Although technically an understory tree is not a wildflower, I'm going to take the opportunity here, in my Wildflower Wednesday post, to champion the native vine maple as a great plant for the garden (it does flower after all). And I have my reasons.
Last week I visited the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in North Seattle, for a two-hour class on the use of natives in the Miller Garden. Basically, it was a two-hour tour that focused on pointing out which plants in the garden were West Coast natives. Before the tour started we were given a handout with the names of the plants and their general locations. About halfway through the tour it occurred to me that there were no vine maples on the list, and the tour guide hadn't even mentioned them.
So I asked her about them. And I got the stink-eye.
"Betty Miller was a great champion of Japanese maples. The garden has a lot of those."
......Ok, then....
Japanese maples are alright, I guess. But especially here in the PNW, they are way over-used. At least two of my non-gardening neighbors have them, both pruned into that ubiquitous umbrella shape. They're very much at home in a Japanese garden, and they appeal to a certain aesthetic.
That aesthetic isn't my personal favorite, and I prefer vine maples. And I still don't understand why I got the stink-eye for mentioning them. I mean, Betty Miller died in 1994, and since then the garden has changed and been updated with lots of new introductions that she probably never even heard of.
Why not some of the new named varieties of vine maple?
 |
| The vine maple does have a pretty little cluster of flowers that hide under the leaves |
 |
| Acer circinatum 'Pacific Fire' in my garden |
 |
| 'Pacific Fire' has lovely red twigs and accordion-pleated new foliage |
 |
| A. circinatum 'Pacific Fire' when first planted here back in 2010 |
Not actually a vine, the vine maple is a small multi-trunked understory tree with sometimes twisty, sinuous limbs (hence "vine"). In undisturbed areas, the vine maple grows with bigleaf maple, Douglas-fir, western hemlock, grand fir, and Pacific dogwood, with sword fern underneath. Hardy in Zones 6 to 9, it thrives in medium moisture soil in full to partial sun. It's native from British Columbia to northern California.
 |
| Species vine maple in a corner of my garden devoted to PNW natives |
 |
| It works well as a leafy companion to Trillium ovatum, Asarum caudatum, and Dicentra formosa |
Besides the 'Pacific Fire' that I have growing in my garden, there are quite a few named varieties of vine maple that are fabulous choices for any PNW gardener.
From the Dancing Oaks nursery website:
'Burgundy Jewel' -- "The larger leaves on this Vine Maple are dark red-purple when they come out in the spring, fading to a coppery-red in late summer. The fall color is rich and varied. This is an upright tree with stiff branches forming a vase shape. The trunk and branches are an impressive deep reddish-purple - beautiful in winter. It's great for an accent, a focal point, or for a dense screen."
'Del's Dwarf' -- "Many are unaware of this choice selection that forms a 4'x4' foliage poof with summer-long reddish-bronze, orange, yellow, and green leaf color: autumn in summer!"
'Little Gem' -- "This jewel produces a thicket of candy-red stems on shrubs that reach 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Unfortunately hard to find and thus seldom used in landscapes, but very valuable as a dense, rounded, and attractive shrub with a great texture and winter interest. A good alternative to the winter red stems of Cornus stolonifera."
'Monroe' -- "Who would have guessed that this dainty leaf belonged to our native from Southern Oregon? Dissected leaves with red and gold fall color on strongly horizontal branching shrubs 8 ft tall x 12 ft wide."
'Pacific Sprite' -- "Forest green leaves are crinkled in upon themselves in congested clumps resembling the Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira' or Lion's Mane Maple."
A. circinatum 'Monroe' and 'Pacific Fire' are both Great Plant Picks as well. Read about them here and here.
Wildflower Wednesday is hosted by Gail at the blog clay and limestone. You can read her post here, about three of her favorite native wildflowers. Check out the links to other bloggers' posts about wildflowers too!
