But I think my pretty little Murasaki hime has bit the dust. Won't know for certain until everything starts leafing out (though, by the looks of some of my other maples, that could be in the next few weeks), but to my untrained eye, the tree doesn't look so good. The picture isn't the greatest - I can retake, just let me know - but what are your thoughts?
Well, I don't like the looks of that bark at all--on the side we can see, it looks like it's completely dead, probably a victim of something verticillium-ish. I know it won't be any comfort, but I've lost two of them over the years, and just when they were beginning to look good. Maybe it's unusually susceptible to this pathogen that's the bane of maple growers? Well, two of us is not a very representative sample. It's possible that it will rebreak in spring if there's some bark still alive, but that could be from either above or below the graft. My condolences. I hope you're too optimistic about things breaking dormancy soon--here in Ithaca my maples are never hurt by late frosts, but anything that breaks dormancy now is doomed. We've had mostly temps in the 30s and 40s all winter, and the last two days have reached 50. D.
All you can do is wait, I'm afraid. I would certainly have low expectations, sorry. I gather there are no live buds on any of the side branches. What are those twisty things? Looks almost like bindweed. Condolences from here too. -E
It looks like wire. Both copper or aluminum are used in bonsai for training. Galvanized steel wire will poison a tree. I usually remove any wire on maples by the end of summer.
While we've had a warm winter, back in late November and December, we did have some fairly cold nights - down into the low 20's - and the tree was outside with a bunch of my other maples. Under cover up against the house (protected from wind) with mulch around and up to the rim of the pots. I had thought that would be enough, but maybe not with the trunk and branches so small... Plus, last summer was a killer (over 50 days of temps over 100), and while it seemed to deal with the heat fairly well at the time (better than a lot of my other maples), maybe a combination of the two got to it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but am not hopeful. As for breaking dormancy soon, I really hope not, but we've had robins in the yard for a while now, I saw a bee and a cricket yesterday, some dandelions are growing, and my mums and irises are starting to grow (and not just the early irises either)... No buds I can see, unlike all my other maples. As JT said, it's wire; I was training the tree as a bonsai, and it looked like it was going to be a fairly nice one in time. I had thought of removing the wire, and in retrospect probably should have as the wire would have conducted the cold onto those tiny branches, but didn't really want to go through the hassle of rewiring it now in spring - those little branches are a PITA to wire, let me tell you. And with maples being so brittle, wiring them - while a necessity at times - is an exercise in patience and being extremely careful.
Hope your tree makes it, I see what you mean, that bark doesn't look good. What are we going to do with this warm winter? I have all my potted maples in the garage and it looks like buds are swelling in early Feb. There is no way we won't get some cold weather yet this winter. Kay
My AP bonsai leafed out in the garage yesterday. One leaf pair may have leafed out a couple days earlier as the pair had already failed. Right now it will spend the next 2-3 months indoors, unless spring comes very early. The rest of them are doing ok. I used peat moss around the sides of the pots to insulate them from temperature swings. The bonsai that leafed out was the only one that was not insulated by peat. I feel like the peat will only buy me so much time with the other trees. Bringing the rest in the house is not an option.
RIP Murasaki hime :( Took it into a local nursery that - for our area - specializes in JM's, and they confirmed that it is deader than a doornail, through and through. I have about 4 or 5 maples that have very swollen buds and look like they will begin to open within the next week or two. I'm hoping to get the ones repotted that need it before they start to leaf out...
