Acer palmatum 'Pixie'

50 maples, that is still a lot of trees when it comes to having the size winterhaven has her eyes on. I do not think I have 50 of them planted. Joyce, your Pixie will turn that same color, this tree came from the same place. This Pixie is also in full sun.

 

That's my intention and hope! :)

Now that we've gotten a few days of real sun, it's already looking a bit brighter. But there's really only a very few spots on my property that get significant sun. When I say a "sunny" spot, it's a very relative statement. LOL

 

I've had my Pixie for many years, and while its not the most robust grower, it never fails to provide a lovely shape and beautiful spring and fall colors. This photo was taken May 8 and shows nicely the spring color.

 

this Pixie has had great color this year and its fall color is getting even more vivid

 

I have Ap 'Pixie' which has a lot of vigorous atypical growth (continuations of normal stems) effectively almost doubling height of plant.
Is it best to remove all this growth with this cultivar,bearing in mind it'll also mean heading off the main stem?(something I don't like to do if I can avoid it)..many thanks.

 

'Pixie' is supposed to be a witches broom but looking at amazingmaples' picture I can't
see any leaves with foreshortened center lobes. I see 1 such leaf on mapledia's photo.
mrshep wisely mentioned to me that many witches broom maples seem to have many less
signature leaves as the trees age which seems true with many of my WB's but which 'trait' I
am studying. Do forum colleagues see this 'trait' with their WB's as they age?
Also, the 'Pixie' cultivar seems to have lost much of its WB characteristics in general.

 

Here are the fall colors for 2011, one tree is planted and the other is in a pot

 

Charlie, yours look fantastic. How big are those?

Pixie has been outstanding for me this fall. It glows.

 

the two trees are both a little over 7; tall, the one planted is much older than the other one which has been grown with lots of food, The one in the ground is a keeper, I have pruned it more open than most pixies

 

I think I remember seeing and admiring that particular tree at your house before. As you pull into your driveway is it on the left hand side?

 

that is the one, it is one of my original trees at out the first three truck loads to my house. i probably should have stopped then. Both trees this year were late to change color and were not as specatular as last year.

 

Acer palmatum 'Pixie' Summer color taken today. The tree is about 8-9' tall growing in full sun in Shaker Heights, OH. It was planted two years ago and stood up to Summer heat and drought with no signs of stress, the owners do not water (only watering the first few months after being planted in the first year) which speaks to the strength of this cultivar.

 

Pixie is nice as is Shaina, but Twombley's Red Sentinel seems to hold the red color longer in a hot and dry summer and of course fall here in the Northwest is awesome. How is your maple doing now Charlie, Amazing Maples?

 

Wondering about Ikandi - should I start another thread?

 

Yes, please, new thread.

 

If anyone is looking for a bold in your face maple then this is the one for you. The leaves have a shiny look during Summer and is a strong cultivar suitable for most aspects.

 

This is the 10th August 2020 and still in the heatwave. This is my continuing diary of my maples throughout the Summer as requested.
Have not posted this one for 6 weeks, sorry to those that requested a regular update.
It's teasing me with a hint of Autumn.

 

Pixie is a great compact little tree and stays red throughout the season. Mine is in full sun and does burn a little after a heatwave. Hopefully my shadetrees will provide a little more shade the coming years as they mature.

 

14th August 2020, rain at last here in England and Oh how my Maples needed it. Just over two weeks until Autumn starts here in the UK and the colours are rapidly changing.
Trying to take as many photos as possible to keep up to date with the requests.
Just adding this when M @MapleMO post just dropped in. What a coincidence .

 

@MapleMO, wonderful tree M.

 

All the colours are appearing now on all my maples and as promised I will keep the photo diary going to show the transformation. So much rain now and new growth, the new shoots are loving this weather at last.
My Pixie has e enjoyed all this rain and cloud so much and is giving me the red variations that I love about this cultivar.

 

28th August 2020 and the ground is incredibly wet for the time of year. Just had more hail stones and my maples that are heavy in leaf do not like it one bit.
How many colours on my Pixie, think it's easy to lose count.

 

Well its the beginning of September 2020 and the dew is appearing on the leaves. Together with the fast changing colours, it's that time of year of joy in the maple garden.
Probably my second favourite today after Atropurpureum. I keep going back time after time to look at my Pixie.

 

Hi D,

My Pixie has some coloration in the leaves which I havent noticed before. Do you think this could be a sign of stress or some deficiency? It is still pushing out some new growth so seems happy but I was just wondering about these leaf patterns. It is also on leaves which are shaded.

 

@MapleMO good afternoon M, first of all 'amazing' colours, secondly I have seen so many maples with colouring that is quite out of the ordinary this year, it is almost unbelievable. But we know that it is not.
There maybe a little stress involved due to the excessive heat in May and early August, but IMO nothing to worry about. I have had discussions about the lock down causing less pollution, hence giving increased solar strength to our trees this year. Solar energy via panels has increased dramatically around the world, so why wouldn't it affect plants etc etc. It will be interesting in 2021 to see how are trees have actually been affected by all of this.
There are a lot of trees putting out new growth at the moment, tbh I have not seen it this late before. That is my main concern. New growth so late in the season will almost certainly get hit by the first frosts and will probably mean a loss of those new branches.
So to cap it off M, nothing to worry about IMO. Enjoy the spectacular colours.