What a strange year...we had summer in April...27 degrees,a record breaker.Summer didn't really happen, mostly around 20's and below,coldest for 18years....and now it's set to reach 27 degrees by friday....no wonder my maples are confused. I've got Aureum&Tamukeyama going into autumn mode...Sango&Bi Hou reaching for the sun pushing lots of growth(could be a big die-back year for those two)...and poor ol' Crimson Princess has a bit of both. Think Autumn Moon's got the right idea...lose it's leaves early and sleep the rest of the year AGAIN ha ha:)
My plants also have no idea what's going on either! My Ghosts, Oridono Nishiki, Toyama Nishiki all have new growth, while existing growth is just starting to show speckles of fall color. Even my Kamagata prematurely dropped quite a few leaves, and now the remainders are slightly yellowing and red-freckling while mixed with bright green new leaves. Very awkward.. I was really hoping to have a lovely fall show this year, but I honestly think the weather has been so confusing that they just might all brown and drop. :(
I've just been out collecting seed. Very strong growth now starting on A. schneiderianum A. pensylvanicum A. pseudosieboldianum A. longipes ssp catalpifolium and others. Truly bizarre, but 2 weeks of 28 C and lots of sun will do that, I suppose. The sad thing is all this good growth will surely not have time to ripen. So it will die back. Hopefully these trees will be able to put out another set of buds... Color-wise is not great so far, a few went very early because of the drought, the others seem to just be browning out by and large. Early days yet, though. -E
OK, A. schneiderianum is flowering... :( I really hope this attractive tree will make it through the winter. I noticed some beautiful yellow lupins at my neighbors today! -E
