Best Snakebark Maples?

[kGarden]

I have no personal experience, and I know it is subjective, but all I have to go on is what the Nurseries put in their descriptions for the plants ... so any first-hand opinions would be apprecaited.

I want a couple of Snakebark for the Winter garden - obviously needs to look good in Winter :) from descriptions I have read some appear to have particularly good Winter bark. The Winter garden is visible from the house, so Autumn Colour is also a, secondary, value.

I've found Karan Junker's descriptions the most helpful, along with those from Bluebell Arboretum and Nursery


Acer capillipes 'Antoine'
A narrow and upright tree with handsome green and gray bark covered with fine silver, snake-like lines once established. New stems are dark purple/red. The leaves are large and dark green in summer, turning shades of yellow, orange or red in autumn before falling. A fantastic tree for winter interest and with the narrow habit is more suitable than some of the other snake-bark maples for gardens with limited horizontal space. 6-8M x 3M

Acer x conspicuum 'Elephant's Ear'
A rare selection of snakebark maple with very large leaves, sometimes up to 1 ft long on established plants, green in the summer and turning golden yellow before falling in autumn. The bark is an eye-catching dark green in colour with vivid silver lines running vertically up and down the stem. A beautiful specimen shrub in the short term, or eventually a very small branching tree. 5M x 5M or bigger
Junker: leaves up to 30cm long and 20cm wide! Lovely golden yellow autumn colour

Me: Not sure about this one, of interest for the leaves ... so could put this in the Woodland / Hydrangea garden maybe?

Acer x conspicuum 'Mozart' / Acer pectinatum 'Mozart'
A small tree with deep purple-red bark covered with vertical, sinuous silver lines. The leaves are bright green and turn butter yellow in the autumn before falling. An attractive small tree all year round, the vivid stem colour makes it particularly suitable for planting in a winter themed border or garden. 6M x 6M

Acer x conspicuum 'Phoenix'
Rare with colourful, striped bark and large, cool green leaves in the summer months which turn to a fantastic, fine gold colour in autumn. The bark is a faint green/yellow in the summer and brightens to a vivid pink, yellow and orange with silver snake-like lines in winter. An outstanding plant with year round interest which deserves pride of place in nearly any garden! 6M x 6M
Junker: amazing winter bark is a bright orangey-pink with pure white stripes and never fails to attract comment. Autumn colour is bright yellow, though it does tend to lose it's leaves early in the autumn. Avoid too wet or enclosed a site to minimise the risk of fungal problems in winter.

ACER x conspicuum 'Silver Vein'
Junker: arguably the best of the classic snakebarks for garden suitability and good colour with its rich purple and white striped winter bark. 5m.

Me: I've read, on other sites, of Silver Vein being a favourite.

Acer davidii 'Rosalie'
A superb small garden tree, with beautiful silver and red striated bark when young, which as the plant ages slowly turns dark green and silver on the more mature stems. In a good autumn, the dark green leaves can develop fetching, clear-yellow and orange tints before falling. A handsome small tree with very colourful winter bark! 10M x 8M
Junker: one of our favourites. The young growth opens a delightful chocolate colour, eventually maturing to green, but initially contrasting superbly with the delightful hanging racemes of pale coloured flowers. Although the bark is a pleasant green with white striping in summer, it really comes into its own in winter when it turns a rich reddish-lilac colour, highlighting the white striations.

Acer davidii 'Serpentine'
Junker: one of the most graceful of the snakebarks with smaller leaves and free-branching, gently arching habit. Seeds freely produced, creating a very attractive contrast. Wonderful orange autumn colours.

Acer grosseri
A handsome garden tree, with green bark covered with fine silver lines once established and dark green leaves which turn shades or yellow, orange and red in autumn. Grows to be a small tree in time and although hardy will usually do best in sun or light, dappled shade with some shelter from strong wind. 10M x 8M

Me: I'm one for Good-Do'ers, this sounds more "fragile"?

