Acers for Amazing Fall Foliage
Saturday, November 24, 2018 at 9:30PM Today I had to take a breath and gaze in wonder when I stepped outside.
For spectacular fall foliage, acers must be at the top of the list, and my property is blessed with about twenty of them. Most are Japanese maples. Some of these acers have fancy, hard to pronounce names, for which I paid more than I want to remember. Others are inexpensive, unnamed seedlings I planted in 1990, after a tornado wiped out the center of our property. My landscaping budget at the time was zero, because our heavily damaged house was taking all our money, and even a few tiny trees was a stretch. But now the humble seedlings have matured into magnificent specimens, as beautiful as any with grandiose pedigrees. I say I made a good investment!
The red-orange foliage of the tree in the center of this view at the edge of the woodland garden belongs to 'Orido Nishiki.'
'Orido Nishiki' from inside the woodland garden
This is our "Marriage Tree." It was about four feet tall when it survived the tornado that brought down enormous trees all around it in 1990.
One of the unnamed seedlings that has grown into a beauty
As you can see, acer fall foliage comes in a wonderful variety of colors, ranging from gold to orange to ruby-red to burgundy. Many trees show multiple colors. They are incredible when backlit by the sun.
All of these beautiful leaves will soon be on the ground. We have many trees on our property, and we have already begun the months-long chore of raking our lawns and paths, as well as brushing fallen foliage off of shrubs. It is a labor of bittersweet love and joy. (And very good exercise!)
Reader Comments (8)
Your trees are beautiful! I am up to about 10 acers - and we're moving this month! I will have to start again.
Thank you for sharing! xo
My goodness you still have lots of beautiful color in your garden. I love the wide variety and colors of your maples. The marriage tree is certainly a gorgeous and sentimental favorite no doubt.
They are spectacular, Deb! I could sit on that bench and stare at them for hours. I have just 2 Japanese maples, only one of which shows any significant fall color. I'm currently hoping to squeeze at least one more small specimen in in a protected area behind our front hedge when the trees become available locally in early spring.
Wow, those are beautiful scenes, and yes--you should be proud of your plantings! Simply stunning!
Stunning trees Debs,All our leaves have been down for a couple of weeks now, but the Acers were wonderful while thay lasted.
They really do have remarkably intense color. Beautiful!
Beautiful leaves.
But you have a true gift for pruning to display the trunks and branches.
Gorgeous is not adequate to describe your trees.