If you have ever come across a garden plant with leaves like a maple, it is already impossible to forget it. Large leaf blades with delicately cut edges grow tightly to each other and create a chic magic carpet. The magic lies in the miraculous transformation. In spring it is green, and the warmer it gets outside, the more red the leaves turn. First, a delicate crimson blush appears at their tips, gradually occupying a larger area and getting darker. By autumn, the ground is already covered with a burgundy blanket, on which remnants of green are occasionally visible in the center of the leaf.
Maple oak or oak maple
It was brought to Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, first it appeared in the parks of St. Petersburg, and then throughout the country. Its homeland is North America, so it is also called Canadian oak or northern oak. The leaves are red in autumn - that’s why it was named that way.
True, we saw a lot of simply brown ones, but the shape of the leaves is still amazing. And his acorns are strange - almost round.
And it turns out that oak trees grow in height up to 200 years, and then in width.
In general, in oak forests you breathe very well and in general you feel much more energetic. And this is not strange, since the leaves and bark secrete substances that help relieve headaches and improve a person’s condition.
We also really like to burn a fire from dry oak branches. It does not flare up quickly, but it burns for a long time and is very hot. Have you ever met red oaks?
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Abutilon - indoor maple: propagation, cultivation and care
Abutilone belongs to plants of the mallow family. It occurs as shrubs, trees or herbaceous crops. It grows naturally in America, Asia, Australia and Africa. The tropics and subtropics of these continents contain more than one hundred and fifty types of abutilone.
Abutilone is often called indoor maple because of its characteristic soft leaves. They have a lobed shape and jagged edges, similar to maple. Another name is cord, it received because, for example, in India, ropes and wickerwork are made from coarse fiber obtained from its raw materials.
Indoor maple is a very popular indoor plant, widespread in almost all countries of the world. This can be explained by its unpretentiousness . In addition, it grows very quickly and produces very spectacular flowers of a wide variety of colors, as you will see by looking at the photos accompanying this article. It is the perfect decoration for any room.
In comfortable growing conditions, abutilon can grow up to two meters in height. Now there are many varietal and hybrid species that have different sizes, leaf colors and colors.
Botanical description
Most maple species are trees that grow from 10 to 40 meters. But there are also shrubs up to 10 meters high, which have many shoots coming from the base. Among the deciduous representatives there are also evergreen specimens growing in South Asia.
Other forms of maple leaves include:
- compound palmate;
- without blades;
- complex-pinnate;
- trifoliate;
- with pinnate venation.
The flowers of the plant have five petals, which can be yellow, green and red. Depending on the species, flowering may occur either before or after foliage appears. After flowering for 6 weeks, fruits are formed - diptera. The shape of the fruit allows the wind to carry it over considerable distances when falling.
What kind of flower is abutilon (indoor maple)?
In indoor floriculture, perennial trees and shrubs of domestic maple are grown, which have rather large leaves and drooping lantern inflorescences with long pedicels.
Flowering begins in early spring and ends in late autumn. Some species bloom constantly . The color of the leaf can be simply green, spotted and variegated. Peduncles, decorated with long stamens and pistil, can be white, orange, pink, red, gold and burgundy. Depending on the shape of the flower, there are both simple and double varieties.
According to psychologists, abutilone is a special plant. They recommend breeding it for those who are prone to frequent depression. It will also be useful for office workers in which stressful situations are common. The plant has a calming effect on almost any person , especially during the flowering period. The nature of this effect has not been established, but many experienced gardeners confirm this phenomenon.
False siebold maple
In our conditions, the pseudosiebold maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum) rarely exceeds 6–8 m in height. It is characterized by an oval multi-stemmed crown and rounded palmate nine-lobed leaves of light green color. In autumn, the crown turns mauve or red.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOjkwKNUe6c
Growing conditions: loves sun, but will also tolerate shade. Wind, dust, smoke and gas resistant, suitable for urban landscaping. It is advisable to plant on fertile, humus-rich loams with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction environment. Does not like stagnation of water and salts in the soil. The soil near the tree trunk must be loosened regularly, as the plant does not tolerate overcompaction and dryness. Unfortunately, in the conditions of the Moscow region, maple can freeze slightly, and it especially suffers in severe frosts.
Used as a tapeworm and for landscaping alleys. Decorative leaf varieties look especially good in a group.
- Atropurpureum is a tree with a wide-conical crown.