Acer tegmentosum
One of the loveliest of all Snakebark maples, with magnificent jade and silver striated bark, complimented in winter by striking mahogany coloured buds. Unlike most other Snakebark maples, this plant is almost as spectacular in summer as it is in the depths of winter, with lush, large green leaves and an excellent display of bark. The leaves will also turn good shades of butter yellow in a crisp autumn. A stunning maple with year round interest and a 'must have' for nearly any winter garden! 10M x 8M
Junker: handsome small tree and arguably the hardiest of all the snakebark maples. It remains comparatively small and lightly branched so that the bold leaves and white striped bark can be appreciated with ease. This is such a tactile plant. The winter stems are covered with a white bloom, which sadly rubs off when caressed! (seed grown plants which will vary). 4-5m

[Jungle Jas]

In my opinion the best snake bark maple isn't a snake bark maple but Sango Kaku the Coral Bark Maple. I love mine in the winter and wouldn't be without it. ;)

[kGarden]

Thanks Jas, I've got one of those (in a pot ready for my Oriental garden), and you're right it is lovely - particularly the bark.

I wonder if Snake Barks are too understated - not sure the bark really shows up "as a feature" ... perhaps I need to get out & about and see one close up ... Bluebell Nursery is not that far from me ...

[Jungle Jas]

Another good maple for bark is Griseum the paper bark maple. I did possess a snake bark maple many years ago, but I wasn't that impressed. ;)

[kGarden]

Thanks, a Paper Bark is already ordered :) ... perhaps I should give the Snakebar a miss ... either way, I think I need to get to an Arboetum to see them, before I decided.

[Jungle Jas]

Thanks, a Paper Bark is already ordered :) ... perhaps I should give the Snake bark a miss ... either way, I think I need to get to an Arboretum to see them, before I decided.

Excellent idea. Pity your not closer, I would have given you one. :roll: :)

[kGarden]

I had already decided that Snake Bark Maples are not worth the Candle ... but no harm in double-checking ... so ... we were heading home, Southwards, at the weekend and dropped in at Bluebell Arboretum for a visit (a few miles West of the M1 Loughborough, and South of Derby)

I had a misconception that it would be trees dotted about a field, so to speak, but in fact it was lovely - lots of rare trees of course, but mostly planted with shrubs and herbaceous setting them off.

Very impressed with the labelling too. Some plants had only a metal tag, which took some hunting amongst the foliage, but many had a serious "blurb" which made the visit all the more worthwhile. One of the owner-family was there too, incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, including talking me through ideal growing conditions for the Haul I then brought home.

Anyways, I had the chance to look at the Snakebark Maples close up, and the stripes were visible but not conspicuous (despite the name ... !) and definitely not worth finding a good spot for them expecting them to be spectacular.

Good job I asked here before buying them on the internet sight-unseen.

Some photos:



Ash "Raywood". There is some highways planting on a road we travel that has these, and they go an incredibly dark colour in Autumn. Their leaves are finer than regular Ash, and have a "fluffy" look to them:



Sadly can't buy them because of the transportation restrictions for Ash Dieback disease. I thought I read that they came true from seed (and had planed to try some that way), but Bluebell said that they grafted all theirs, so I was probably misinformed. However, I have spotted a stand of three a mile down the road, so I might try my hand at some grafting.

Here's an example of Bluebell's excellent name-plates:





Lovely, huge, early yellow Autumn foliage of Carya ovata. Puts a taproot down early, so I bought a very small plant.





Liquidambar styraciflua Gumball. I wonder if this is grafted onto a stick, or whether it initially grows fast enough to make that standard, before then doing the "lollipop". Quite liked the idea though - nice to have a plant that could go in a border, to give Autumn colour, without becoming a tree ...



Didn't find a label for this one, so we nicknamed it Chamaecyparis lawsoniana echiumii !!



Quercus palustris Isabel



Never liked variegated Tulip trees ... until now! This one looked smashing Liriodendron tulipifera Purgatory

and fell seriously in love with the two-tone needles of Pinus flexilis Wolf’s Pyramid

[Jungle Jas]

I do like the look of your Echiumii! The only one like and theirs no ruddy name on it. :roll:

[kGarden]

The only one like and theirs no ruddy name on it. :roll:

I'll send them a picture and ask, they were very helpful so I'm sure they won't mind. My camera battery ran flat whilst walking round, bit frustrating, so I couldn't show him the photo on the day

[Jungle Jas]

The only one like and theirs no ruddy name on it. :roll:

I'll send them a picture and ask, they were very helpful so I'm sure they won't mind. My camera battery ran flat whilst walking round, bit frustrating, so I couldn't show him the photo on the day

Thanks I would appreciate that. ;)