Japanese Maple: Green

I went under the tree in summer to take this photo some years back. This ornamental maple is getting more straggly due to the clay soil but it still looks good in the front yard. The leaves will turn yellow in the fall. 

Memories of Fall 2009: Color

The maple turned a lovely red in the fall and of course is leafless and  covered in snow now. In spring the leaves are a darker red and more purplish in the summer. I took pictures in November but never posted them. It seems like a good idea now in the middle of black and white winter!

Click on the photo to enlarge it and see more detail.

Yarrow and Japanese maple

From last year's garden.


A Yarrow flower. These yarrow plants were uprooted several years ago from the front garden as they were not producing very good blooms. They kept popping up in the driveway median strip year after year and were mown down. Last year, I dug them up and replanted them where there is more sunlight, and they developed bright pink blooms!


Underneath the canopy of a green-stemmed maple. The leaves of this maple cultivar overlap and mound. The branches avoid the shade of the house and another bush, so there is a big space where I could duck into with the camera. The tree is only about 8 feet tall. It's one of the highlights of the garden.

It may be variegated Acer palmatum "Oridono Nishiki," a grafted tree also known as Orido nishiki. The name is said to mean "the rich colored fabric of the master."

There is some pink, white and cream in many new leaves in spring, though now in summer all are a bright pale green. The tree is said to reach the height of 15 feet or more in 15 or more years.

Contrast of Colors

 

These climbing roses usually bloom profusely only in the spring. This year I pruned them back heavily, watered and fertilized, and lo and behold, a fair amount of blooms well into summer.

 

The contrast in the garden comes from the yellowing leaves of this red Japanese maple. It's still summer in my mind, but these leaves seems to announce fall!

Shishigashira, Lion's Head Maple, Fall colors

I took the picture below of the Japanese Lion's Head Maple last November, when the dark green leaves had turned a bright copper. This tree is partly shaded by an oak and a mulberry tree, and seems to do well. It's only about 6 feet tall. The lion's head maple was a chosen in 2003 as one of the Great Plant Picks of the year.

Click on the pictures to see the mounded, crinkly leaves in detail.







The Shishigashira, fall and summer, is thriving under the shade of taller trees, surrounded by a ground cover that keeps its roots moist.

For a website that has interesting details on the Sacred Lion's Head Maple and the importance of maple trees in Japanese culture, see the website: http://www.paghat.com/lionmaple.html/

Click here for more pictures of the Lion's Head Maple.

Shishigashira, Lion's Head Maple

The entry below was made June 2007 from Book Bird Dog, my first blog, and gets the most hits from readers. I have included it here to start this new, Mostly Gardening blog, Wood and Water, which will be about plants, homegrown and in the wild.

Acer Palmatum Shishigashira


An ojishi in my backyard!!

I bought the unusual maple many years ago (it was expensive! and there were only two in the lot). It's now about 6 feet tall and trying to get taller. I took a close-up shot of its unusual leaves this spring. You can see the leaves curl one on top of the other and give the impression of a shaggy lion's mane. A few of the stems are showing new growth.

The tree sits in a shady spot under a large overhanging oak, and only gets sun part of the day. But it seems to be thriving and is not at all straggly.

Here's what I found about the history of this cultivar:

"After 125 years in cultivation, the famous Lion's Head Maple is still acknowledged as one of the best and most unique Japanese maple cultivars. It is a compact, slow-growing shrub, usually to around 6', though taller trees are possible with good cultivation. By 'compact', we mean that the leaves are closely packed on the twigs, and the twigs closely-packed on the branches. This leads to a tufted look: clusters of leaves alternating with leafless areas of branch. The leaves themselves are small, deep green, and crinkled, thickly textured. No wimpy sunburning here. The transition to fall color is like caterpillar to butterfly, with the deep reds and oranges completely changing the visual effect." from http://worldplants.com/shishi.htm

Click here for more pictures of the Lion's Head Maple.