The Japanese coral bark maple provides a year-long focal point of interest, as seen in this moment’s brilliant golden foliage. Its spring show focuses mainly on chartreuse leaves, summer deepens into a darker green, and winter reveals the red bark befitting its namesake. I think I like the spring show the best, but fall is a very close second.
The leaves take on a tenderness now that is also part of their appeal – very soon they will drop, plucked by wind or rain or the simple end of this part of their journey. They will flutter down and join the earth again, rotting and decaying and transforming into nourishment and aid for another season of leaves. Tenderness and comfort and reassurance – the very building blocks of fall, and just enough to get us through the winter.
