Thank you John and Pierre for your kind words. I'm back after a couple of difficult days and they mean a lot to me. I think John is right when he says another 10 years (at least!) are needed, while there are parts of the Aceretum and garden that are quite grown, whole areas still look sparse and underwhelming, at least to me. Still it is already fun to have visitors and talk trees; some people with good imaginations can see what I'm getting towards. Here are a few more: A little 'Aoyagi' (2), Acer pauciflorum (3), A. shirasawanum ssp. shirasawanum (2), Acers 'White Tigress' and miyabei, A. tataricum ssp ginalla 'Yama zakura'.
Some have already lost their leaves a couple of days after changing colours, esp. most of the A. buergerianums that were mostly in the sun. Others are just beginning to show some colour on some branches: - A.p. 'Momoiro Koya San' - A.p. 'Emerald Lace' - A.p. palmatum
A. shirasawanum 'Autumn Moon', and two "bonsai": On the left, A.p. 'Orange Dream', and on the right, the plain species, just beginning to turn red:
Still hasn't been very cool here. Very few trees of any kind have shown much fall color. Of my JM's only my oldest Sango has changed although I can see some slight color variation on a few Autumn Moon leaves, a Seiryu and one of my Butterflies. It's supposed to cool off this weekend so things should speed up soon. My oldest Sango Kaku is looking pretty great though:
After 50kts of wind gust, ice pellets mixed with heavy rain; this morning it's 39F and the leaves are still on the trees and the colors are slowly coming along. I have found that the healthier your trees the better they stand up to severe winds and the colors are much brighter and longer lasting. Updated front yard and a different view of the back yard. Slow but steady are the colors this Fall. This week forecast calls for sunshine and upper 40's to mid 50's with overnight lows near 40F. The combination of sun and crisp days should make for some great colors by Friday. I hope...
A few more colours. Temps are really dropping now, possible snow for the weekend !! Ornatum Ki hachijo Summer gold Red dragon Ryuzu Autumn glory Kyoryu x 2 Felice
Here is Acer palmatum ryusen with Acer shirasawanum autumn moon behind in morning sun. Then ryusen 5 hours later in the afternoon sun. Bonsai are just getting some purple tones.
Morning coffee with the changing colors of the front yard is a great way to start your day this time of year. Nice and cozy inside while the temperature is quite crisp outside. Our large picture window keeps the connection with the outdoors strong and makes for a great view of the garden as it goes through the seasons. It helps us appreciate the beauty of each season regardless of the weather. Our front yard was designed with the view from inside as the primary focus and the street view a very close second. Those who compliment the garden from outside are awe struck when they see the garden from our living room. It's something special that we share with our closest friends. It's a rare treat to feel such a connection with nature in a densely populated area.
The more I read and see about Japanese maples on this website, the more I am interested in acquiring more - especially those that can be grown in pots. Here is a photo of my gorgeous 'Seiryu' that I bought at a little corner store for $12 CAN about 8 years ago. My garden will never be what you could call manicured but I'm starting to realize there are lots of great places to grow Japanese maples. A new adventure!
It's finally cooling off here and the colors are starting to emerge. Most haven't yet but there's an orange Sango, a yellow Sango, Seiryu, one of the Butterflies pinking up, and an Autumn Moon just starting.
More which have turned very quickly since the begining of the week. Aoyagis x 2 (another week or so required to get the intense yellows as norm) Golden pond (moved to a new brighter spot than last year, bit more red than usual ) Kamagata (More sun on this one this year , better colours) Red wine Pendulum julian x 2 Ukigumo (going to have nice pinks and yellows this year) Purple ghost Amber ghost
It really looks like "a little corner of paradise" (un petit coin de paradis)... ROEBUK, 'Ukigumo' looks really great.
