Growing for success | Last to arrive but quick to impress: Japanese maples

It is one of the best displays we have had here for a long time, so try to take it all in while it continues.

Usually, this late in May, it would be down to the last of the ornamental pears and a few of the pin oaks, leaving the always-late attention-seeking Japanese maples to take all the glory with their late stunning turn of colour.

My favourite one would have to be Acer palmatum dissectum seiryu, which is often the last tree left with a full display of autumn colour, sometimes as late as mid-June. It is an open vase-shaped tree growing about five metres high by five metres wide, with a canopy that cascades down to about two metres off the ground.

The root system is non-invasive and allows room for other plants to grow happily under its canopy. The small, fine, delicate-looking leaf has a serrated margin and is mid-green in colour. It first turns orangey red, then a deep fiery red before falling.

Most years, they will hold their autumn colour for three to four weeks and then drop all at once. Despite their delicate look, they are quite hardy and will grow in full sun and take the hot, dry north winds if kept well-watered in that type of weather. The fine structure of the tree throws a soft, dappled shade that allows plenty of light through.

Another of my favourites is the weeping maple Acer palmatum dissectum inaba shidare. Growing on a short graft of about one metre high, they are a lot smaller and cascade all the way down to the ground. They grow to around 1.5m high and about the same width, with a soft-looking weeping habit.

The foliage is deep purple for most of the year and turns a brilliant deep red in autumn.

The leaf is similar to seiryu but slightly finer. It needs some protection from hot north winds, but it will still take quite a bit of full sun.

They make an amazing feature plant, either in the garden or a large pot, even when they are fully dormant, with their bare cascading branch structure a feature in itself.

Speaking of being late, it looks like this year’s bare-rooted season is going to start a lot later than usual. Quite often, we would already have had the first few deliveries of our bare-rooted stock, which were ornamental trees and fruit trees, in the nursery in sand beds and selling, with delivery dates for the roses locked in as well.

This year, however, we have not indicated a delivery date for any of this stock. This is due to the lateness of the season, and for the health of the plants, they cannot be dug until they are dormant. We would normally get about two weeks’ notice on the delivery dates, so I am guessing it will be mid-June before the season kicks off.

For all those who have ordered bare-rooted stock with us, don’t worry, we have not forgotten you. Your plants will be picked out and held aside before the remaining plants go into the nursery for sale. With some lines already sold out before they even arrive, it would be advisable to get in early if you have not pre-ordered already. There is no backup stock for the majority of the plants coming in, and it will be 12 months before growers can supply more.

In the meantime, get out and enjoy the beautiful autumn display and this lovely weather.

It is a bit funny that I am writing a column about always being late. I am always late getting this column in, and my mother-in-law used to always call me “the late Larry Smith”. Some things never change.