown taller and taller as the maples get taller--guess they are competing for sun. 'Mon zukushi' looks like a flower all by itself and Hefner's Red just needs blue sky to show it off.

 

@Cjart , good evening C , 100 ° Wow. Companion planting sets off all plants and shows maples at their best.
I love what you have achieved in your garden. You can feel the heat through your photos. Thankyou for all the colour.

D

 

Thank you D. I have to relish this time in our weather because later on it gets so hot but last night had a thunder storm and the aftermath feels really good. Enjoying everyone else's photos a lot. C

 

So I dusted off my other cameras today and took some test shots to compare to my Samsung Galaxy 7 cell phone. I couldn't get the Lumix to work right on the macro setting. I'll have to look into that. Here are some from the FujiFilm S2000. Got some good shots but had to discard quite a few due to focus and exposure. They may be better for portraits and landscapes, but I think I will stick with the cell phone for plant pics. Easier to use and more consistent results for me. NOTE: The last dandelion pic my wife took with her iPhone 11.

P.S. I went with my wife to a nursery today so she could pick out some annuals to plant. She yelled at me "Enough with the maples!" when I checked out a plant tag for a JM.

 

@dangerine49 , good evening J, the phone cameras are just so good these days. But you still need to have the eye for a shot which you do and looking at your wife's photo so does she.
Btw I get the same remarks at nurseries and garden centres from my wife, lol. They don't complain when they are in the ground at home though, 'looking great'. Well, maybe a little !!! lol.

D

 

Well, 1st of June and it's going to be hot hot hot here today, so I think I will just sit in my garden watching Spring colours turn to Summer and wait for the first electronic Maple Society news letter to drop into my in box.
Always an enjoyable read.

If it wasn't for the virus, I would say as a maple lover, it's been a 'halcyon' Spring. The colours have been truly amazing this year.

For those already and returning to work today, 'Keep safe'.

D (Acerholic)

 

Good morning D. First day back for me. Lots of precautions is being taken which is great and normal for my line of work. Enjoy your day and post a pic of the tree that looks best to you today for me.

Thanks
D

 

Hi D , this one is looking rather cool on a hot day today in Southern England, 'Ukigumo'. I've also attached a photo of where my wife and I do our daily early morning walk. It's along the River Itchen in Hampshire which is only a few hundred yards from our house. Hope it cheers you up for your first day back to work.

D

 

I took this picture yesterday at my in-laws house while helping them move. this was a young tree when they bought the house and they didn't like where it was and were going to trash it. I offered to move it to a different spot where they and the tree would be more happy. this is appx 10 years later and it sure has grown to a beautiful tree!

 

@ryanskarma , good afternoon Ryan. You said it right on the last two words. 'Beautiful tree'.

A jealous D lol

 

Today I have been looking at the granatense maple to see if it had seeds, but I have seen two other types, I think they are a montpellier maple, another opalus and the other the granatense maple, I comment on it to see if you agree or I'm wrong. the sheet photos.
Another strange thing that I have seen are the seeds of the supposed granatense that instead of two are three and I have already been left with the doubt.
Anyway, I know the place where there are granatense for sure, but I had this one near where I work and I have come to see it.

 

The first one does look like Acer monspessulanum, maybe the third one too, there can be variations in the type, and the leaves are much bigger and can have more lobes, but I'm not sure about the second one.

I have a couple of Acer monspessulanum, one in the ground (see other posts), others as bonsai : the small leaves don't reduce that much.
Here are some photos of my "Erable de Montpellier" in the ground :



I also have two "strains" of Acer campestre.

The first one (various chance seedlings from the garden) has leaves that to me are the leaves of the "true" species, at least they're like the one I've seen from my early childhood whether here or there. In full sun, some develop a kind of cork-bark. I saw this too on "field maples" and elms in Catalunya :



The second one has much less divided lobes. One I'm training as bonsai :



The "mother plant" is reduced each year to about 2,50 mtres. The leaves are much bigger when planted in the ground :



The second one may be a hybrid, but the stems and branches have the milky sap that Montpellier maples don't have when you break them.

And the two adjacent veins of the Montpellier maples have a very flat angle (10-15° ?), which is not the case in Acer campestre.