Japanese Maple, Floating Cloud Acer palmatum 'Ukigumo' Height: 12 feet Spread: 8 feet
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Hardiness Zone: 5b Description: An exciting variegated form of Japanese maple, leaves are cream colored with green splashes and a pink overlay, colors can vary with the seasons, or even tree to tree - no two are alike. Needs afternoon shade and wind protection. Ornamental Features Japanese Maple, Floating Cloud is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental globe-shaped form. It has attractive creamy white-spotted green foliage with hints of pink which emerges pink in spring. The small lobed palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of yellow, gold and red in the fall. Landscape Attributes Japanese Maple, Floating Cloud is a deciduous tree with a more or less rounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage. This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and can be pruned at anytime. It has no significant negative characteristics. Japanese Maple, Floating Cloud is recommended for the following landscape applications; Planting & Growing Japanese Maple, Floating Cloud will grow to be about 12 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 5 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 60 years or more. This tree does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant should be periodically fertilized throughout the active growing season with a specially-formulated acidic fertilizer. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. Special Attributes Japanese maples generally produce a few to no seeds called samaras, which are commonly referred to as helicopters 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long, and approximately 1/4 inch wide. Growing in pairs, they start green then mature red during the growing season
