Bright Color in Maples

 

I may have to change my opinion that October in Alabama is the nicest month. Seems like so far November is taking that title. But, we do have a long way to go yet. The last few days have been outstanding with warm days, cool nights, low humidity, and bright blue skies. The maples are bright red and it is easy to forgive them their greedy ways when you see that color. I say greedy because their roots are near the surface and they coral most of the water and nutrients under their drip line. This behavior plus the numerous roots make it almost impossible to grow anything, even grass,under their shade. And there is also the matter of all those seed! Wow! They come up everywhere. They hide under shrubs and spring up half grown when you are not looking. They completely take over any pots they land in. But those leaves are nice. I am speaking here of our native species. The Japanese maples are much better behaved and if you get the rare seedling from a Japanese maple, you may want to keep it. Unlike our native maples which make seed in the spring, Japanese maples drop seed in the fall. They are ripening now. Japanese maples also have a lot of surface roots, but who would want to detract from their lovely aspect by planting something else under something that is already perfect. See what I mean?