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| HEDGE MAPLE: SMALL ASIAN ORNAMENTAL TREE... |
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| ...VERY COLORFUL THIS FALL... |
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| ...WITH PINK WINGED SEEDS |
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| THE HUMMINGBIRDS ARE FATTENING UP FOR THEIR FALL MIGRATION, DRINKING THE FEEDERS DRY |
Tuesday, 9:00 AM. 68 degrees F on both thermometers. Wind variable, calm. The sky is partly cloudy and very hazy. There is heavy fog over the channel and the ferry boats are sounding their fog horns. The dew point is 68, and condensation has been running off the roofs. The barometer is fairly steady, currently at 29.86". Today will be hot, humid and hazy.
Fall is sneaking up on us. It is just around the corner, but with only a few obvious signs apparent as yet. One such sign is the thirsty hummingbirds, who have drunk a significant portion of the sugar water in the feeder that hangs on the back porch, in the past week. They are seriously fattening up for their annual epic migration to South America. They typically leave Bayfield around September 15th. At this rate, I may have to make another batch of nectar.
Each fall is somewhat different from the standpoint of overall color intensity and palette, and on the basis of the coloration of individual species. Some plants will stand out one year, others the next. This year the hedge maples, a species of small Asian ornamental tree,
Acer campestre, in the Maple (
Aceraceae) Family, have particularly colorful seeds. There are a number of varieties of this small tree, and I couldn't say which the one photographed is of. It will also have decent fall leaf color, but the main attraction is the unusual winged seeds, or samaras.
The hedge maple can be a good small tree for various urban landscapes, but in general I would choose many other species before this one for general landscape use, although I do find the seeds very attractive this fall. Full size for this small tree or very large shrub is 30' high by similar width. It is generally too wide and low-branched to be used as a street tree, although it is sometimes so employed.
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