Saturday, April 20, 2019

The Japanese Maples

On Snow Saturday
It had trouble sticking
But it was snow, most of the time.

This can be a perilous time for the Japanese Maples. They look so fine when they are first leafing out, but a hard freeze now will hurt them. After all these years and a number of setbacks, the twigs and seedlings I planted are turning into trees. They have acclimated a bit. They are kama'aina now. And it's not supposed to freeze - fingers crossed.




















This one came home as a tiny first year seedling from beneath two upright, twenty foot high, Acer palmatum in my first client's office garden. I still work for him near twelve years later. I am such a creature of habit.




















'Kagiri Nishiki' was purchased as a second year graft. I was choosing by the leaves.




















On the shores of Turd Blossom Lake.


















The Rough Bark Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum 'Arakawa' was one of the very first things I planted. It came as a raffle win from a 'Speaking of Gardening' symposium the very first year I arrived while attempting to break in to the Asheville gardening elite. That was not my fate.




















Trust me, I made no effort towards this, but Nishiki and Arakawa were the names of my Maui County mayor and council member.




















This is the saddest maple of them all. It is the root stock of 'Red Pygmy'. The top graft froze to death. The root stock sprouted. It looked pretty enough for me and there was no need to remove it.




















I'll have to do a post on all the different kind trillium as they come up. Their rising times are spread over a full month.




















This one came home as maybe a three year sapling from beneath the same parents as the first one at the top. The seedlings that sprout under these two trees come in all kinds of colors. This one had lime green bark. I need to look closer and see if it still does.




















The garden is not the same anymore.




















It keeps changing. Becoming more.


3 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It is fun to watch over the years as our gardens change. I notice how my tastes change over time too. I was in Knoxville, TN last weekend and had the opportunity to purchase a trillium. I have no idea what type it is or if it will flourish here. It has a pale yellow bloom. I will be interested to see your posts about trilliums to see if I see this one in your mix. There was also a start of a fern in the pot. They were rescues the tag said. I hope they live.

Christopher C. NC said...

The accumulation of plants, time and objet de are really beginning to show from what you saw in 2012 Lisa. My tastes right now are really pushing me to improve the paths through the garden. They are getting harder to walk as my body gets creaky. You might have a Trillium luteum if it looks anything like the one in the previous post. Mine stays lime green until the very end when it finally turns yellow. I have transplanted trillium successfully all the time. That however doesn't mean something else won't take them out.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It might just be the Trillium luteum. I hope it grows.