Autumn is Definitely Here Now

Hello Japanese maple lovers, 

Autumn is here. In the BC Interior, where we are based, the West Kootenay region to be more specific, we had beautiful weather right up until a few days ago. But now, it's colder, moister, and much more colourful! So, basically fall. And this brings about new things to talk about as it relates to Japanese maples and perhaps give some reminders about your trees.

Now that it's autumn we have an opportunity to see some of our "new trees" in their fall glory. Some that we've been enjoying so far include, 'Ever Autumn', a beautiful yellow fall colour with pink seeds. Makes me think of lemonade! Another one that has been fun to see is 'Gaki no sugi'. Also a yellow fall colour although I believe it can have other colours too, but ours are yellow. This cultivar has some unique qualities such as, large leaves for a reticulated type, reddish new growth in early summer, and the yellow fall colour. Another tree I like the fall colour on is 'Irish Lace'. This is a dissectum that I thought would sell out quick but it really took quite some work to sell it. It's a beautiful lace leaf that has excellent leaf shape and is multicoloured (in full sun). I have enjoyed this tree in all three growing seasons so far. Many other trees that were new to us we did not get to see them in fall because they were sold before now. That is a good problem for us though.

This is a good time of year to make sure your trees are well mulched for winter. They need to be mulched all year, for heat and frost protection. If the trees are in containers and you live in zones colder than 7b, then you need to be considering additional measures to protect the trees. For zones closer to 7b, something as simple as bringing containers close to the house/apartment and out of the wind is probably enough. For those in colder locations, such as ourselves(zone 6b), cold snaps of -20C are possible and likely, so supplemental heat or other measures are necessary. You could bury containers in the ground over winter, place the tree in a shed or unheated(or lightly heated) garage, just to suggest a few things. Remember, with no leaves on in the winter the trees won't need light! You can take this into account when it comes to the placement.

Fall is also a good time of year to pick seeds from trees. The timing will vary but usually you are looking for brown/dry wings on the seed and the seed itself more fresh looking. Seeds are a cool way to grow your own tree and see if you get some pleasant surprises. Keep in mind, only physically grafted trees provide 100% clones of the named varieties so seeds from these trees are not exact copies. In fact, they may turn out entirely different. Or, sometimes they may be very similar. Either way, this can be a fun little experiment also. I know there is a whole fan club of people out there that especially like collecting seeds off 'Mikawa yatsubusa' to see what they can grow.

Enjoy the colours. Til next time. 

Chris