“Shin Deshojo Japanese Maple”
Heatherwood Spring
During the last two weeks, our Heatherwood Japanese Maples have been opening their leaves in a glorious burst of spring color. This Shin Deshojo graces our sitting area next to the pond. Its striking pinkish red color steals the show as we enter the sitting area.
We have another Shin Deshojo next our house. It has a story of its own to be told.
“Spring Vignette”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Spring is a beautiful time in our Heatherwood Japanese garden. The various trees and shrubs blend together to provide a beautiful patchwork of colors. As I peek through the trees, my eyes take a circuitous route through the vignette. They first focus to the left on the bright pink of a Shin deshojo Japanese maple, then move up to the magenta of a flowering crabapple. They move to the right corner to see the deep purple of a Bloodgood Japanese maple and then down to the rhododendrons that are just about ready to burst in bloom. They next move up to the center to see the white flowers of a fothergillia. Finally they move up a little more and see the chartreuse of a Shigasura Japanese maple. I squint my eyes and see a blurred impressionistic patchwork of color.
The image above is from the most mature area in our Japanese garden. The flowering crabapple was here when I moved in during 2016. The first tree I planted in the garden in 2016 was the Bloodgood Japanese Maple. The following year, I received the Shin deshojo Japanese maple from wonderful friends. In 2018, I added the rhododendrons and the Shigasura. And then in 2019, we planted the fothergilla. Now after three years, we have an intriguing combination of colors, shapes, and textures.
“Shin Deshojo & Kotoji”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
The Japanese Maples are finally leafing out! It may be my lack patience, but our Japanese maples seem to be late in leafing out this year. Their leaves are still in their opening phase, but it looks like all our Japanese maples made it through the bitter cold weather we had earlier this spring.
The Shin Deshojo is one of my favorite Japanese maples. I first saw one in a good friend’s yard in Seattle and fell in love with it. A little later my friends and I were walking through the Washington Arboretum and saw a mature Shin Deshojo in full spring glory. It was breath taking. A couple years later when my friends came to visit, they had a wonderful surprise for me. They brought me their Shin Deshojo as a gift for my fledgling Japanese garden. It struggled a couple of years during its transition from the mild Seattle climate to the harsh dry Yakima area. But it has survived and is now doing well. I added my second Shin Deshojo as our cornerstone tree when we built our waterfall and pond. It proudly graces our sitting area next to the pond.
Shin Deshojo Japanese Maple
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
How fast things change. The initial color of the first emerging leaves of this Shin Deshojo is a light pinkish red. Within a week they had turned to this brilliant red. Now, a month later, the leaves are a greenish-red color. Soon they will be a medium green. And then in the fall, they will be a brilliant red again. What a wonderful show this little tree gives us over the year.
The different and changing colors of our 26 Japanese Maples consistently catch my eye. Every time I walk through the garden, I look for something different. It is easy to find.