Green Threadleaf Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Viridis'
I wanted to get a few fall foliage pictures and these are what I ended up with. I can keep dreaming of taking those gorgeous landscape shots with all the trees on fire. I can’t even find the right place to try and take a shot like that and if I did I probably wouldn’t be able to capture it. The first shot is a Green Japanese Maple. I like the green ones especially since they can grow in shade pretty well. This tree has had its ups and downs over the years. It had an inexplicable stretch were the bark peeled off the top of the branches and it really thinned out. On one of the gardening forums I am member of this same cultivar did the same thing so I was wondering if it was an incompatible graft or as someone else suggested some sort of sunburn. Anyway it came back from that and unless you look closely you can’t even see any damage. It puts on quite a show in the fall and the winter outline is nice. I think when you use the scientific name for this tree you it is okay to drop the var. dissectum.
This second shot is Sumac. I am not sure which one but it is not the species that grows on the side of the road and in waste lots. It is a handsome garden plant that gets this great red. It also gets hairy orangey-red seeds that look nice. This is not Poison Sumac!
I wanted to post this picture although I could have used a bit more depth of field (a lot more, actually). It is a Maple I had never seen before called Red Vein Maple (Acer rufinerve). It is also known as Honshu Maple and Melon Skin Maple. It is a small tree that is a snakebark type. The fall color was outstanding on the few leaves that were left on the plant. I saw this at the local nursery yesterday and I am kicking myself for not buying it. I guess I could go back but it is really out of the way. I should know better than to hesitate or waffle on something like that. If you see a plant you like and it is hard to get and it is priced fairly reasonably then you got to go for it right then. The Maple was 40% off to top it all off.
This plant is Fothergilla major or Large Fothergilla. It is also known as Witch-alder. It is a lovely plant that has unique petalless flowers and as you can see great fall color. Here is a link to one of my favorite plant sites with more information on Fothergilla:
floridata.com
I like using Fothergilla in moist areas, part shade and woodland gardens. It looks great in all of them.
Finally I saw a funny bumper sticker on the way home yesterday it said:
“Please God help me be the person my dog thinks I am.”
How perfect. So I am posting a picture of one of my dogs, Ruby Tuesday Slippers. I wanted to call her Ruby Tuesday but thought that a reference to the slippers in the Wizard of Oz was nice to have. She is a three-year old Border Collie mix that weighs about 60 lbs. She is quite a dog and I know I think the world of her and judging by the way she acts when I get home she does the same about me. I just hope I can live up to her thoughts. I also have a 12-year old Siberian Husky named after the Hawaiian Island, Molokai. She is a lot different than Ruby but they are the best of friends.
7 comments:
Great fall foliage. I think we have all passed up the good deals at the garden center.I love the multicolors of the Fothergilla! It's far different that anything I have seen.
That bumbper sticker sounds cute. You dog is adorable. I have a shiba inu and hope I live up to her thoughts too. She's an active little girl who needs a lot of active stimulation or she's trouble.
This is the autumn to opt for close-ups. Yours are wonderful. Thanks for the info on sumac and Japanese maples.
My dad and I were out on Lake Lillinonah on Tuesday afternoon in the hope of finding color. There were smudges of yellow amid all the green. I enjoyed the contrast, but I had a hard to photgraphing things. I have difficulty finding a focus on such landscapes. Any suggestions?
Perhaps the onset of cold will bring a frost before all the leaves wither in despair!
Your dog is a gem. Your writing about Ruby Tuesday Slippers reminded me of a friend who writes extensively about her pups and other animal companions. Her name is Rita Reynolds. She publishes laJoie & Co. out of Virginia. She wrote a wonderful book called Blessing the Bridge that looks at what animals teach us about death and dying.
Just thought I'd throw that in there because I loved that paragraph about the pooch.
Have a great day!
I love the Fothergilla foliage! I've killed 4 of them, so I'll just have to enjoy it in pics.
Boy, your Fothergilla is so much further along than the one we have which is still pretty much green. Your photo of the threadleaf JM makes me wish ours will turn soon. I hope this year won't be a bad year for color in NJ with the mini drought we experienced. I generally don't like the weedy sumacs but I was surprised that the one tree we pass by on our dog walk each day has turned a brilliant yellow and red rivaling almost any maple or sassafras. Very lovely colors.
The sumac leaves are beautiful! Your dog is a beauty - and she looks quite intelligent!
Ruby looks like a sweetheart! My favorite dogs are border collies.
VL, The Border Collie needs a lot of exercise, too. Nothing is worse than a Bored Border Collie.
Sandy, The foliage isn't too good this year. You are asking the wrong guy about landscape shots. I pretty much stink at those.
Mr. Mcgregor's daughter, four times is past my limit of trying a plant. I usually only try 3 times. Fothergilla does need acid soil, it will not grow in alkaline soil. Other than that it is slow growing and sometimes looks bad for a couple of years before it kicks in. The plant in the picture is pretty old.
Hi Ki,
This one is in very moist/wet conditions maybe that has something to do with it. Some of the Sumacs are really nice for the garden.
kml, it isn't as good as your Sumac shot that you posted awhile ago. This one is a little weird since it turns all red. Ruby is a smart dog. We think she is a bit psychic sometimes.
Hi Salix, Border Collies aren't for everyone but if you want a smart dog that is willing to challenge (in a good way) its owners than they are great. The Husky-Border Collie combo is a doozy. They are always thinking up stuff to get into.
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