The top of the leaf blade is dark green, and the bottom is red-purple. Maple Atropurpureum - Brilliantissimum - grown either on a trunk or as a shrub, grows slowly.
In spring it has a bright golden color with green and salmon-pink hues, in summer it has a warm green color. Maple Brilliantissimum - Esk Sunset (Eskimo Sunset) is a new variety, this is a medium-sized tree.
Young foliage is orange-pink, with most of the leaf covered in flecks of white and pink. The color underneath is purple. Maple Eskimo Sunset - Leopoldii (Variegatus) is a tree up to 20 m high with bright variegated foliage, covered with white and yellow strokes, and pink in spring.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with the technology of planting fruit trees: diagrams and description of the procedure
The most common types of abutilone plant are:
Abutilon Sello
A hybrid variety of domestic maple, it belongs to varieties with striped leaves. The plant is weakly branched with straight, slightly pubescent shoots. The leaves have three elongated, pointed blades.
Forms light lilac inflorescences with pink veins. Blooms from mid-summer to early winter. In favorable conditions it grows up to two meters.
Abutilone hybrid
This species belongs to the American hybrids and has a large number of varieties. Distributed as an evergreen bush with brown bark. The photo shows that the leaves can be either three-lobed or five-lobed.
The flowers, like the leaves, are covered with light down and are bell-shaped. They are located on petioles up to twelve centimeters long. The color can be white, red, golden or burgundy. The height of the tree itself reaches one and a half meters.
Abutilone Darwin
Abutilon Darwin is quite beautiful, but is rarely found in indoor floriculture. Large three-lobed leaves with long petioles are located on fluffy, silky shoots that reach one meter in length. The lower leaves can have up to seven lobes, with the one in the middle being highly elongated.
The bells of the inflorescences (five centimeters in diameter) have a bright orange color and red veins. They bloom in groups of up to three from one axil. Flowering lasts from early April to late September.
Abutilon Juliet
A very unpretentious variety of domestic maple. It grows quite quickly, growth is up to fifty centimeters per year. Flower growers appreciate it because it is not demanding on lighting and blooms throughout the year. The flowers are large, about six centimeters in diameter. Flowering begins already in the fifth month after sowing the seeds.
Abutilone megapotamian
Abutilon megapotamensis is often called Amazonian, Brazilian or simply weeping Chinese lantern. As a rule, it grows no higher than one and a half meters. A characteristic feature of this species are drooping shoots.
The bright green leaves have an elongated oval shape with uneven teeth and reach eight centimeters in length. Peduncles are located singly on long petioles hanging down.
The flowers have pale yellow petals with a red spot at the base and a bright red corolla. Under favorable growing conditions it can bloom constantly.
Abutilone spotted
Abutilon spotted is also called painted. It grows as a small shrub with short, soft shoots that never become woody.
The leaves are heart-shaped and have long petioles. May contain from three to six blades. They are smooth without characteristic pubescence, rich green in color with white spots that are located closer to the edges.
The flowers are bell-shaped, unusual, with a red-golden corolla of very long length. Flowering lasts only a few months, most often in August and September.
A very beautiful variety of spotted abutilon is thompsonii Vetch . It grows up to two meters in height. The large (up to ten centimeters long) leaves are not pubescent, have a dark green color with bright yellow spots. The peduncles are quite large (about seven centimeters in diameter), can have a simple or double shape and are red or yellow in color. It blooms little, only in the month of June.
Abutilon Bella
This variety is highly decorative and compact. It is very branched and even. A characteristic feature is the formation of a large number of bright, large flowers, which look very impressive against the background of rich green foliage. The abutilon variety Isabella is very similar to Bella, differing in even larger flowers.
Abutilon Bellevue
Bellevue translates as a beautiful view of something. Indeed, with proper care and timely pruning, this hybrid mixture forms, as can be seen in the photo, very beautiful, lush bushes up to two meters long. The flowers have a pendulous bell shape and a wide variety of colors: red, yellow, orange and pink.
Grape leaf abutilone
It grows as a large shrub up to two or more meters high with lightly pubescent shoots and green, velvety leaves. They are divided into three or five lobes, and have a well-defined serrated edge and a length of up to fifteen centimeters. Peduncles are collected in clusters of several pieces and are located on very long petioles. The color is usually lilac or blue, with darker veining often occurring. Blooms in May.
Abutilone Indian
This is a charming annual herbaceous plant. It has very small bell-shaped flowers and beautiful thick, velvety leaves. Peduncles are usually light cream-colored on the outside and dark on the inside.
