Japanese Maples at the Lake

Nonna is on the road this weekend, and you know there are plants at the end of this journey.  I teamed up with my stepfather-in-law for a visit to a nursery here in LA (Lower Alabama).  SFIL is a Japanese maple fanatic, so we loaded up the F-150 and rolled over to Millstone Nursery in Dadeville, Alabama.

This is only part of the selection at Millstone

To the uninitiated, you might think you've seen one Japanese maple, you've seen them all, well you'd be dead wrong.  You have primary color (red or green), fall color, habit (upright, weeping, etc), bark color, leaf size, and the most unique characteristic of all: Leaf type.

Love the contrast of the green foliage and the red seeds just emerging

If you've only ever seen Japanese maples in shopping centers or your neighbor's yard and never up close, you've probably never seen lace-leaf variety.  They're impossibly light, thin, and soft.  

Close up of a lace-leaf variety

I ended up taking home a lace-leaf variety called 'Hana Matoi'.  The nursery indicated it has a small, weeping habit which is great for containers.  I think it'll look great in a pot added to my landscape in the back.  Can't wait!

Another view and even more Japanese maples

If this has piqued your interest in Japanese Maples, there's a whole world to explore.  Here's a great starter article on Acer palmatum published by the NC State Extension.

May or may not have picked this up at another stop....