Acer palmatum 'Westonbirt Red'

Does nobody have a picture of a Westonbirt Red?

This Maple has been cultivated from a Specimen within the Arboretums grounds in Gloucestershire, England.

It has a low growing form with a spreading habit, and turns a vivid red colour in the autumn.

Released in 2006 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Forestry Commissions ownership of Westonbirt Arbouretum

 

Acer palmatum 'Westonbirt Red' doesn't have a particularly low growing habit at all. The original plant (located in a grassy ride known as The Link in Silk Wood) is well over 4 metres in height and has a nice, rounded canopy.
I'll try to attach a picture.
We selected it because of its outstanding red autumn colour. There are many other red coloured Maples within the vicinity, including the well known 'Osakazuki', but we felt the original plant stood out more within the woodland glade setting.
Equally spectacular (and probably my favourite of the two) is A.p 'Westonbirt Orange'. Similar in habit and size, the autumn leaves almost glow.
The 3rd variety we released in '06 was A.p 'Spreading Star'. This may be the tree you were referring to as far as the low growing habit comment goes. Unlike most other low, wide spreading A. palmatum varieties, ours has full size leaves which are not dissected in any way.
Please be patient with me for the picture. I'm a little slow with technology!

 

Hi Luke,

Thanks for the further information and the correction.

I have to admit the comment I made about it being low growing was take from a press release about the trees ;o)

Maybe need to start a topic for the Orange and Spreading star as well?

James

 

Hey James,

Here is an image attached of a Westonbirt Red.

Luke

 

Hi Luke,

There is also a Westonbirt Super Ruby which I bought from Esveld 3 years ago. It is a spreading red dissectum which shows, in my place, the best performance of all dissectums under the hot afternoon sun of Southern France. Curiously it is no longer in their catalog. Do you know about it?

Gomero

 

Although not specifically a Westonbirt Red I have what was sold as a Acer Plal. 'Westonbirt Seedlings'
Raised from and seeds collected in Autumn 2008, at the world famous Westonbirt Arboretum

The plant itself is fairly unsubstantial except for the fact that here at the end of November it not only does it have all its leaves but has only just started to change leaf colour.

!! Please note the picture is not a Westonbirt Red !!

 

The A.p.'Westonbirt seedling is just that. A good seedling selected from the masses we raise each year. Generally they are good strong trees, normally upright in habit but quite variable in leaf shape and autumn colour.

As for 'Westonbirt Super Ruby', I think you can discard that name. There is an ongoing case with that nursery regarding the use of our name. It isn't mentioned in the world checklist of Acers (just produced by our curator). We've never selected a dissectum variety to produce commercially and anything with the Westonbirt name attached is being sold under false pretences or illegally. The same nursery produced the first batch of Westonbirt Red, Orange and Spreading Star but since then we have more or less ceased trading with them.
The nursery may well have stopped selling them as a result of a phone call from our people!

 

Great, I have a selection without a name, I'll call it 'Gomero Super Ruby', I trust nobody will object ;o)))))

Gomero

 

How do we newbies check the "world checklist of Acers"? Who has the list?

 

Hmmmm. Good question. It's literally just been published. I'm not sure if its on general sale yet. I'll check with the management!

 

Hi

I will probably start a new thread regarding this but thought I’d reply to this too. I have a Westonbirt Orange on order from a supplier called Ornamental Trees and I expect to receive the tree around November time, hopefully before the leaves drop. I have found very little information on this tree so far, perhaps because it is a fairly recent cultivar. I was hoping for some opinions, advice and possibly even some pictures.

Luke Harding - Hopefully this message will reach you as you appear to have great knowledge of Westonbirt Arboretum, a place I love very much.

Thanks in advance.

Luke

 

This is an old thread, so not sure anyone is following, but thought I'd comment on the World Checklist.

There will be an updated Checklist prepared, but there may be a few copies of the previous one still available. If anyone is interested, you can inquire from the Maple Society.

 

I love this cultivar, saying that I do love rather a lot of maples.
This Acer palmatum ' Westonbirt Red' has the most wonderful leaf structure all season long. Again if not an enthusiast you may well walk past this one and not notice in the Summer months.
But for those of us that are enthusiasts, then it is a winner in my books.
It takes full sun all day with no problem at all and is very Winter hardy, unlike the newer delicate varieties.
Photos are early Spring, Sumner and Autumn in my garden.

 

11th August 2020 and the heatwave continues, trying to update as many as I can as requested, even if they are not looking too good. Important to do this I feel.
6 weeks since my last posting on my Westonbirt Red. Sorry to the people who have asked for more regular updates. I am getting a bit behind.
I have new growth on this one, so very very late.

 

12th August 2020 still very hot and in fact yesterday was the hottest I've ever seen in my garden. Ground temperature hit 48° C by my trees.
They are all now suffering. But I will continue the Summer diary as requested.
Thought I would add this one today to show how the new growth is progressing in the midst of a heatwave. Exceptional temperatures yesterday. I will update again in next couple of days.

 

1st September 2020 and the very first Autumn dew arrives after a rather cold night.
On its way to the bright reds that are so distinctive of this cultivar.

 

6th September 2020 and there has been a lot of talk on the maples forum about the strange colours this year. Yes they are strange, but enjoyable to see none the less.
More dew and more reds appear on my Westonbirt red. So fast the transition now. The deep red branches are also very evident at this time of the year.

 

1st October 2020 and my Westonbirt red is giving out some lovley colours in my garden now.

 

21st October 2020 and my Westonbirt red is now completely red. Little hints of what what was, but Autumn has arrived on this cultivar.

 

26th October 2020 and how about this for a red with a hint of what was there in the Summer.

 

29th October 2020 and a year where my wife and I cannot visit Westonbirt. But my Westonbirt red will have to do alongside enjoying the wonderful photos from @dicky5ash and @Luke’s Maples that I reccomend everyone checking out, if you haven't already, here is the link.
Appreciation: - Westonbirt 23/10/2020

 

5th April 2021 and a maple that has the famous name, is now getting ready to burst. It is quite hardy, so the expected cold snap should not affect it too much.

 

24th April 2021 and now they start to unfurl those wonderful early red leaves.

 

7th May 2021and not a great deal further along for my Westonbirt Red, but you can see the progress every day now.

 

17th June 2021 and the second flush is already underway on my Westonbirt Red.