I have a 4.5 foot potted J.Aconitifolium that seems to be opening its upper most buds.. it’s been unusually mild here in the UK this year, hardly any frosts in my central area, so far.. very strange..and worrying if we get late frosts. I’ll move it to a very sheltered spot.. anyone else experiencing this?
Hi dicky, we are in central southern England, so the buds open earlier than most in the UK. But we have none opening atm, even our Katsura thank goodness. I think as the climate changes and warmer early Spring weather is a regular occurance, we maple growers are going to have to come to terms with the odd late frost burn, unless we pot them up and move them to sheltered positions. This is not an option if we have large collections planted in the ground and want a more natural look to our gardens rather than pots.
Hi dicky, I noticed a few of mine opening up last week (kiyohime, peve multicolor, and a few others). I had this same problem last year but it was in early March. I started a thread as well because it freaked me out. I live in the NE US and our last frost could be around the end of April. Luckily most of my jms are in containers and I have a greenhouse, garage, and shed to help with shelter. Right now only the few in the greenhouse have starting to leaf out.
Thanks..I’ve not experienced it before in February...but I think this is the mildest winter in the uk I can recall...so far ⛄️...just a few top buds splitting so far on one tree. Peve multicolour is on my watch list..not seen them readily available here
The winters here are seeming to get milder by the year. I'm not complaining because I'm from the south which is pretty hot and humid most of the year with pretty mild winters. But it makes me very worried about my trees. The last few years I've been growing tomatoes all the way until the end of Oct. My Peve Multicolor gave me a very beautiful sport last year (half green/half white leaves alone a branch). I don't know a lot about sports but I hope it becomes a promising one.
Very early indeed for 'Aconitifolium'! You'll actually need to protect it from heavy frost once it leafs out, though it will probably be safe to -2C or so. Lucky it's in a pot! Here a few of the Amur maples have begun leafing out, though they are very tough. A hard freeze will make them look pretty poor and possibly damage the year's growth. A. serrulatum, a Taiwanese maple, is almost ready. Unfortunately it's very frost sensitive. Another Taiwanese maple is this Trident, A. buergerianum ssp formosanum: I think it was raised in a greenhouse, only in the 2nd year here. You can see there's already stem growth happening. I've left it outside to greet storm "Dennis", but in a sheltered place. If/when have a freeze, it will come inside. -E
Today, 15th February my Katsura is sadly starting to leaf out. 'Far too early' and it's to large to protect from late Spring frosts. Its now being battered by storm Denis.
Dennis (as they're calling it here with double-n) hasn't really started yet this far south, though there's a fair bit of wind out there. Later tonight and tomorrow I expect. Funny I was just remarking on an east wind. I just noticed that the Neapolitan Maple, Acer opalus has huge and no doubt flower filled buds, almost open. Not typically one of the earlier maples, but I suppose it thinks itself in Naples, so... That's rather dire for 'Katsura', but if it gets a strong freeze and not consecutive ones, it will most likely survive the experience. Sorry to hear about it though, it certainly is one of the earliest, and a very lovely JM. The worst fear for these really early openings is that it will freeze followed by another mild 6 weeks or so, then freeze again in April. Two strong flushes followed by cold has cost us a lot of maples over the last several years.
Yes Dennis is causing havoc, not just the winds but a months worth of rain in 72 hours apparently. I think we maple growers are going to have more and more problems keeping them alive as the climate is changing. Looking at scientific reports from core samples in the Arctic this happend many times many thousands of years ago so this weather is due. Ginkos survived from Jurassic period so perhaps growing Ginko trees is the way to go !!!!!!!!!
As usual, the first ones to leaf out are A. tataricum var. ginnala, closely followed by A. p. 'Katsura', 'Orange Dream', 'Crippsii' and now 'Little Princess'. Others have buds that are swelling : it was 18°C this afternoon, very windy but very warm...
I’d say about 40% of my JM’s are now leafing out☹️ Including, Aconitifolium, Vitifolium, Katsura, Little Princess, Wilson’s pink dwarf, Phoenix, Filigree, Sango Kaku, Oridono Nishiki..I do hope we don’t get hard March frosts!
Three have leafed out, one with lots of flowers: - Katsura - Orange Dream - Tama Hime Others have buds that are just beginning to swell, it depends as much where they stay as what species/cultivar they are.
Wow Alain, it is amazing how far ahead you are! So pretty and exciting, now we just pray it stays warm, after such a warm winter. The strange thing here is that while some things are right on time or even a little late -- crocus and daffs still in full show, the Manchurian Maple just starting to open, along with the Japanese Quince as always -- others are miles ahead: the Neapolitan Maple in bloom, lilacs getting ready to open before the Amelenchier! Just a really strange year, and after 3 years of deep April freezes praying we don't have another one this year. Just took a few maples from the stable, A. barbinerve has burst, a couple of small sinopurpurascens, usually reasonably late, are on the edge, and A. tsinglingense also. The ones in pots are further along then in the field. Even the little pentaphyllum you sent me last year is starting to bud out, clearly the early version! The others here are still in deep sleep, thankfully. I'm really way behind on planting, with the wet I've been unable to dig. I may have to put some off until next year, which would be unfortunate.
Another one that is now in leaf is A. 'Crippsii' (*). Two A. shirasawanum from 'Autumn Moon' that are slightly different (bark, strength, colour) are next to each other and one is earlier than the other. Next to them, a 'Deshojo':
More, between two showers of rain. L: A. morofolium, R: Acer rubescens. These two leafed out early because I kept them in my basement for over a week, before and after repotting : Acer elegantulum : A. p. 'Little Princess' : Another one that is not very early, 'O-sakazuki' :
Bonjour tout le monde, It's an early spring here : 17°C this afternoon and mostly sunny. We're going to have rain tomorrow, but the rest of the week should be dryer. Lots of flowers on : - 'Crippsii' (or what I think it is) : - 'Beni Hagoromo' I will attempt to air-layer it and take some cuttings this summer too, I hope it can survive on its own roots : - 'Ryusen' The two Acer shirasawanum I mentioned above, from seeds collected on an 'Autumn Moon'. The smaller one has big leaves and the bark is still green almost down to the roots, the bigger one has small leaves (I'll see if they retain this difference when I repot them next spring - or this summer) and the bark is greyish.
I have 3 Sango Kaku trees, 2 of them have intense red branches/trunk and one is less so..it’s strange that the intense red trees have no sign of leaving out yet but the other is well on its way.. All three are in pots
I think it is not so strange @dicky5ash. I have clones of several acer palmatums and the individual pieces I made by layering, rooting cuttings, and grafting do not leaf out at the same time! Microclimates (or some such), I think.
I second what "Osoyoung" says: I potted about 3 dozen or so plain A.p. I sowed last spring. They all from the same tree, and looked exactly the same, but now that they are in individual pots, some have a reddish bak, other smaller leaves, and the colours of the young leaves vary a lot. I'm pretty sure that when they establish, there will be no, or very little difference at all - I have a few cultivars so one can't exclude cross-pollinisation. But I think it will only be marginal.
Things are just getting under way here. Only my Shin Deshojo has started leafing out as of a few days ago.
