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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Acer Palmatum 'Amagi Shigure' is my Favorte Plant...This Week

I didn't always like Acer palmatum.  In fact, there was a time when I hated them because a few weeping varieties were extremely overused by developers.  Throw an atlas cedar or other evergreen just left of center in a kidney shaped bed, add a weeping acer, some sword ferns, a rhododendron,  and a few boulders, cover the whole thing with bark and voila - it's done. Once you start getting to know how many varieties exist and how beautiful they are throughout the seasons, it's easy to fall in love!  Acer p. 'Amagi Shigure' is new to me this year and bears some similarities to others that I love but is quite vibrant right now.

 Bucholz & Bucholz's site says:
A slow-growing, upright deciduous tree with bright brick-red leaves with prominent black veins.  Fall color is vivid orange, red, and purple.  One of the most exciting discoveries from Japan.  Prefers sun/partial shade in well-drained soil.  6'tall x 3'wide in 10 years.  Hardy to -20 degrees.  USDA zone 5


O.K. I'm cheating and adding some more plants.   A. palmatum 'Purple Ghost'  which you may remember from a recent visit to Portland nursery...


Also looks nice in the rain!  Bucholz & Bucholz, who introduced this one say basically the same thing as they did about the previous tree.  This one grows to 8 feet tall though.

Another unusual Acer that has had my eye for the the last few years is A. palmatum 'Fairy Hair'  Look here to see a images  of the bright red fall foliage!

Breaking the rules again by adding one more cutie.  This is the plant that came from Danger Garden in Portland with Alison last week.  Danger is the delightful host of the Favorite plant meme.  Make sure you check out her blog to see other favorites this month!  Erythrina crista-galli (Cockspur Coral Tree) is only hardy to 15 - 20 degrees so I don't know if it'll ever make it into the ground.  Loree overwintered it by cutting it back hard and storing it in her basement.  It's pretty sweet in the pot she chose for it and I may just see if it'll take the same treatment next year.  It flowers on new wood so we'll see what happens!  How exciting to play with a plant totally new to me!

What is your favorite plant this week?  

38 comments:

  1. I prefer vine maples over Japanese maples, but even I have to admit, those red leaves are stunning! I'm having a hard time picking a favorite right now in my garden, everything looks really good, but not quite at its peak yet. There's always something not quite right. I shouldn't give in to my pessimistic tendencies.

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    1. That's why it's a weekly thing Alison, it's not like you have to choose your all time favorite, just one that's caught your eye in the moment...

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    2. In Danger's case, some of her plants could literally catch your eye so be careful out there!

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  2. Look you, such a rebel breaking rules left and right! I think the Erythrina crista-galli is happy in your care, it looks to have gown substantially since I last saw it.

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    1. Well, I am an outlaw after all...will try to mend my ways! I love your Erythrina crista-galli and you're right, it's grown quite a bit. Must like the heavy rain mixed with hot sunny days.

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  3. Great color on the acers, it's easy to see why the plant is overused. They are so striking in the garden.

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    1. It was a long road for me to appreciate them but there is such a wide variety of leaf shapes, colors, and sizes. In addition, the leaves change color several times through the growing season adding even more drama!

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  4. I love acer palmatum in general. I was just planning a dream garden in my head and near the entrance and past an epic fence was a beautiful acer palmatum!

    PS: LOVE the erythrina crista-galli, hopefully you get some beautiful flowers on it!

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    1. Looking forward to seeing posts about your dream garden when it becomes a reality!

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  5. The leaf color in your photo of the 'Amagi Shigure' looks more like that of my own 'Purple Ghost' than that in the follow-up picture but I gather that leaf color will vary based on the degree of sun exposure. Unfortunately, mine took a beating in last week's heatwave. The Japanese maples fare much better in your climate - I'd have a dozen if I lived up that way. (Of course, I'd need a couple of acres to fit in all the other wonderful plants you can grow in the PNW.)

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    1. I long ago ran out of space so grow a lot of these plant in increasingly large pots. A few acres would be much better!

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  6. The intensity of the colour of the red is stunning!

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  7. Nice set of photos. Love the water on the leaves!
    My favorite plant this week may be redbud. We have a lot of it in Virginia and it's lovely in the spring.

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    1. We've had a lot of that wet stuff lately! The redbuds and dogwoods must beautiful blooming together in the spring!

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  8. Beautiful...I just got a falling water maple to put in my fern and hosta garden on the northside of my house. I think they are such graceful small trees. Thank you for the great photos. Happy Gardening!

