This exciting new introduction from Ken Twombley of Connecticut has done what no Japanese Maple could do before: provide true four-season interest through its year-round red coloring! — No, it's not evergreen. (That WOULD be amazing!) Instead, when the brilliant burgundy-maroon leaves drop in early winter, they reveal deep red branches and stems on the tree, which keep this brilliant color all season! There's never been another Japanese Maple like it, and if you add only one new Acer to your landscape this season, we highly recommend it be 'Twombley's Red Sentinel'!
The new spring foliage of this witch's broom of A. 'Bloodgood' emerges bright red, remaining for a month or more until the hot weather of summer arrives. Then it burnishes a fine shade of burgundy-maroon that remains throughout summer and fall. Other Japanese Maples begin dropping their leaves as the temperature falls in mid-autumn, but 'Twombley's Red Sentinel' keeps its foliage on the branches weeks later than other cultivars, surrendering them only when winter has truly arrived.
After the leaves finally drop, it's hard to mourn them, because immediately the deep red branches and stems of this tree are revealed. These are not subtle tones and shades; noticeable from across the garden, they are truly bright and vivid. Remarkable! And no matter what the winter weather chooses to inflict on your area, the red tones remain until the new spring foliage hides them again.
The habit of this very slow-growing tree is interesting as well. When young it is columnar, becoming vase-shaped after a few years. But by the time it is 10 years old, it has assumed the spreading shape that will eventually create a fine canopy of shade in your landscape: it is 8 feet tall but fully 15 feet wide. The branching is very dense, so it acts as a nice high hedge or privacy screen as well — but it takes time!
This fine tree thrives in full sun in the northern portion of its hardiness range, partial shade farther south. Give it well-drained garden soil and watch its year-round display of extraordinary beauty! Zones 5-8.
