This Seasons Plants To Look Out For

 

What's Looking Good By Hugh Angus, Head of Collections

Westonbirt is rightly famous for its maples and autumn is probably the time of year when most of us appreciate them.  However after my spring article when I talked about their flowers I hope that is not entirely true.  For this edition I will focus on some of the maples that deserve more attention.  Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum is the first species that I would like to mention.  It is a plant that grows over large areas of the east coast of North America.  In those parts of the world it is renowned for its fabulous autumn colour and it is true to say that it is truly one of the stars of the autumn show.  For us however it does not perform quite so well although during hot summers it does try to compete with its relatives in North America.  It is a large tree and in its home range can reach over 100 ft tall.  For us it does well to reach these proportions and is still quite uncommon in the UK.

The leaves are five lobed and typically maple shaped, up to 5ins. across.  The species name, saccharum, sugary is referring to the sap.  In early spring the trees are tapped for their sap and then this is boiled down to create that lovely American treat, maple syrup.  Who hasn’t tried pancakes with maple syrup or pecan pie?  If not then you have atreat in store at some stage.  Currently there is also a lot of work going on to produce maple syrup from the big leaf maple, Acer macrophyllum, who’s home is on the West coast.

There are several sub species of the Sugar Maple and for us the Chalk Maple, Acer saccharum ssp. leucoderme gives good autumn colour.  It tends to be more of a small to medium sized tree in cultivation but obviously someone forgot to tell our best specimen that, as it is listed as one of our UK Champions.  It is found in square 13O, about 30 metres from Willesley drive.

Another one of my favourite maples in autumn is the Korean maple, with the dreadful scientific name of Acer pseudosieboldianum.  Getting back to names again this is trying to tell you that it is pretending to look like Sielbold’s Maple, Acer sieboldianum a maple from Japan.  The Korean maple was first introduced into the Europe in 1904 and is still quite a rare maple.  Our best specimen is to be found in square 20K just up the bank on your right once you have gone through Skilling Gate.  It is a very beautiful maple and during autumn is a real mixture of colours.  At best it makes a small to medium sized tree and is a good choice for the small garden.  The leaves although round in outline are maple shaped and have nine to eleven lobes and can grow to nearly five inches across at best.

Acer japonicum and two of its cultivars are my final choice for this edition.  We have several fine specimens of Acer japonicum and its cultivar ‘Vitifolium’ in the Old Arboretum.  Amongst these is the UK Champion but all are outstanding plants in the autumn.  Our best specimens are to be found on Holford Ride and at the East end of Mitchell Drive.  They tend to colour earlier than most and turn every colour you can possibly imagine.  Looking at these specimens one does not tend to think of them as a plant for the small garden.  However if one remembers these plants are probably over 100 years old then they can at least be considered.  Whether you describe them as a tree or very large shrub I shall leave you to decide but they are certainly at their most attractive when multi stemmed.  The leaves are circular in shape with seven to eleven lobes and can be as much as six inches across.  As the name suggests it is native to Japan.

Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’ is another fine selection from this species and certainly makes a smaller plant and is therefore perhaps more suitable for the small garden.  One of our best specimens is to be found in the National Maple Collection in Silk Wood and the leaves in autumn make a truly stunning display.