There are also hanging types of domestic maple.
Green maple
Greenbark maple (Acer tegmentosum), depending on its formation, can be either a shrub or a small tree. It usually grows to a height of 8–10 m and has a wide spherical crown. The plant is decorative with an unusual coloring of the bark: alternating gray-green and white stripes are located on the trunk. The shoots have a dark cherry hue, with noticeable pinkish buds protruding from them. The leaves are wide, bright yellow in autumn. Greenbark maple is an excellent honey plant.
Greenbark maple
Greenbark maple leaves
Growing conditions: despite its love for sunny areas, it easily tolerates shade. Wind, dust, smoke and gas resistant, suitable for landscaping urban spaces. Prefers fertile, moist loams with a high combination of humus and a slightly acidic or neutral reaction environment. Greenbark maple is quite winter-hardy, but can freeze in cold winters. Does not tolerate salty soil and stagnant water in it.
This type of maple looks decorative both in a group of plants and as a tapeworm. When composing a composition, it is better to position the plant in such a way that its spectacular bark remains open.
Caring for abutilone at home
Homemade maple is easy to care for. But to get beautiful, healthy plants, you still need to follow some rules. This is a fairly light-loving plant, but it does not tolerate too much light . In summer, a shaded place on the balcony is suitable for him. When the temperature rises, the crown should be sprayed. In such conditions he will have very good growth.
For abundant flowering, you need to replant the plant annually in the correct container. Abutilons will bloom well only after the root system has completely entwined the soil. Therefore, you should not transplant into containers that are much larger than the previous ones.
Soil selection
Ready-made universal soil for indoor flowers is well suited for planting abutilons. You can prepare it yourself by taking:
Watering
In the spring and summer, when there is active growth and flowering of the indoor maple plant, watering should be plentiful. After a few hours, excess moisture should be drained from the pallets.
In November, when most varieties enter a dormant period, watering begins to be reduced and continues moderately until February.
Top dressing
Abutilone requires fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, starting in March and ending in early September. A good fertilizer for it is slurry.
Maple varieties on a trunk
Regular rounded shrub shape of Norway maple Globosum
and good frost resistance allow this variety to be grafted onto a standard, creating an incredibly attractive specimen for planting in a landscape composition, alone against a lawn or in an alley planting. One of the few varieties that categorically does not tolerate stagnant moisture, and therefore it is recommended to choose sunny places for planting away from the lowlands. The diameter of the shrub itself can reach six meters, and therefore, with age, the thickening trunk will one day support a huge dense crown of numerous shoots, strewn with the classic five-lobed leaves of maple. Lush green in the summer months, they turn a pleasant shade of orange by autumn.
Norway maple Golden Globe
, like the previous representative of this species, is ideal for grafting onto a standard and looks incredibly decorative both in mixed landscape compositions and when planted along alleys. Growing up to six meters in diameter, it is also capable of forming a luxurious, dense crown of a regular spherical shape. The peculiarity of this maple is the bright and unusual color of the foliage: orange-yellow in the spring, it turns light green in the summer. And if the maple grows in a well-lit place, its crown will shimmer with golden-yellow hues in the summer months.
Reproduction and cultivation
Maple, like other indoor flowers, can be propagated by seeds and cuttings. Propagation by seeds gives good results and is well suited for all varieties with green leaf color. This is the subject of a separate article, which discusses in detail the main features of the process; you can read about it here.
Cuttings
Propagation by cuttings is suitable for all types of abutilon, but it is most important for varieties with variegated leaf colors (striped, spotted and others). The fact is that propagation by seeds does not guarantee the preservation of their varietal characteristics.
This method of reproduction can be carried out all year round. But it is better to do this in March with herbaceous cuttings, from which flower buds are removed. In summer, August is more suitable for cuttings, and semi-lignified cuttings are used as planting material.
The cuttings are cut up to twelve centimeters long, and the buds and lower leaves are removed. Rooting is carried out using sand or a sand-peat mixture.
After planting, the cuttings are covered with jars or plastic wrap. The air temperature in the room should be maintained around twenty-five degrees . For planting, it is necessary to constantly ventilate, water and spray. Rooting of planting material takes place within a month.
After final rooting, the plants are transplanted into individual pots, the diameter of which is no more than seven centimeters . Further, the cultivation of young abutilons is carried out in compliance with all the rules for caring for these plants.
