I have a japanese maple, seiryu - I was kind of disappointed that seiryu didn't turn out to be "lip-stick" red similar to the photo shown in mountainmaples.com last fall. Here's the link: ttp://www.mountainmaples.com/ So, what do I need to do to make it more lip-stick red next autumn?
My seiryu has never been that colour in autumn, and I am pleased about that, as too many red maples in autumn can be rather boring :) I love the colour the tree gets in autumn ... so many shades of gold, orange, yellow, red etc What actual colour do you get? Probably your climate doesn't deliver a cold enough winter?
Part genetics, part climate. The climatic component is probably significant here; the main trigger to intense colours is clear, cold (nearly, but not quite freezing) nights and hot, sunny days in [N Hemisphere] late September or early October / [S Hemisphere] late March or early April. Neither Australia nor Northern Ireland (both of which have oceanic type climates) is particularly good in producing that sort of weather; it usually needs a cool continental climate for these conditions to occur. In terms of genetics, species which are native to climates where this type of weather is more frequent, show a much greater tendency to produce intense colours; northeastern and central Asia, northeastern and central North America are the prime examples.
