Not content to let the fall go out without a blaze of glory, this lovely lace-leafed Japanese maple set itself on gorgeous fire these past few days, illuminating its backyard space for a finale fit for a queen. This little tree is approaching two decades of reliable performance, a long time span over which it has slowly but steadily increased its spread and weeping beauty. It started off about two feet in circumference, and now extends its elegantly drooping branches a good ten feet beyond that.
It was a bargain buy at the end of a summer season sale at Hewitt’s, and it came in a tight burlap root sack that was cutting into its bark. I wasn’t sure it would survive, and for the first few years it didn’t do much in the way of top growth, but underneath the amended ground something was working. It began to gradually increase its width and the girth of its trunk, imperceptibly at first, and only in the past couple of years did I take true notice of its extensive expansion, and quite happily at that. There’s nothing quite like the loveliness of a plant finally finding comfort in its home.