Red maple
Red maple (Acer rubrum) is a tree that grows up to 15 - 20 m in height, with a massive, spreading crown. Even before the leaves appear, in March-April, whitish-red flowers bloom on the plant; flowering lasts 2 weeks. Then large three- to five-lobed leaves with a red tint appear on the tree, which gradually turn green by summer. In autumn, the top of the leaf blade is orange-red, and the bottom is pinkish-silver.
Red maple
Red maple leaves
Growing conditions: red maple loves the sun, but is quite shade-tolerant. Wind, dust, smoke and gas resistant, can be grown in urban environments. It grows best on moist, sandy, sandy or loamy soils with a slightly acidic reaction and a high humus content. It is winter-hardy, tolerates waterlogging of the soil, but does not like alkalization and over-compaction.
Picturesque both in a group and as a tapeworm. In large areas, alleys are created from red maple.
Pay attention to these varieties:
- Columnare has a narrow pyramidal crown, its height is 15 - 18 m. In autumn, the leaves turn red-orange.
Maple Columnare - October Glory has an oval or rounded crown, height up to 18 m. The color of autumn foliage is dark red.
- Red Sunset has an ovoid crown, grows up to 15 - 18 m. Autumn color appears early, ranging from orange to dark red.
Maple Red Sunset - Scanlon has a compact narrow crown, height 10–12 m. In autumn it has an orange-purple color.
Maple Scanlon
When and how to trim abutilon
Indoor maple flower is a very fast growing plant. Therefore, it requires pruning every spring. Before growth begins to activate, I cut the shoots to a third or two-thirds of their length, it depends on the size of the bushes or trees. Pruning abutilon promotes beautiful and compact crown formation and stimulates abundant and long-lasting flowering . For young shoots, pinching the tops is used. After this, the home maple is transferred to a room where the air is warm and humid.
Ash-leaf maple, or American
Ash-leaved maple, or American maple (acer negundo) is a fast-growing, unpretentious tree 10-12 m in height with a wide-spreading crown and compound leaves consisting of 3-5 leaflets. Large decorative inflorescences bloom on the plant before the leaves appear and remain on it for 10 - 15 days.
Growing conditions: ash maple is photophilous and tolerates shade. Wind-resistant, but may be susceptible to wind damage. Dust-, smoke- and gas-resistant, easily tolerates urban environments. Not picky about soil. Varietal forms can freeze slightly in our climate. Calmly tolerates waterlogging, alkalization and mild soil salinity.
It is mainly grown in groups; for single planting it is more effective to use shrub forms. A tree planted alone will have a poorly decorative spreading crown. Ash-leaved maple requires strong and regular pruning in the spring, which will rid the plant of shoots that have frozen over the winter and stimulate many new ones. It will help form a dense bush with brighter foliage color.
Pay attention to these varieties:
- Aureovariegata is a shrub 5–7 m high with a wide vertical crown. The leaves have a creamy yellow border. It freezes over, but is easily restored. Similar to this variety is Aureomarginatum, which is a more compact variety.
- Auratum is a tree up to 5–7 m high. Very decorative with its lemon-yellow foliage, bronze when blooming. Similar varieties: Odessanum, an almost identical variety with a more compact crown, and Kelly's Gold, which is resistant to sunburn. A waxy coating on the bark creates a bluish tone on young shoots.
- Flamingo is a shrub about 5 m in height. Young foliage has a pink border, then turns white. A fast-growing variety, it forms shoots of up to one and a half meters per season, but is not winter-hardy. Growing in standard form is not recommended.
Diseases, pests and ways to combat them
Abutilone is not a capricious plant, but it is sensitive to sudden changes in environment. Temperature changes, changes in light or strong drafts cause the leaves to drop.
This can also happen due to a lack of nutrients in the soil or due to non-compliance with the watering regime.
If abutilon leaves turn yellow or lose their brightness, this means that the home maple tree does not have enough light. You need to move him to a brighter room, but gradually accustom him to the light, periodically shading him.
Drying of the tips of the leaves indicates that there is a lack of moisture in the room. In this case, you need to regularly spray the plant, and place cups of water next to it.
The leaves of indoor maple are often attacked by aphids, spider mites and scale insects. Signs of their appearance have a standard form, and the fight is carried out with specially designed means.
