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Japanese Maples: Luxury Lace

© Carol Wallace

I'm a sucker for foliage that is so colorful that you don't need to worry about flowers - and some of the variegated dissectums are wonderful for this.

'Filigree', mentioned above, is variegated - although most people are so awed by the leaf shape that they don't notice. Those leaves are actually liberally dotted with minute specks of gold and cream, which gives it an interesting color appearance when viewed from even a slight distance.

A variety that I would love to own is 'Sunset'. Its base color is light green, but in full sun with the light shining behind it you will notice shadings of rust to burnt orange tones that make it live up to its name. Young leaves can be almost wholly rust colored.

Another one I'm hunting for is 'Toyama nishiki' - basically green, once again, but with pink and white markings which show up best in partial shade. The intensity of variegation seems to vary from year to year - so it's like getting a whole new tree every summer. It is extremely low growing, so that staking it when it is young is almsot a necessity unless you want to grow it as a groundcover.

Because Japanese maples are not particularly easy to propagate, they tend to be pricey. However, if you keep a sharp eye out you can sometimes find a good deal at places like Home Depot. Of course then you will be growing "Red Japanese Maple" with no real clue as to what kind of red Japanese maple you are getting - but it can still be beautiful, even if nameless.

Despite the fact that they look so delicate, they are surprisingly hardy. They prefer acid soil with good drainage, and after that critical first year of necessary watering can survive even a summer like our current, rainless one quite well.

They make terrific accent plantings, and with adequate moisture most, especially of the green variety can take either full sun or partial shade. But a massed planting of a mix of green and red cultivars at a woodland's edge is nothing short of magnificent. They also make a great hedge, planted alternately - red, green, red, green - and then allowed to mingle and mix their branches - although if you don't like color variations you can stick to one color and still get a wonderful effect. Try to plant so the sun will shine through the leaves - it's beautiful!