Acer palmatum 'SUMMER GOLD'

Japanese maples are beautiful shrubs or small trees which are available in numerous varieties of various shapes, sizes, and colours. And colour is the key feature of this introduction from Italian nursery Gilardelli in Agrate Brianza near Milano.

Summer Gold is a special Japanese maple with yellow-green foliage that is very resistant to heat and sun, and is commonly grown in locations where yellow and green coloured maples fail to perform. The leaves are 5 or 7-lobed, palmate, bright golden or almost orange yellow with some salmon orange-pink shades when they emerge, and mature to very light lime green in summer whilst majority of insolated foliage remains golden yellow. The best show, however, kicks off in autumn when they slowly turn coral orange, salmon pink, and later scarlet and carmine red. The progress of changing colours throughout the whole plant is something so extraordinary that makes you want to photograph it day after day.

It grows moderately, some 15-25 cm per year, making a V-shaped framework when young, and forming stunning canopy of tiered branches with age.

Summer Gold maple can take full sun all day long but will also thrive in partial shade or in filterered sunlight. Grow it in semi-fertile, acidic to neutral, moist but well drained soil. Keep it mulched all year round and avoid growing grass above its roots. It will love a location with high air humidity, e.g. at a river bank or near a pond, but it is not a must. On the other hand it will definitely not be too happy in a small paved yard surrounded by dry air and hot concrete. Fully hardy to min. -27°C (USDA zone 5b).

Last update 07-11-2016