These Japanese maples are not as lovely as usual this year. First a late summer dry spell, then an abnormally warm late autumn–followed by a “flash freeze” so to speak, left the leaves suspended on the tree.
But the leaves are always very late to drop–one of the last to fall off. It’s partly a protection for the delicate nub of leaf forming underneath for next year’s leaf.
On this red leafed variety, it’s even worse. It drives the Spoiler mad–and of course, we track them in until January or later.
But of course, there’s no hurrying nature. When you see the brown oak leaves in this photo, however, you know that these maple leaves are very late to fall since oak leaves are one of the last to come off the tree!
Gardendaze 