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    1. Your maple must look lovely in your fern and hosta garden! They really are great small trees.

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  9. I've been having trouble picking favorites the last two weeks. Things bloom at the same time and its difficult not to pick them all. I love your maples. The reds are beautiful, as is the texture of 'Fairy Hair'. Watch out for that Erythrina. It can reach out and grab you!

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    1. It's that time of year when everything looks grand! Erythrina can grab you? Like that scary apple tree in The Wizard of Oz? No wonder Loree couldn't find a place for it. Thanks for the warning, I'll be vigilant!

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  10. I love acer palmatums, especially in spring and fall.

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    1. I'm with you! They look great against the PNW backdrop of evergreens!

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  11. Lovely maple, Peter. Mine is in buds till now, I wait for its opened leaves. This week my favorite plant is flower seedlings that suffer of cold weather, I cover it every night.
    It was a surprise for me you have a collection of St. Petersburg Imperial Porcelain! I have some, not many mostly tea sets and plates.
    Have a nice weekend!

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    1. Dear Nadezda,
      Maples are beautiful! I'm originally from southeast Alaska close to Sitka, the former capitol of Russian America and home of Собор Святого Архангела Михаила which dates back to Russian days. Some towns, Sitka especially, celebrate their Russian heritage and have troops of Russian dancers, people dress in Russian folk costumes, and artifacts like beautiful old samovars are on display in museums. The shops sell many beautiful Icons, lacquer boxes, samovars, porcelain, and other things made in Russia. Since I worked in a shop there for nearly twenty years, I got many nice things made in your country and dream of someday visiting.

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  12. I love my Japanese maple, too. While everything is leafing out green, my maple is a deep red. Love this time of year!

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    1. I'm with you. While the lazy days of summer are pretty special, the exuberance and promise of spring make this a very special time of year too!

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  13. That's some beautifully colored foliage. I don't have any japanese maples, but I have a view of the neighbors' from my back garden.

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    1. Sometimes a borrowed view is even better than having something in one's own garden!

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  14. Hi og, I actually find it hard to fit red into my garden picture, so all the more appreciate it in other people's I was interested how you used not to like that particular species of Acer and now you do. I guess we change and also the context changes. In our local botanical gardens, there's a large old Erythnina crista-gall with beautiful bark. I took a photo and wrote about it in the blog way back.

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    1. It's interesting to watch gardens as their keepers go through phases or perhaps always know what they love. When we moved into our current house, there was a nice sized red leaved Acer palmatum in the back garden. It was my intent to remove it. Sixteen years later, it has won me over and made me a fan of red. Crazy how plants can make us love them.

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  15. I like japanese maples very much. I suppose it is because you don´t see them too often in Madrid. But I understand why can people get tired of them when they are used in the way you comented by developers.

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    1. It was really only one or two common varieties of Japanese maples that were overused. Because I'd not experienced the huge variety of them, I assumed that those were all that there were. I'm so happy I was wrong!

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  16. Oklahoma Red bud... Love the glossy heart shaped leaves and the color is more intense than the Eastern Redbuds.

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    1. How beautiful! I love the blooms and especially the heart shaped leaves.

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  17. Can't wait for the "REAL" tour, but can't believe the cool stuff you discovered while in the area! I'm particularly fascinated with the yard with the columnar conifers! And the concrete furniture is neat... I always like Japanese maples but have heard they're difficult to grow so have shied away from them. Our iris are on the cusp of blooming here. Can't wait.

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    1. It's amazing the fun things we can find along the way to our destinations! Japanese maples are very easy to grow in our climate and there are easier varieties than others. If you like them, give one a try and see what happens. For some reason I don't have any iris in my garden but I greatly admire them. Looking forward to seeing yours!

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  18. Ha Ha, love your blog. I am an "outlaw" gardener too. They complained about my pin oak on the boulevard. Got one their tree specialists/arborist to look at it. He absolutely loved it and said it was the perfect tree, and very healthy. I researched pin oaks, quercus palustris, and found it has a tap root - so even if it is six feet within the boulevard before it reaches the sidewalk it would never cause it to crack as the root does not spread but goes down. We had it for more than 20 years, then the district came around to redo watermains. Though I planted it far enough away from the waterline to the house, the diggers must have cut through some of the finer rootlings because it picked up ganoderma and within 5 years following it was dying. I dug it out and replaced it with another tap root tree that again has beautiful fall foliage - Nyssa sylvatica, black gum tree. Like the oak, the birds love it and this tree type is ganoderma resistant so we shall see how it works out.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.