Acer palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel'
Common name: Japanese maple
Acer palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel', a dense, upright, columnar tree, is perfect for areas where space is limited. It is thought to be the only columnar Japanese maple. Its leaves emerge red in spring, change to purplish-red or reddish-green in summer, and become pinkish-red in fall before shedding. The leaves are the classic Japanese-maple shape with five narrow lobes radiating out like the fingers on a hand. Small, inconspicuous reddish flowers appear in spring followed right after by winged samaras.
In the late 1970s, Ken Twombly of Twombly's Nursery in Monroe, Connecticut, U.S.A., was visiting a church in Connecticut. He saw a witches broom on a Bloodgood variety of Japanese maple. He collected some pieces and took them home to his nursery. These developed into independent trees. He thought they were like red sentinels on guard so that is what he named the tree.
A. palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel' widens with age. The one at VanDusen was planted in Bed 61A in 2013. The fall colour this year (2024) was vibrant and beautiful as you can see from the photos.
More about the species Acer palmatum
Text and photos by Kumi Sutcliffe