Hello all, First off, let me say that I'm not totally sure that this tree is an Orange Dream, as it was unmarked when I bought it. But I'm calling it as such after watching it grow last summer. (if you believe it to be another tree, please shed some light :-) Early this spring before it leafed out, I pruned a few roots and repotted the tree in a new mix. I thought I'd done a pretty good job, until the new leaves appeared. Over half the tree had pale yellow, nearly white leaves, as seen in the first pic. Other branches had the bright lime green leaves that I had seen last spring. Now the pale leaves are a mottled white & green and somewhat twisted, as seen in the second pic. The "normal" leaves can be seen in the background. What's going on here? I appreciate your input. Kevin in KC
Thanks for the tip, Kaitan. Is it common to have normal leaves on part of the tree at the same time? A year ago was the first spring I experienced with this tree, ca. 5-6' tall, and it had regular lime-green leaves all over, turning pale yellow in the fall. It was terribly root-bound in a 7 gal. container, but looked good all summer, despite the high heat and extreme drought. It's an upright growing tree with few twiggy branches. After root pruning and the new potting mix, it was extremely slow to wake up--- at least 3-4 weeks behind my other maples. Is this normal with Ukigumo? Kevin in KC
It could be. My Ukigumo (called floating clouds maple because of the variegation) was really white one year, but is usually mottled like your other leaves. I wouldn't worry too much, they will probably be more green as the season goes on. Kay
Looks cool, I'd be happy if I were you. I think it is Ukigumo, really cool tree. I'm going to post pics of a tree I got labeled Ukigumo but me and the grower both agreed it was mislabled because it just had leaves like you descrided for last year. This year it proved us both wrong, it looks exactly like Ukigumo now. You got to love these crazy trees! First pic is last year, then this year.
Well i can go one better than this, you state that in the first year the leaves on your tree were as pictured in your 1st of two pics and this year your 2nd picture had the familiar Ukigumo colour and pattern. Last year i bought five ukigumos in various sizes from 3 litre to 30 litre pots all the small ones were planted out in various areas of the garden all with different degrees of sunlight during the day and shaded with various other trees to give them mid day sun protection All of these have kept there colouration very well except for the one which i planted at the back of the house and only recieves direct sunlight for around one hour + a day when the sun sets in the evening, and as you can see from the picture i have a very nice clump of green non looking Ukigumo leaves just like your 1st picture, so i have learnt that a little bit more sunlight is required to enable this plant to keep in line with my others in relation to having more of the white mottled desired leaf form?
ROEBUK, when I had branches exactly like that growing from my 'Ukigumo' I observed that they did not return to normal 'Ukigumo' the next year and had to be pruned out for fear they would take over the tree. Even now, three years later a shoot that grew from the branch collar of the pruned branch showed the extra large reverted leaves; needless to say it was swiftly plucked out.
Maf, Yes the green leaf has been removed and i will keep my eye on this one now, have posted pics of my other Ukigumos the 1st pic was planted at the side of a Burgundy lace but the leaves when fully opened completely cast it into darkness so it quickly started to go back notice the green leaves, was dug up 10 days ago and thankfully is recovering. 2nd pic this one is between a vitifolium and sango kaku and is comimg on nicely and the 3rd pic this one ironically is kept shaded by one of my orange dreams and receives around 4 to 5 hours of sunlight daily and again this is progressing nicely. Have certainly learnt that this paticular cultivar needs to get the correct balance of light for a good leaf display, i like to keep as many of my Acers as possible in the ground so i am learning more each year just by keeping two of everything and constantly moving for the best location
