Acer palmatum Redwine - Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum 'Redwine' is a small Japanese maple, but it is also a graceful small tree with changing and beautifully coloured foliage: it goes from orange in spring to deep green in summer before turning to golden yellow and bright orange in autumn. This compact variety is particularly suitable for cultivation in pots or containers, and it easily finds its place in a small garden.

Native to eastern China, Korea, and Japan, Acer palmatum is the origin of a multitude of horticultural varieties that compete in beauty. The Japanese palmate maple belongs, like all maples, to the family Aceraceae. It is relatively hardy, but it fears dry and cold winds, scorching exposures, and dry, chalky soils. The 'Redwine' cultivar shows fairly slow growth. Its habit is upright, bushy, widening towards its top. It will not exceed 2.00m (6ft 7in) in height and 1.5m (4ft 11in) in spread except under exceptional conditions. In spring, this small tree develops reddish young branches and bright orange young shoots. They unfold into finely dissected palmate leaves with 5 dentate lobes (3 large and 2 small) well separated, with dentate margins. In summer, the lamina unifies into dark green. Just before falling, the leaves take on beautiful yellow and orange hues. The discreet flowering takes place in May-June. The flowers, grouped in small clusters, sometimes produce some fruits with curved wings, called samaras, 3cm (1.2in) long.

Acer palmatum 'Red Wine' deserves a prominent place in the centre of a small flowerbed or in a large pot on the terrace. Compact but truly elegant, this small tree is perfect for small gardens and for ornamenting terraces and patios. The Japanese maple is not strictly speaking a heathland plant, but it prefers humus-rich and moist soils. Chinese azaleas, Andromedas, hydrangeas, wild camellias, ferns, and heathers will be its most beautiful companions. It can form a magnificent bonsai to be grown in a flat pot. Mix several varieties of Japanese maples to vary the colours and structures of the foliage, the effect is always dazzling at the end of the season. The orange and golden tones go wonderfully well with the purple and red foliage of Physocarpus and certain elderberries, for example.