Cheering ourselves up with Maples

And a few non-maples: Quercus rysophylla, spectacular color on new growth; Liquidambar styracuflua 'Silver King', Quercus myrsinifolia, a lovely Japanese oak; Cornus hongkongensis, an evergreen dogwood with a very long (and late) flowering time.



-E

 

The tape I use is Teflon tape (PTFE), the one used by plumbers.
It has the peculiarity that it is not necessary to knot it just to spin it and leave the end loose so when it begins to sprout, you just have to slide it and it is very tight, if you make any graft like that, be careful not to get the grafts wet.

 

Three different ones : on the left, 'Tama Hime', small leaves, very compact, top right, one from seed, slightly weeping, probably from a dissectum, in the bottom right, another hybrid from seed that I defoliated a month ago, "normal leaves but rather long internodes :



In the same shaded spot, 'Trompenbug' which is losing its red colour :



'Phoenix', an air-layer that is faring well in the shade :



The (potted, 1m60) 'O sakazuki' that provides shade to the above mentioned trees. The upper leaves have taken the sun :



In the morning and evening sun, I have these three seedlings that self-sowed in a pot under my 'Sago Kaku'. At first, three years ago, I didn't think they were that different from the main species, but now that they are developping, the bark of the new shoots is very red :



Cheers !

Alain

 

Good evening Emery, if there is anything to compare with the best reds of Autumn then that's Liquid Amber, (all varieties). The most beautiful I have seen is at RHS Rosemoor by the lake in October.

 

Alain, Can I ask how your Trompenburg fares, I'm on no3 now on the three strikes and out protocol. Yours looks good.

 

Liquidambar are now very popular trees on the sides of some streets here. There's one that goes from Orléans to Olivet, in Autumn, it's really spectacular. I took some photos, but I'm not sure I can find them again. I used to have one that I sold for cheap to a bonsai buddy...

 

Sure : I bought it in summer, so it's its third year now. I repotted last year, and it seems to be very healthy. I keep it in the shade, and so far, it seems all right, except for the colours that probably turn to bronze green earlier than if it was in full sun.

 

The only one I can find is from a distance at Rosemoor, but it shows how it stands out. The benefit from Liquid Amber is that's hardy in all seasons, no scorched leaves in Summer. A good tree for protecting delicate maples !!!

 

Thanks Alain, my new one was purchased in May, so I will be interested to see and hear about yours next Spring.

 

If I didn't know better I would look at your photos and think 'beginning of September'. Same happening here !! Love your Emmetts Pumpkin.

 

Typical summer weather here. Hot and humid with occasional thunderstorms. It's 88 F right now at 3 PM. Dry yesterday and today, but T-storms called for over the next 3 days.

 

At last somewhere is typical atm lol. Think Summer might return to England next week !!!??

 

Alain here are a couple of my Cryptomeria japonica's first is 'Globosa' known in the UK as 'Japanese cedar' then the ground growing/spreading 'Spiralis' which as the name suggest's just twists and turns in any direction, looks nice next to a red maple.

 

D, wouldn't hold your breath on that one !!!!

 

Good evening M, I'm not Lol. Wind still blowing hard down here. Very strange !!!!

 

Looks like we all have one near a red maple in our gardens. Great minds think alike !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? Maybe.

 

D, Second that the weather is just a nightmare at present, the winds never seen anything like this years constant barrage , day after day week after week it never ends !!!! my clematis have all been decimated,the roses large hybrid T's actually blown over and uplifted by the roots, and quite a few container maples i don't even bother moving them now for protection no where is safe for them, ones that looked so promising in the spring just look like s*#te now so just letting them go through the motions of surviving by themselves, then come the fall will look at some hard branch pruning for next year and try and find more sheltered areas if poss. The rain today has been biblical with the wind's thrown in as well , have just been looking out of the rear window all day on to the garden and thinking 'really' what else can happen will probably snow next week knowing my luck , it's so disheartening this year in the garden , plus the terrible covid 19 as well to contend with, 2020 a year never to be forgotten for sure.

 

Here (around Orléans), after a wave of unusually hot weather (up to 34°), we're having cloudy weather, almost no rain, and 23-25° in the afternoon.

This morning, it "rained" ^^ : the soil was dry under the leaves ! This afternoon, it was like it was going to rain, some sort of damp, warm weather, but no, warm wind (very bad for J. maples) and no rain at all.

Apparently, there's going to be another dry week ahead, temps between 25 and 30 at most.

 

So sorry M, I was talking to my wife earlier whilst watching our precious trees being hit so hard by this wind and heavy rain, saying I wondered how you were getting on 200 miles north of us. I would imagine Luke @Luke’s Maples and R @dicky5ash are also suffering. Haven't heard from others in the UK today yet.
The one thing that we can all do, is share on this thread how we are getting on and tbh it helps a lot, well maybe a little!!!
Your so right, 2020 is a year to forget for more than one reason.
Again let's sing that song in our heads, Always look on the bright side of life..............

 

Sorry if that sounds a bit off the tracks, but the previous messages made me think of :



I hope no one will feel offended, it's just that in these times, sometimes I just need to laugh out what I can't control, or even understand.

 

Glad to hear Alain, just looked at the weather and it appears there is a heatwave on the horizon for France and the rest of Europe. To be expected in July, as long as it's not without some rain, but these days who knows. I'm beginning to think more about some shading and wind breaks, as it looks like these conditions are going to continue more in the future and we will have to adapt or lose our lovely maples.
Think we might need this thread long term, lol

 

Brilliant Alain.

 

Try watching this clip without whistling can't be done, remember going to see this at our local cinema when it first came out in the 70's , never laughed so much at a film since 'Blazing saddles' :) :) another non PC film in today's climate.

 

Glad we are all smiling atm. Good old Monty Python, 'always works'.
Should be the threads theme tune !!!!??

 

Hi all. I agree M, I feel really disheartened too. I mowed the lawn today and had to empty our padding pool to move it. I carry on mowing and I hear my daughter Charlotte shout “Dad, your maples”. I look round to see the pool had blown over landing on some of my trees. I bit my lip so as to not swear in front of her as I carefully lift it off whilst scanning for any damage. I thought I’d gotten away with it until I see the look on my daughter’s face as she is trying to hold one of the main branches of my beloved Shishigashira in place. This time I did swear, which I’m not proud of!

The view from my back garden is quite lovely, looking out over the countryside. But, the open space seems to encourage the wind and my trees get battered. I’m constantly checking the weather for wind speed and direction etc so I can move them in an attempt to minimise the damage they are sustaining.

To cheer myself up I just purchased a Red Dragon and a Lionheart. More trees to get upset about lol.