Abutilone is an excellent plant for cultivation, both by experienced gardeners and beginners in this matter. With proper care, which is not difficult, it will delight owners and guests with a lush crown of beautiful leaves and abundant, bright flowering. Under favorable conditions, home maple improves indoor climate conditions by increasing air humidity .
We offer you video material from which you can visually familiarize yourself with the process of transplanting abutilone:
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Alphabetical index of plants
Examples of landscape projects from our studio
Landscape design and design services
A flower garden is perhaps the brightest and most beautiful element of landscape design, attracting attention throughout the season. The presence of harmonious compositions of flower beds in your garden plot gives it coziness and originality, colors it in various colors of nature. Flower garden design, its design and creation is an art that requires deep knowledge and painstaking work, but generously rewards its creator with a wealth of natural color and subtle aromas.
Today, garden landscape lighting of a site carries not only a utilitarian load, but is also an integral part in creating landscape design and the image of a modern garden site as a whole. When starting the process of planning and designing landscape lighting for a site, you need to remember that this is also a complex technical task that requires high professionalism in planning and carrying out landscape work.
Maple has been used in landscape design for a very long time. This is an unpretentious plant that does not require complex care. A huge variety of varieties allows you to choose the appropriate form for any site. Let's talk about this plant in more detail.
What does a motley giant look like?
Among the different types of plane trees, there are also charming ornamental trees that are planted to improve areas. Residents of the Caucasus call the divine plane tree “plane tree”. Trees grow for hundreds of years, and long-lived champions witnessed the flora of our planet more than two thousand years ago. In the thicket, where many “camouflaged” counterparts coexist, plane trees are tall and slender. And in spaces where you can roam, their peaks grow in breadth and resemble spreading giants. The diameter of the trunk reaches truly heroic dimensions - up to three tens of meters.
Maple leaves and thorny fruits
Wide sycamore leaves of bright green color with sharp tips, attached to long petioles, really resemble the foliage of Norway maple. This leaf structure is called palmate-lobed. The rich green fruit of the evergreen diva is similar to the prickly shell of a chestnut. The fruit, in the shape of a beautiful camouflaged multi-nut, does not leave the tree branches throughout the winter. And in the spring it turns into several separate nuts, which the wind carries across the ground.
A tree worthy of respect
For thousands of years, many peoples have revered the plane tree as a symbol of courage and heroism. Even the ancient Egyptians worshiped the plane tree, seeing in it the embodiment of the sky and a female deity with the majestic name Nut. There are about a thousand long-living plane trees on the territory of Azerbaijan. But their Turkish relative broke all age records: a unique tree was born two thousand three hundred years ago. The 50-meter giant boasts a trunk with a girth of 42 meters.
The spreading giant is valued not only for the beauty of its foliage, but also for its natural vitality and super-endurance. The tree will not die even in difficult environmental conditions. The foliage-rich crown is a natural “factory” of oxygen, which perfectly cleans the air of chemicals and harmful gases. In many European cities, residents admire huge plane tree alleys. They were planted in parks, near educational institutions and kindergartens, as well as near reservoirs to prevent excessive evaporation of water in arid climates.
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Maples: so familiar, but very different
“The maples painted the city with some magical color. This means, it means soon - Indian summer, Indian summer...” The words of this particular song came to mind when I started writing this article. Indeed, maples are one of the most beautiful trees that decorate our cities at any time of the year. Well, in the fall they are simply magnificent. Large lobed leaves - bright, yellow, orange - slowly spin and, falling, form a rustling golden carpet underfoot...
Green maple foliage
Not only songs and poems were written about this tree, many folk beliefs are associated with it. In the old days, the Slavs valued and protected maple; they did not even make furniture from it or use it to fire stoves. Maple branches, along with birch branches, still serve as decorations for Trinity.
Most maples have five leaf blades, which symbolizes the open palm of the hand, as well as the five senses inherent in humans. Therefore, the leaf of this tree is also a symbol of peace, harmony and love.
The best ornamental shrubs for the Moscow region
These beautiful ornamental species thrive in the changeable climate of the Moscow region. So feel free to choose options for your dacha!
European forsythia
The bright yellow flowers bloom in early spring and will brighten up the area just after the dark, gray winter. Forsythia grows well in width, but does not tolerate excess moisture at the roots.
Photo: oir.mobi
Spiraea Wangutta
The shrub thrives in changeable conditions, and even in large cities. Spirea blooms with lush snow-white inflorescences, and in favorable weather in good seasons - even twice a year.
