Cheering ourselves up with Maples

Good to hear it doesn’t affect daily life too much, apart from being known by locals as the ill-mannered fellow :)

 

Good morning, so much rain overnight, hence my theme today is simply 'Raindrops'.
Hope everyone else's trees are enjoying the Autumnal weather.

 

I wish we could get a little rain here, but at least things are starting to show some autumn color. Baldsmith and one of the Sango's. The Grandma Ghost is sprouting like gangbusters!

 

@dangerine49 good evening J, stunning photos of maples in some warm sunshine. So cold here atm, Lol.

 

Went to the nursery yesterday and saw a bunch of somewhat atypical circinatum, almost as if someone had separated out about a dozen oddballs from the 'classic' looking.
None had grafts and were different from each other to varying degrees.
I picked one that had a strong curving leaf profile and small leaves on the old growth, with summer growth looking more typical.
I wonder how different they would all be in a few years.
At $9.00 I felt compelled to go 'native'.

 

@wind-borne good evening G, the Vine maple should be grown in every garden IMO and your photos might just convince a few more to go down that route. I think you got a real bargain. Loving those Autumal colours.

 

Good morning, I thought how about subtle Autumnal colours. Not everything can be bright, but they still cheer me up on a cold start here in England.

 

Good morning on a bright start to what is a depressing day for a lot here in England, with more lockdowns in so many places.
So here are a few that are showing new growth nearly in October, because there is nothing like new life to cheer us all up IMO.
Last but not least my Grandma ghost showing why at this time of the year it is my favourite.

 

Good evening, I've had a busy day in the garden, but before coming in and as the sun was shining so brightly, I thought I would take these as they were looking rather cheerful.

 

I got this egg shaped hanging chair for my wife this spring. An enterprising arachnid has recently set up shop with a web taking up the perfect sized opening. It hides mostly up top waiting for customers. My wife won't go in it now and I won't evict this creature for her. Maybe the next rain will move him elsewhere.

I'm loving that part of Grandma Ghost thinks it's spring.

 

@dangerine49 good evening J, well I'm lost for words about a spider or your wife !!!!! Lol.
Back to maples, your Grandma ghost is covered in buds as well as looking wonderful now. You bought a good one there J.

 

Bright blue early morning Autumnal skies with the sunshine peaking through the leaves, so took just these few moments ago.

 

The shadows cast by the few remaining leaves are the highlights for 'Aureum' these days.



'Hubbs Red Willow' in late afternoon sun, a couple leaves are in focus somewhere there.

 

@wind-borne good afternoon G, that Autumn light is very special. Shadows and a glimps of the sun has highlighted the beauty of your maples. 'Lovely'.

 

What a differance a day makes at this time of the year, but you would think I mean colder!!! But no, it's now as I type this 16°C and yesterday at this time it was 5 ° C and actually much colder a lot earlier.
Oh well, the strange weather is producing Spring growth and Autumn leaves, so that is my theme today. 'Weirdness'.

 

Just gotta love weirdness! Not much happening in my yard yet. I was just wondering, do you have to do a lot of pruning to keep your trees from growing into each other, as you have quite a few mature and young trees? Or do you just keep moving them around?

 

@MapleMO good morning M, yes there us something to be said for weirdness in the plant world, always keeps us guessing!!!
Regarding my trees, once they are planted that's where they stay, there have been a few exceptions but as a whole I like to see them grow into each other a little.
I carry out my pruning in February to train them in the direction I want them to go. But more often than not even after doing this they do their own thing. Lol. So the answer to your question is Yes, quite a lot of pruning.
In 2019 I totally rearranged my garden, so a lot were moved and pruned back quite hard, so in effect it became a new garden. My old trees that are over 30 years old stayed mostly where they were.
I do move some to my daughters garden to allow for a new tree or two each year. It is nice to have a change.
Hope your garden is coming along nicely after your planting out. The colours are not too far away now in your location. Exciting time of the year for us maple enthusiasts!!

 

The trunk I can see on the left, in thje last picture (Ariaki nomura 171.JPG), is it a flowering cherry ?...

 

@AlainK good morning Alain, well spotted, yes it is, it's Prunus Amanogawa.

 

After a lot of rain and strong wind, temperatures as low as 14°C, it's a bit warmer (18) and no wind today. Even a few sunny patches.

I spotted a red dot in the shaded place. New growth at the top of 'Beni hagoromo' :



To the left, 'Bihoo', foreground, 'O-sakazuki'.

They all need larger pots : with the pot, 'Beni hagoromo' is taller than me (1m78), and so is 'Bihoo'.

 

@AlainK is this the way of things now with our maples!!? New growth going into October. What will happen after the Winter and next Spring is anybodies guess !!! Dead wood to be cut back everywhere I suppose!!!!????
Your garden is looking remarkably lush and especially after the Summer you have just experienced. You have very 'Happy trees' Alain.

 

Hu hu... No, I'm just good at chosing the right angle when I take photos <LOL>

'Redwine' turning red :



Acer aff. shirasawanum, or x shirasawanum, not sure how I should call it. Maybe Acer 'Spiltwine' ;0) :

 

Acer shirasawanum 'Autumn Moon', in the shade. Most likely needs a much more acidic mix :



Two of the trees I got from its seeds:

1/ Large leaves :



2/ smaller leaves. Hybridized with the Acer(s) palmatum I have ? The buds look more like shirasawanum, the bark and the shape of the leaves in-between. I will definitely try to air-layer it to see if I can "bonsaify" it ^_^

 

Is this Acer truncatum?

 

It looks like it, yes...

I have a few from seeds that look a bit different from the photos one can find on the web, but they're only in their 3rd year, so I can't judge from my "specimens", but yours do look like it.