#cold hardy

Opuntia macrorhiza

My cold-weather-loving shelling peas are still alive. These pics were taken December 9th. Our daytime and nighttime temps have spanned from freezing to the lower 50s (Fahrenheit), the die-back keeps creeping up from the bottom, the pods have been shriveled and look frost-burnt, but at the top you’ll find happy pea vines and flowers.

I keep thinking I should chop and drop these vines, but I’m just so impressed they keep going that I haven’t done it.

Freeman Maple (Acer x freemanii)

Mature Size - (40-55′ x 30-40′)

Shape and Form - Large upright and rounded form, akin to red maple

Growth Habit - Rapid growth rate, akin to that of the silver maple, but with stronger wood than the silver maple

Leaves - More deeply lobed than red maple, but not as deeply lobed as silver maple. Brilliant red-orange fall color that features remarkable uniformity.

Flowers -  Tree largely sterile - Sometimes produces Clusters of red flowers in the spring

Fruit/Seeds - Tree largely sterile - Sometimes produces green samaras

Bark -  Bark grays and moderately furrows with age

Region -  Bred from native USA trees. Hybridizations are possible, but rare in the wild

Hardiness Zones - (3-9)

Habitat/Growing Conditions - Adaptable to wide range of soils and conditions, but prefers moist, slightly acid locations. Not especially drought tolerant, but select specimen can be found growing in dry sites. Very cold hardy. Reportedly more adaptable to adverse conditions than red maple.

Plant Community - NA

Eco-indicator - NA

Other info - Hybrid between Red Maple (Acer rubrum) and Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum). First controlled cross of these species undergone in 1933. This crossing can also happen in the wild. It can be difficult to identify a true Freeman maple due to the complexity of crosses and back crosses that can occur.

Current Nursery Status and Availability - About a dozen cultivars are readily available in the nursery trade. Among the most popular are:

‘Jeffersred’ (aka ‘Autumn Blaze’) - known for its uniformity and brilliant fall color

‘Armstrong’ - known for its fastigiate growth habit. (may be a cultivar of Acer rubrum)

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=261905&isprofile=0&

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c789

https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/tree/freeman-maple

Schlesinger Red Maple (Acer rubrum ‘Schlesingeri’)

Mature Size - (60-70′ x 50′)

Shape and Form - Large upright and rounded form

Growth Habit - Akin to species (fast growth rate - faster than sugar maple, slower than silver maple; easy transplanting)

Leaves - Dark green foliage emerges red in spring. Leaves turn a deep, rich reddish-purple color in fall, a color that persists for a substantial duration. One of the first trees to experience coloration in fall, often beginning to change color in late summer.

Flowers - Clusters of red flowers appear in early spring

Fruit/Seeds - Red samaras

Bark -  Furrowed silver bark gives it a distinct appearance

Region - Original tree from Brookline Massachusetts. USA native

Hardiness Zones - (3-9)

Habitat/Growing Conditions - Adaptable to wide range of soils and conditions, but prefers moist, slightly acid locations. Not especially drought tolerant, but select specimen can be found growing in dry sites. Very cold hardy. In New England, species usually occurs in wet bottomland, river flood plains and wet woods.

Plant Community - NA - see species page

Eco-indicator - NA - see species page

Other info - Original tree grew in Brookline Massachusetts, and belonged to Barthold Schlesinger, the neighbor of Arnold Arboretum’s director, Charles S. Sargent, in the late 1800s. Budwood from the tree was first brought to the arboretum and planted in 1888. Entered the ornamental scene first in Europe, being introduced commercially in the 1896-97 catalog of Berlin’s Spath nursery.  World War II saw the dissolution of Spath nursery in Berlin, and thus an elimination of the primary distributor of the cultivar. Throughout subsequent decades, the cultivar fell into some obscurity, and would often be misidentified.

Current Nursery Status and Availability - Today, relatively rare in the nursery trade. Very often times, red maple species or other hybrids are misidentified as Schlesinger maples, a mistake that has happened to the Arnold Arboretum on multiple occasions.

Acer rubrum ‘Schlesingeri’ is a cultivar of Red Maple

https://irontreeservice.com/blog/tree-profiles/tree-profiles-red-maple-cultivars-part-2/

http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2009-67-2-autumn-s-harbinger-acer-rubrum-schlesingeri.pdf

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j170