Such beauty, and cheap too -who can resist? You understand why many of us are"interested in acquiring more" ;-) But be careful, it's addictive: I lost a 'Jerre Schwartz' this year, and yesterday I went to a garden center because I needed a few pots. I saw a 'Jerre Schwartz', not so common in garden centres, and guess what... Now I have one again ^^
That 'Golden Pond' has much more interesting color than I've seen before in the cultivar, which I don't have but would like to plant. It will be interesting to see if it keeps it up in the new spot. Looks fantastic. Margot, careful, 'Seiryu' can get pretty big! Here it has continued mostly dry, now with fog throughout the days and clearing in the afternoon, real fall weather. Lots of mushrooms, if not as many as last year; too dry. Deer are calling, boar are digging. Expecting very cold this WE which will really push things along I'm sure. Here's another set: A. sieboldianum (2), 'Higasa yama' (2), 'Little Green Star' (first time I've seen the FC), unnamed but promising seedling, A. buergerianum 'Naruto' (2), A. truncatum seedling, A. distylum seedling.
John, that 'Ryusen' is really exceptional. And I have to agree with Alain. I love looking out your window. Since I was here gawping at pictures here are a few from me: A. crataegifolium (2), early deep red color on 'Utsu semi', a mess of maples, most will be planted this winter I hope, on the driveway, A. longipes ssp amplum 'Gold Coin' (2), A. 'Linearlobum' turning, interesting color on the Chinese version of our beloved Japanese Maple: A. pubipalmatum (2).
Thank you! Glad you like our ryusen. We almost lost it about 5 years ago when we got the long stretches of record lows over winter. All the branches died except one short stub. Large patches of the trunk turned black. Half the root flare died and bark flaked away to exposed wood on that area of root flare and trunk. The same winter caused us to lose 2/3 of our boo hoo too! Both have came back nicely. Boo hoo was also taken out of the ground and put into a cedar box because it looked so bad (lost all branches too) it was no longer garden worthy. Here is the updated view from this morning. (It's trash day, so please excuse the trash bins along the road). This photo is of our boo hoo! (Aka bi hoo, bihou) No more black or die back in 4 seasons. I credit our fertilizer in addition I think bi hoo likes living in a cedar box which reduces the risk of soil born pathogens and aids aids in providing perfect drainage.
That's good to hear! My "Boo hoo" also languishes in a pot, but keeps growing, and has remade its stem t0 nearly 180°. The branches look pretty grimy thanks to earlier damage, but I don't think there's any new. It actually does have a pretty, early fall color, and I took a picture of it early this month. Since I'm posting this one I'll do some more. Following that another few earlies I don't think I posted: 'Usugumo' (2), A. oliverianum, wild collected seed (2), and from more recently A. triflorum (2) and the spectacular A. tenuifolium 'Keikan zan'. And, nothing can spoil the view from that window John.
emery the Golden pond had a far better colouring over the last few years than it has at present this due to it been lifted last year, it was in a spot which was very shady but you couldn't see its lovely colours hence the lifting , will see what it does after a couple of years in it's new spot but if it's still keeping the reds think it will have to be moved again. If memory serves me right this was one of the first threads i did on this forum about the golden pond cultivar, bought this in 2011 as a small 3ltr graft see pic then planted out and just let it grow steadily away , not the fastest of growers more of a horizontal grower than a vertical one which is ideal for my garden, a couple of pics from the past fall seasons of 2016/17 does have a good strong yellow colouring though.
Here is an updated view of the colors in the front yard. Lots of rain this weekend, but luckily we avoided the strong winds from the low pressure moving up the east coast. Hope to get my real camera out next week. Ibo nishiki is getting more orange while pendulum Julian is changing from orange to red.
Another rainy and windy day. Here is a photo just taken near 3pm local, so dark already but the maples sure brighten up the front yard. Here is a photo taken from the other picture window with a view of the other half of the front yard. Here is a view out the kitchen window of bonsai Blvd. Pictures out the guest bedroom of the backyard. I hope to share some photos from yesterday's fall outing and some pictures from this morning before the rain started.