Don't know if anybody else is finding that this year is proving to be excellent for the varieagated varieties of JM. The colours and leaf markings are some of the best i have seen in the past 10 years of caring and growing of JM. Now if this is down to the very mild winter we have just had in the UK i couldn't say but they are certainly providing a good show at the moment, saying that i have certainly moved quite a few varieties around the garden over the years, and now i think everbody seems to be very happy where they are planted or container kept. All of my Ukigumos are very white at the moment, Purple ghosts and Amagi shigure are now ground planted and showing good colours and growth.Even the variegated dissectums are showing good colouration this year beni shidare tri colour,goshiki shidare and toyama nishiki. But on a down side we may have had a mild winter but we are plauged with some of the worst infestations of bugs i have ever encountered. There are things growing and living on the trees that are down right scarry!!!!! huge amounts of aphids, caterpillars slugs snails and spiders and things i have never seen before. Very strange year climate wise. Picture of Ukigumo, Peaches and Cream, Ariadne , Shigitatsu sawa and Kasagi yama even the Ashai zuru in the top right has made a comeback from near death, two years ago after sudden die back on one half of the tree, good prune new container and new growing medium seems to have sorted the problem nicely. All the guys who have posted about the awful winter you have just suffered, i really do share your loss and feel so sorry for you all. If this ever happened in the UK i don't if i would have the heart to continue again, and this post is probably the last thing you want to be reading about just now? So apologises for any upset!!! and hopefully things will get better for you all.
Looking good! Most of my variegates look great too. 'Ukigumo' is very white and 'Filligree' looks the best it ever has with very clear variegation.
Well, hard to say if it is the climate, but it is similar here and it's true my only variegated maple (labeled 'Butterfly' when I bought it) is showing its best colours ever.
Looks like Butterfly to me, Alain, but there may be a few versions around. My young graft shows a quite a bit more pink, but I'm not really sure if it has taken yet. Pretty much an average year for the variegates here. But it's so bl**dy wet and cold that JMs are having a hard time getting going.
