Japanese Maples for Fall Color: 7 Garden Bloggers’ Favorites

Japanese maples are sold mostly for their summer leaf color, but many gardeners choose them for the fall show. Which cultivars actually deliver in a real garden, year after year? We gathered seven gardeners who have grown and photographed their own trees, and noted what each one teaches about choosing and growing them.

Each entry links to the original post, where you can see the gardener’s own photos. The photos here are illustrative stock images of the same cultivars from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each one. They are not photos of the bloggers’ trees.

1. Ramblin' through Dave's Garden: The fern-leaf full moon maple tops his fall list

From Dave, Ramblin' through Dave's Garden: Best in autumn (original post)

Dave grows many Japanese maples and names the fern-leaf full moon maple, Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’, as the best of them for autumn color. He also points out that red-leaved ‘Bloodgood’ and ‘Crimson Queen’ often fade in summer heat, then deepen again in October and hold color after nearby trees have dropped their leaves.

The useful lesson is that fall color varies from year to year, even on the same tree. Weather in late summer and the first frosts make a big difference. If a new maple disappoints in its first fall, give it a few seasons before judging it.

2. The World's Best Gardening Blog: Pick a green-leaved maple for the best fall show

From Amy Campion, The World's Best Gardening Blog: The Six Best Japanese Maples for Fall Color (original post)

Amy Campion spent 16 years at a Kentucky nursery that grew more than 60 Japanese maple varieties. Her advice runs against what most people buy: green-leaved and variegated maples usually turn brighter, more varied colors over a longer period than red-leaved ones. Her favorites include the weeping laceleaf ‘Viridis’, ‘Orido Nishiki’, ‘Kihachijo’ and ‘Osakazuki’.

This is the most practical tip in the roundup. If fall color is your main goal, look past the red-leaved trees that dominate garden-center benches. She also notes that ‘Kihachijo’ leafs out a little later in spring, which can help it dodge a late freeze.

3. The Graceful Gardener: A home collection of 19 cultivars

From Brenda, The Graceful Gardener: My Love Affair with Japanese Maples (original post)

Brenda started with four laceleaf maples and, five years later, had 25 trees of 19 cultivars. Her post pairs summer and fall photos of each one, including the dwarf ‘Mikawa Yatsubusa’, the columnar ‘Twombly’s Red Sentinel’ and Acer shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon’, which she protects from afternoon sun.

Side-by-side summer and fall photos are exactly what you need when choosing, because a maple can look completely different in October. Her mature sizes, from about 3 feet for the dwarfs to 10 to 15 feet for the columnar type, are a useful reminder to check the final size on the label. Our guide to how big Japanese maples grow covers this in more detail.

4. Victoria's Backyard: Seiryu in a pot, Osakazuki in the ground

From Victoria Summerley, Victoria's Backyard: Autumn and its consolations (original post)

Garden writer Victoria Summerley grows the upright laceleaf ‘Seiryu’ in a pot and ‘Osakazuki’ in the ground. She notes that you never quite know whether they will color: after a hot, dry August the leaves can shrivel before they turn. She also found ‘Seiryu’ much tougher than its delicate leaves suggest.

Her observation about late-summer drought matches what we see in reader questions: leaf scorch in August often means a dull fall. Deep watering in dry spells, especially for container trees, helps protect the fall display. Our Japanese maple care guide covers watering and siting.

5. Dirt Therapy: Coral bark maple and a garden full of fall color

From Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy: Fall Color on Japanese Maples (original post)

Phillip Oliver’s garden is packed with maples, and this post walks through their fall colors in one exceptional year: ‘Sango Kaku’, the coral bark maple, ‘Skeeter’s Broom’, a potted ‘Dancing Peacock’, the weeping ‘Ryusen’ and an old ‘Bloodgood’ that came with the house. He notes that ‘Osakazuki’ colors very late, sometimes too late, but then changes almost overnight.

Two takeaways. First, ‘Sango Kaku’ earns its place in winter too, when its red young stems show after the leaves drop. Second, he recommends ‘Shaina’ for tight spots, a reminder that there is a Japanese maple for almost any space if you choose the cultivar carefully.

6. South Fidalgo Island garden and weather blog: A 20-year-old Osakazuki in Pacific Northwest soil

From fidalgoweather.net, South Fidalgo Island garden and weather blog: Osakazuki (original post)

This Washington gardener has grown ‘Osakazuki’ for more than twenty years, on the north side of the house where it gets some sun, dappled light and afternoon shade. It thrives in native glacial till that gets dry and hard in summer, and every late October it turns crimson. The tree also holds its red-tinged seeds after the leaves drop.

It is a good example of matching site to tree. ‘Osakazuki’ is one of the larger cultivars, at around 20 to 25 feet, so it needs room. Afternoon shade helps prevent leaf scorch in warmer climates. The writer adds a nice touch: it shares a bed with autumn fern, which also changes color through the seasons.

7. Garden Muses: Unusual cultivars at the Toronto Botanical Garden, and two losses

From Paul Jung, Garden Muses: Falling for Japanese maples in the fall (original post)

Toronto gardener Paul Jung photographed a long list of less common cultivars in fall color at the Toronto Botanical Garden, from ‘Coonara Pygmy’ and ‘Kiyo-hime’ to the weeping ‘Waterfall’. He is also candid that he lost two expensive maples, a ‘Seiryu’ and an ‘Osakazuki’, to verticillium wilt in his own backyard.

Verticillium wilt is a soil-borne fungus that has no cure, and it is one of the main reasons a maple dies on one side or branch by branch. Visiting a public garden in fall is the best way to see mature cultivars before you buy. If your maple wilts suddenly, start with our maple symptom guide.

Choosing a Japanese maple for fall color

Several of these gardeners arrived at the same advice: green-leaved and variegated cultivars often give the brightest, longest fall show, and red-leaved types color more quietly. Afternoon shade and steady moisture in late summer protect the display. Check each cultivar’s mature size and hardiness for your area before buying. The NC State Extension profile below lists a range of cultivars and growing conditions.

Top photo: Fillius, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons