Hi y'all....well as it's pretty quiet on the forum,thought it'd be nice to start a thread on this topic,unless it's been done before,just to keep the enthusiasm going ha ha. What would be your favourite 1or2maples for each season? Mentioning AS Jordan earlier today reminded me that there are often just a couple of cultivars that really shine above the others in each season. Try to imagine....if you were to go into your garden blindfolded,then remove the blindfold,which maples would catch your eyes straight away! Spring is when most look their best so I expect there'll be many different preferences. Summer though probably the most important season,for me is also the most disappointing,especially when all the reds just don't perform well for me. Autumn again is disappointing for me,probably due in part to climate,but will be nice to hear your views. ...and finally winter,though I'm seldom out there and cannot see the garden from indoors,for some of you it may be interesting to hear opinions. I'm sure there's more than 2 we'd like to recommend,but this should hi light our absolute faves.It may be that some of us already have highly recommended cultivars,but we've just got them in the wrong place. Anyway,I'll start the ball rolling Spring is the hardest to narrow down but if I were to go into the garden with my eyes shut,then suddenly open them,it would be(quite predictably)Shin Deshojo and also AS Jordan.Both plants truly cannot be ignored at this time. Summer is a hard one for me.Only Shaina catches my eye,not because it's red is any better than others,but purely because it's covered in 100's of bright red new leaves 'til mid summer.Ukigumo is my favourite maple of all but it doesn't stand up to the blindfold test ha ha. Autumn as I said is not very colourful for me.I have many cultivars known for exceptional fall colour,but few produce it.For me,finally after at least 4years,Osakazuki lives up to it's name.Secondly I'd like to nominate Sango Kaku.Ultra reliable fall colour in 2stages...bright orange followed by butter yellow. As for winter,I don't really have any maples which produce a nice silhouette yet so I'll have to say Bi Hoo&Sango Kaku for now. All the best :)
Only 1 or 2??? That'll be tough for most people, lol. Here in Kansas, spring is pretty reliable - unless we get a late, hard freeze which can happen. Summer can be very hit or miss; if we have a temperate summer (ie, one with a decent smattering of upper 80s instead of all 90s or higher) with sufficient rainfall, we can have decent leaves by the time September hits, but if it's super hot and dry, crispy is all you'll see. Fall... That's a tricky one. We can have a nice fall, but if it's after a wickedly hot/dry summer, it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, the past two years when I've actually had nice leaves capable of turning color, we've had an early, very hard freeze before the majority of them colored up so all I was left with was pale bleached leaves. :( So spring... Murakumo, for the ghostly pale leaves ranging in color from nearly white to hints of pink/blush and finally progressing to the softest green before turning to the sand-dusted cream on green that is the summer color. Ukigumo, in a good year, can't be beat for shining like a beacon in a shaded spot - but the good years are hit and miss, which I find common with most variegates. Since this pale color is the standard spring color, while there can be fluctuations in intensity, it will always be lovely. My second choice I think would have to be Olsen's Frosted Strawberry; the bright pink reticulation is hard to beat. Summer, as Houzi said, that's a tough one. Seiryu is always lovely, and the leaves that take the most sun have the subtle blush on the edges. For my second pick, I think I might have to go with Nuresagi. Mine is in probably 80% shade as it's under a large pin oak and close to the house. Even with the reduced sunlight, and our hot temps that bronze even the most resilient red leaf, this one stays purple for me. As the underside of the leaf is green, the purple does take on a slight greenish tone by summer's end, but purple is still the dominant color. And fall - hands down Shinju. This tree is lovely in all seasons, with a beautiful fresh green in spring, followed by a nice, solid medium green in summer - never appears faded or washed out - but it simply glows in fall. A kaleidoscope of apricot, peach, plum and warm rosy red, it starts to color early so I always get a nice show, even if we have an early frost. Seiryu, too, seems to color ahead of most of my trees, so it would have to be on the fall list too. Winter obviously goes to the coral barks, of which I have one, Fjellheim. Very curious to see what my Wild Fire looks like this winter though...
I have added a lot of trees to my collection this summer so both spring and fall are tough to call since I haven't seem either season for about 20 maples I now have. This spring one of my three Crimson Queens was a beautiful red that I had never seen before. I did up it's water allotment last year so maybe that helped with the spring color. This summer my Butterfly had been great. It sits in a fairly shady section of the yard so the variegation is easy to detect. Also I have enjoyed my Mikawa Yatsubusa over the summer. I bought it earlier in the year so it's had a few months to develop and grow. I really look forward to this fall and all the colors. Last fall I had 7 maples planted and right now I have about 28 so there will be a lot of new things to observe over the next few months.
Thanks for replies guys.Already seeing some unexpected results.Whilst fully expecting some of the bright newer cultivars to get mentioned,it's refreshing to see some of the now more often overlooked maples still shine out when we think about it.Nuresagi rarely gets into anyone's lists and nice to see Butterfly still makes people happy despite many newer 'variations of the theme'.We may have not had great expectations for some cultivars,and high hopes for others and been proved wrong...just goes to show,in the right place,any of our plants can be jewels in the garden