Photo: spb.tiu.ru
Louiseania triloba
This shrub is good any time because it is covered in delicate pink flowers in spring, and by fall the foliage turns a bright orange hue. Louiseania loves good light and needs protection from strong winds.
Photo: pro-orehi.ru
Japanese quince
The culture attracts with very beautiful bright flowers in all shades of pink, orange or white. By mid-autumn it bears fruit. Despite its exotic origin, this quince thrives in the Moscow region, both on wet and sandy soils.
Photo: kurskaya-obl.tiu.ru
What kind of maple are you?
There are many species of maples, about 160, and they all live in the northern hemisphere - in Europe, Asia and North America, often in temperate climates. The only species, the laurel maple (Acer laurinum), settled in the tropics of the Southern Hemisphere.
This large genus of plants belongs to the Sapindaceae family. These are mainly trees with a height of 10 to 40 m, but there are also low shrubs - 5-10 m, which have many shoots growing from the base. Most maples are deciduous, but in the subtropics there are also evergreen species.
Maple leaves in autumn
What makes all maples different? Of course, their leaves are simple, large, palmate or lobed, sitting on long petioles - they decorate the tree and form a beautiful, evenly rounded crown. But not all types of maples have such leaves; some have compound palmate or trifoliate leaves (for example, gray maple, Manchurian maple, Maksimovich).
All maples are also easily recognized by their winged fruits or, as they are popularly called, “helicopters.” Maple seeds have such special adaptations and, whirling in the wind, do not fall for a very long time and can fly a considerable distance from the mother tree: this is how they spread and expand their range.
Three-lobed maple (Montpellier maple) with seeds
Interestingly, maples are kind of hermits; they usually grow alone or in small groups, but they almost never form large thickets or forests. Species growing in the southern parts of the range prefer altitude: they can climb mountains up to 3000 m above sea level, which is where maples grow in the Himalayas.
Maple family
Maple (lat. Acer - “sharp”) is a genus of woody and shrub plants, belongs to the Sapindaceae family. About 150 species are known, many of which are cultivated and are widely used in landscape gardening. Distributed throughout Europe, Asia and North America.
Maple trees vary in size from dense shrubs to powerful trees with different types of crowns. The shape and color of the leaves is amazing. The plant can change its color 3 times, in spring, summer and autumn, or it can remain unchanged throughout the entire season. Sometimes the shade even differs on both sides of the leaf blade. Such a beautiful ornamental plant rightfully attracts the interest of landscape architects and amateur gardeners.
We can distinguish the main types that are most often used in the design and landscaping of garden plots.
Maples in Russia
In Russia there are about 20 species of maples, 4 of them grow in the European part of the country (norway, Tatarian, white or pseudo-sycamore and field maples).
Blooming maple branch
Much more species grow in our Far East - small-leaf maple, river maple, false siebold maple, yellow maple, greenbark maple, Manchurian maple, Japanese maple maple, bearded maple maple, Chonoski maple maple, palm maple. All our European species grow in the Caucasus, as well as alpine maple, Montpelian maple, Colchis maple, and Sosnovsky maple. One species, Japanese maple, is even listed in the Red Book of Russia.
Norway maple, or platanolea
Norway maple, or platanolea (Acer platanoides) is the most popular and recognizable type of maple; it was brought to Russia by Peter I. At first it was grown in the Summer Garden under careful care, since it was believed that it was not winter-hardy enough. Subsequently, it spread throughout the European part of the country, and currently the Norway maple shoots are disposed of as a weed.
This is a large massive tree growing up to 30 m in height with a dense crown. The leaves are five-lobed, up to 18 cm long. Their autumn color depends on how warm or cold, rainy or dry the past summer was. Color varies from yellow to orange, and can sometimes be purple. Very decorative are the small yellow flowers that appear on the plant in April-May, even before the leaves bloom. They pair beautifully with the black bark of the tree.
Growing conditions: Grows in any light. Wind, dust, smoke and gas resistant, suitable for living in the city. It grows best on moist, fertile loams with a high humus content and a slightly acidic or neutral reaction environment. Does not tolerate excessive moisture, acidity, overcompaction and high salinity of the soil.
Used in group and solo plantings. Compositions consisting of varieties with permanent purple leaf color and varieties that change their color from green to red and vice versa look interesting.
Pay attention to the following varieties:
- Globosum is a tree 4–7 m in height with a round or spherical crown, usually cultivated on a trunk.
