hi i have juste received and planted an acer conspicuum phoenix I am a bit surprised by the branches as you see on this picture, one branch shows the usual "effect" whith the red color and the white stripped whereas the other doestn't does it seem ok for you? should i cut the second branch? there are no bud on it. thanks for all samuel
Possibly where it was grafted? Though I can't see any grafting scar. Best to leave all the branches for now, until it is better established.
thnaks for this first answer the grafting point is at the bottom of the tree so i do not think it is the reason of such differences is there any of you that own this acer? can you post pictures of it? thanks again
how did they die? it is said that conspicuum phoenix is easier to grow than pensylvanicum erytrhocladum thanks for sharing your experience!
Looks to me like the red shoot is a newer one that came from a bud off the side of the older growth, all of the yellowish part all the way to the top being the same age.
i agree it is said that the new shoot on conspiccum phoenix are bright red but if the yellow brnach is the oldest, is it normal that there are no bud on it? will they apear later?
Branches store nutrients over winter which fuel new growth, so you are actually decreasing subsequent overall size increase by whacking them back. The false impression that hard pruning has increased vigor is created by the fast growth of the comparatively small number of replacement shoots that a tree or shrub sends out in its hurry to recover the lost top growth. When top-pruned trees in controlled studies have been dug up and weighed later it has been found that these had added less bulk after cutting back than those that were left alone (the control group).
with respect of Ron and Michael ,prune a little on top ,and see if the centre of branch are brown,if is brown ,remove immediately,because maple haven't good health....
i prune a very little on the top and there is life. It is bleeding now but in the centre of the branch there is a yellow/orange point like a "branch in the branch" is it normal?
My whole tree looks like your lighter colored branch and I am 99% sure that it died over the winter. Jerry
My entire, small tree is bright red, but the buds don't seem to be really swollen. The main tips were eaten by deer last year, but it didn't seem to affect the leaves. I also had some problems with aphids, but it looks healthy this spring, except for the buds. Being in Central Illinois, things are just beginning to open up (like palmatums), so I'm not too worried yet. Is it late to leaf out like A. griseum? Or are the buds not as large like the campestres and circinatums? My tiny little erythrocladum is also bright red and bursting with buds. This is the second one I've tried, so I am excited. My first erythrocladum had that different color on the branches and they were dead. In fact, they died branch by branch and I was thinking it was diseased. Kay Dye
P.S. on my previous post I'm sorry, the red barked maple I have is not Phoenix, its circinatum 'Pacific Fire' and it does have small buds, but seems to be okay. Kay Dye
During the growing season it is not uncommon for the red and stripes to fade. It does seem unusual that one branch has the prominent stripes and the other does not. I would wait until the fall/winter to see if the branch without the stripes has any color and striping. You can also compare leaves on the two branches once they emerge. If the they are markedly different I would prune off the branch w/o the stripes. hope this helps, robert
thnaks for your answer it is a great help i really do appreciate that you have took time for me so i will wait and see i hope that some buds will appear on the yellow banch thanks again!
Hi Bigjohn, I would not do anything to your maple other than look at it lovingly ;-)) The Conspicuum Phoenix is a very, very late leafer, I live in the same area as you and mine is still at the bud stage. The missing buds in your branch could be due to many things, like for example damage during packing and unpacking, this is a fairly common thing. Concerning the difference in colors, this is a normal situation with Snakebarks. If you look again to my thread on bark, you will see some amazing situations. I took a look to my 'Phoenix' and it does show bark patches which are yellow, others a faint red and others something in between. But comes Winter and it becomes all beautiful red as it should be. Gomero
