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Other Names:  Acer palmatum 'Fireglow'

Description:

Amazing Crimson fall color and summer foliage in rich burgundy-red; less dense canopy than other types; it has almost the perfect shape, habit, and fall colors. Needs afternoon shade and wind protection.

Ornamental Features

Japanese Maple, Fireglow is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental globe-shaped form. It has attractive red deciduous foliage which emerges burgundy in spring. The small lobed palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of purple, scarlet and crimson in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Japanese Maple, Fireglow 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, Fireglow is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Japanese Maple, Fireglow 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 should be grown in a location with partial shade or which is shaded from the hot afternoon sun. 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.

Japanese Maple, Fireglow is a fine choice for the yard, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

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