This is one of the most popular varieties. Maple Globosum - Golden Globe is similar in shape to Globosum.
It has golden foliage in spring and summer. In the sun it can fade to dirty white, so it is recommended to choose shaded places for the plant. Golden Globe Maple - Cleveland is a medium-sized tree up to 15 m in height with a spherical or ovoid crown. Autumn foliage color is yellow-orange.
- Columnare is a tree up to 20 m high with an elegant narrow-ovate or columnar crown. Cultivation in multi-stem form is recommended. Olmsted is similar to Columnare.
- Crimson Sentry is a small tree up to 10 m high. The bright red-brown color lasts throughout the season.
Maple Crimson Sentry - Deborah is a fast-growing tree up to 20 m high with a regular wide-pyramidal crown. Brown-red foliage turns to dark green in summer in spring.
- The Drummondi variety is interesting for its foliage color - green leaves edged with a white stripe.
Maple Drummondi - Emerald Queen is a tree about 15-18 m in height with an oval crown. The leaves are pinkish in spring, green in summer, and light yellow in autumn.
- Faassen's Black is a tree up to 15 m high with a spreading crown.
In spring, the foliage is light red, against which yellow flowers are visible; later the color darkens and becomes burgundy. Similar varieties: Crimson King and Royal Red. Faassen's Black Maple - Fairview is a new variety.
A tree with a rounded-vertical narrow crown grows up to 15 m in height. Bright red foliage in spring gives way to bronze-green in summer. Fairview Maple - Princeton Gold is a large tree, young leaves are bright yellow, later turning greenish with a warm tint.
Princeton Gold Maple - Summershade is a profusely flowering tree with bronze-colored foliage that later turns pale green.
Maple Summershade
Types of maples
Of course, gardeners did not ignore such a wonderful tree: maple has long been used in landscaping, and breeders have developed many ornamental varieties. Let's take a closer look at some types and varieties of maples, the most decorative and used in gardening.
Ash-leaved or American maple
The ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo) has complex pinnate leaves, consisting of 3, 5, 7 and even 9 leaves; its crown is rather shapeless and shaggy. This species is probably well known to everyone - it is the one that grows almost everywhere in our country; in cities there are even problems with it: multiplying by self-sowing and having rapid growth, it fills the space of streets, parks and squares and is considered almost a weed. This maple is native to North America, and in Eurasia it has formed a secondary range.
Ash maple branch with lionfish
It is the most frost-resistant of all types of maples, which is why it has taken root in the harsh Siberian conditions. This species is characterized by very rapid growth - growth can reach 1.5 m per season.
In itself, this species is not very decorative, but has garden forms with silver or golden leaves, beautiful pubescence on the shoots, etc. For example, the 'Flamingo' variety - when young, its leaves are white and pink in color, and the tree looks very elegant and unusual; There is also a golden form of this variety.
Garden decorative form of maple ash-leaved variegata
Ash maple, although it grows exorbitantly, is good if you need to quickly create a green area. It is also quite suitable for a hedge: with heavy pruning, the tree quickly regenerates and produces many shoots, forming an impenetrable wall.
Norway maple or sycamore
Leaves of sycamore maple
Of course, breeders did not ignore such a tree and created many beautiful varieties based on it. They are mainly distinguished by a variety of leaf colors - golden ('Golden Globe'), purple ('Krimson King' and 'Faassen's Black'). The variety 'Drummondii' has green leaves with a white edge.
But the shape of the tree was also transformed - species with a spherical crown appeared. It is especially good because the plant does not need to be shaped - it constantly retains its shape. There is a standard and columnar form ('Columnare') - a tree up to 10 m high, with age it acquires a more conical shape. The flowers have a pleasant smell and look very unusual.
There is a false sycamore maple (sycamore or plane tree, Acer pseudoplatanus). A remarkably beautiful tree - slender, tall (up to 25 m), with a neat rounded crown. The lower part of the leaf is lighter.
False maple leaf, variety 'Simon Louis Freres'
Particularly interesting varieties: 'Brilliantissimum' - in spring its young leaves have a delicate pink-peach color, later they become bronze-yellow. 'Leopoldii' and 'Simon Louis Freres' have variegated foliage and low growth and are suitable for small gardens.
Manchurian maple
Manchurian maple (Acer mandshuricum) is a very pretty tree, which is why it is loved by many gardeners. It has a beautiful, lace-like crown, trifoliate, compound leaves, in the fall they turn into bright orange-yellow-purple colors, and even bright red petioles. Loves open places.
