Very pretty, I haven't seen any nearly this red. What makes it so, do you think? Combination of hard cutting and fertilizer? Leaves look pretty big. Or maybe cutting with a good root and no fertilizer? Inquiring minds want to know lol
Here, the last of the maples are now leafing out into spring. Usually this would include A. schneiderianum along with the others here, A. pentaphyllum and A. caesium ssp giraldii, but this year Schneider's Maple was so anxious it appeared nearly a month early. Still flowers and samaras though, although the dry is now setting in and most of the seed is falling off, sadly. Here's the last gasp of spring, on June 1! It sure feels like summer, 27C today, very hot for Normandie. Father Girald's maple is a wonderful thing, I wish it were easier to grow. I'd like to get another one, as insurance. A. pentaphyllum is coming out more or less quickly depending on the plant. It seems to have nothing to do with temperature, I put 4 seedlings in the greenhouse, they aren't any faster than the ones outside (to be fair, one is probably dead). Finally this A. fabri also has decided it is spring, it did shed pretty much all leaves but the cold spring nights didn't encourage it to put out new foliage until now.
I wish I knew, I bought this one earlier in the year from a local garden centre as a typical 3l imported Acer, I haven’t done anything with it yet, I have a much larger Moonrise which I’ve probably had for 5 years or more and it has never displayed much red although it has been kept generally in the shade so perhaps they need full sun to develop the red colouring.
@Del Mine leafs out red like yours..some years more intense than others..mines about 8 foot..growing fast..no fertiliser added
That's got to be some pretty rich mix, though. And I'd expect @Del 's plant, from a nursery, to have lots of osmocote in there. (Of course, rule #1 of selling JM's is "cut for narrow verticals and fertilize." Esveld even gave a lecture on this, long ago. It makes sense from the nursery point of view, to get as much top on it as quick as you can.) I wonder if the soil pH and conductivity play a role, too. Mine is in very acidic (around 5) soil, that drains only slowly. Maples -- including Moonrise and Autumn Moon, planted quite near each other -- mostly grow very slowly. There are a few exceptions, like A. pycnanthum, which I suppose enjoy the poor drainage. Moonrise is redder (but nothing like what you guys are showing) than Autumn Moon, but it greens out, whereas AM stays interesting pink shades right up into the fall. P.S. of course a lot might be down to how vigorous the understock is, too.
Re pot mix - just regular 40% pine bark chips, 50% Melcourt compost, 10% sharp sand..I’ve not repotted for 3 years need to do that one. The photos in my post above were taken 7 May. Photos below taken today. re growth, I seem to have really mixed results with Japonicum species..I have a meigetsu that has filled out a little but not much in terms of height in 4/5 years .Kujaku bato that has grown maybe a foot..all look healthy but no growth..I think I need to fertilise more. Basic really!!!
New leaves on Acer laevigatum. The hose was enough to spray away the aphids, there must be a few hidden because I saw one or two ants : Acer pentaphyllum : 'Shishigashira' and 'Koto hime'. Though very similar, the second one has even shorter internodes : 'Hagoromo nana', very nice light green :
Lovely and sunny here today, but so windy and a northerly as well. But managed to take a few for the thread. Shishigashira Red Wine x 2 Shindeshojo x 2 Seiryu x2 Geisha x2 Olivia x2 MikawaYatsubusa x2 Koyasan x 2 English Town x 2
