I must take advantage of every opportunity to add another Japanese maple to the garden. Of course, depending on some mysterious internal mechanism that determines today’s favorite, a spot might be filled by another redbud or dogwood. There are plenty of each here already, but there are so many wonderful selections that I have to have, if only there’s space. In jest, Barbara suggests we purchase the neighboring property.

The clearing and renovation in autumn of the upper rear garden to make space for construction of the sunroom opened up an ideal space in full view from the house. Before planting started, I figured that two Japanese maples with a mature height of ten feet or less would fit. Six large Japanese maples are visible from the sunroom, three red leafed and three green leafed, so I hoped for other colors.

The two selected are likely to push slightly past the height limit, but I also added a third with a narrow, columnar form that was squeezed in after other planting was done, and I saw a small gap.

The yellow-leafed ‘Moonrise’ (Acer shirasawanum ‘Moonrise’, above) was the first choice. I saw one in the garden center just large enough, and this is a maple I’d been looking to fit into the garden in recent years. Several times, a ‘Moonrise’ wasn’t available when I decided to shoehorn in another tree, so I happily planted redbuds. But here, it worked perfectly that the maple was in stock and could be planted in the ideal spot to view it.

‘Moonrise’ isn’t much different from the Golden Full Moon maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Aurea’, above) that’s a bit lower down in the rear garden. It is slightly more sun tolerant, but beside the sunroom, it will be protected against the late afternoon sun. I searched for years before finding a good sized Full Moon, so I suppose that figured into it becoming a favorite that carried over into my obsession for planting a ‘Moonrise’.

The second Japanese maple was mostly a matter of convenience. While I would’ve preferred to plant a maple not already in the garden, the priority was to start with a substantial tree. I have little patience, and this space had been wildly overgrown, so I had to have some bulk to the planting from the start.

The choice was easy, in stock, and reasonably priced. The heavily pruned ‘Butterfly’ maple (Acer palmatum ‘Butterfly’) makes a show, even as I dislike pruning maples, and if anything, I prefer an open, natural branching structure. I cringe a little, seeing it in leaf. It’s a lot too shrubby, but it shows up today, not five years from now. I’ll give it some time, then I’ll probably thin it out a bit.

In any case, both maples are now in leaf, and I couldn’t be happier. The third Japanese maple isn’t much of anything today, but the green leafed ‘Tsukasa Silhouette’ (above) should grow quickly and fill its little nook at the corner. Now, I’m overjoyed and expect to be even happier in five and ten years. The rest of the plantings have some growing to do, but the maples are just right.