Greenbark maple
A beautiful tree or large shrub up to 15 m tall. Greenbark maple (Acer tegmentosum) is valued for the beauty of its trunks: its bark is smooth, green with longitudinal stripes. In young trees they are white, like marble, but with age they turn gray. Its spherical crown with dark cherry branches and large buds of a slightly pinkish color is also beautiful.
Green maple. Photo from perennialconnection.org
Wide large three-lobed leaves up to 16 cm long, thin leaf blades, in summer they have a dark green color, and in autumn they are painted golden yellow. This maple is beautiful in the spring during flowering - its greenish-yellow flowers are collected in racemes up to 8 cm long, graceful and loose, and in the fall it becomes even more beautiful when its pinkish-brown winged fruits ripen and the foliage turns bright yellow. The species is winter-hardy, fast-growing, and quite unpretentious.
Red maple
This species can tolerate excess moisture and even stagnant water, since it naturally grows in swampy areas in the eastern regions of North America, for which it is also called “swamp”. The red maple its name for the amazing color of its autumn leaves: their upper side becomes orange or red-purple, and the lower side becomes pinkish-silver. Its 'Red Sunset' variety is even brighter and more beautiful. There are also decorative forms - spherical and columnar.
Red maple
Riverside maple or Ginnala
river maple tree (Ginnala, Acer ginnala) grows up to 5-6 m; it can be formed into a bush. The leaves are three-lobed, slightly elongated, the flowers are fragrant, slightly yellowish, collected in panicles. The winged fruits are bright red, which makes it especially decorative in the fall.
Autumn leaves of the Ginnala maple
River maple is good both in single plantings and in groups and in hedges. It grows quickly, is unpretentious and winter-hardy, light-loving.
Tatarian maple or Chernoklen
So named for the very dark color of the bark, which makes it especially beautiful in winter, when the black silhouette of the tree stands out brightly against the background of white snow. The Tatarian maple has an unusual appearance and during the ripening of the seeds – its large lionfish of a rich pink color, collected in bunches. They resemble pink flowers against the green foliage.
Tatarian maple
Japanese maple
This type is suitable only for the southern regions of Russia. Japanese maple grows as a small tree or shrub. All its charm is in the autumn decoration of the foliage: at this time of year its leaves acquire an unusually bright color - red, burgundy, pink, purple with a lot of different shades. It can also be grown in container culture.
Japanese maple
Maples in Japan
For Japan, maples are special plants, as beloved as sakura and chrysanthemum. There are many types of them here, and they are all magnificent. Just as in the spring the Japanese gather in parks to admire the cherry blossoms, so in the fall they have a tradition of admiring the autumn maples.
Maple season in Japan
Maple season, or Momiji, is the main event of autumn in Japan. The painting of maples in autumn color lasts approximately 50 days, and the period of admiration itself lasts from late October to mid-November. You can admire the extraordinary beauty of autumn maples in parks, on the slopes of mountains and hills, and on the territory of temples.
Maple syrup
When talking about maples, how can we not mention maple syrup or sugar. It is obtained from the sap of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum). It is especially popular in the New World. The leaf of this particular type of maple has become the national emblem of Canada and is depicted on the flag.
Collecting maple sap in Canada
It grows in the southeastern part of the country. In early spring, the trees begin to flow sap, and at this time the surprisingly sweet sap is extracted.
River maple, or ginnala
River maple, or ginnala (Acer ginnala) is a large shrub that grows up to 6 m in height with an asymmetrical crown. The dark green leaves are three-lobed, the middle part is more elongated in relation to the two lateral ones. In autumn they take on spectacular colors, ranging from bright red to purple. Miniature yellowish flowers have a pleasant aroma. Flowering begins in late spring and lasts 15–20 days.
River maple
Growing conditions: it is better to choose a bright place for planting, but the plant can also tolerate partial shade. In the shade, maple loses its decorative qualities. Due to its resistance to dust, smoke and gases, it can grow in the city. The ginnala maple grows quickly and does not suffer much after transplantation. Prefers sandy and loamy soils with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction, but tolerates heavy and clayey soils.
Great for Japanese and Chinese gardens. River maple looks good both in a group and alone. The plant forms a dense bush and easily tolerates pruning, making it suitable for forming hedges. Often used for landscaping the banks of reservoirs. Curbs look interesting - low hedges 0.5 m high.
