My Acer shirasawanum aureum pictured in May 2010
I thought I had lost it last autumn, my golden full moon Japanese maple (Acer shirasawanum aureum). Instead of the leaves changing colour beautifully and dropping off, they suddenly went a horrible brown and just stayed there.
The leaves of my moon maple in November 2011
This is the way my moon maple should look in autumn - this was October 2010
My professional gardener friend thought it might have been some kind of stress that caused the problem. Perhaps we had a long dry spell. If we did, it was certainly followed by plenty of rain, as I don’t recall ever having to water the garden last year (maybe I should have). We have a half-shady garden, which is why the Japanese maples seem to do so well.
Neither of us knew if the maple would pull through.
This is the moon maple in February 2012. The leaves are still hanging on in there, although they have dried out now
But just last week I looked closely for the first time and I think I see signs of life – there may just be healthy little red leaf buds…
Little red buds showing signs of life?
I can but hope that the buds will open - this was March 2011
These were the new green leaves in April 2010
This was early April 2011
The Acer shirasawanum aureum in flower in late April 2011
Sun through Acer shirasawanum aureum leaves in May 2010
There were times when I regretted the moon maple, as I had been hoping for a different Japanese maple with more pointed leaves and a red edge. But now I wouldn’t be without its green freshness. So I hope I won’t have to be.
For the record, here are my other two Japanese maples…
The filigree leaves of my old Acer palmatum dissectum in a pot...
My red Acer palmatum dissectum atropurpureum in autumn
And finally, making connections that probably aren’t there…
The tiny spoons of my silver shell salt-cellars remind me so much of the shape of those dead leaves...
Dead leaves of my moon maple...
The Squirrelbasket 
It looks as if the invalid is recovering.
I do hope so. Watch this space. Those little red buds have done nothing for weeks but I am keeping my eye out for any movement and will no doubt post about it.
Looking at your blog, it looks a lot warmer there than here. I guess you are passing into Autumn as we go into Spring…
Best wishes 🙂
I’m glad it looks as though it will make it. We have several white ash trees that we had treated to try to save them from the emerald ash borer that is a non-native introduced pest that will kill every ash tree it hits..it is so sad..Michelle
Oh, I so hate the death of trees. I still mourn the loss of all the elms when I was a child, of Dutch elm disease.
I see (from Wikipedia) that you have several different ash species in the Americas. In our garden we have many trees of the common European ash species, Fraxinus excelsior. If we were to lose those, the whole framework of the garden and nearby parks would go.
Best wishes 🙂