Thursday, November 5, 2009

Acer palmatum linearilobum...wonderful upright laceleaf maple



I would like this plant even if it didn't have excellent fall color. As the name suggests, the leaves do have long narrow lobes, making it another one of those plants that people hopefully mistake for marijuana. There's a "light" feel to this plant that goes beyond the airy open leaves. The branches angle upward then the tips arch a bit. They have good spacing and relate comfortably with one another. Its proportions, at least twice as tall as wide, make it a good choice under a high canopy. While shorter, wider plants seem to live their eartbound lives oblivious to the natural cathedral above them, this tree reaches up to celebrate that open space.

This plant sits alone in a triangle of pachysandra where the path to the Garden Club of America Circle branches off the main path to the Chimonanthus overlook gracefully occupying the open space created by that junction.

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