A New Tree - Sort of!

Back on June 6th, I took part on a wonderful bus tour to 3 unique plant nurseries. At Cistus Nursery on Sauvie Island I found this great little Acer and decided that he should come home. Luckily it just fit in the storage area underneath the bus and made it home unscathed. Sadly, for the next 7 weeks, it has lived in its big nursery pot. Almost every day we put it out into the sunshine and at night it has returned to the safety of the shop. Finally, after weeks of planting my gardens and other distractions, we got it in the ground last night. Unfortunately, like all new trees on our property, it will need to spend its first couple of years "behind bars". The deer are just ruthless to young trees, eating all of the leaves and rubbing the bark off the trunks.

Here is what its nursery tags says; " Acer shirasawanum ' Aureum' A lovely full moon maple with a similar habit to that of Acer Circunnatum, the vine maple, but more tolerant of sun - all but full afternoon sun - with delicate golden leaves that tint orange then become vibrant orange in autumn, the tree growing to  8-10 feet in time. Decent drainage and regular summer water for best appearance. Frost hardy in USDA zone 6. " I am most excited about its Fall color potential. We have planted trees now that give us great Fall red and yellow color, but we need some orange - my favorite Fall color!