Acer campestre Carnival - Maple

Acer campestre 'Carnival' is a small-sized variety of field maple with variegated white and pink foliage. It forms a small tree on a high stem or a large bush with a rounded and compact habit, unique with its soft green lobed leaves, broadly edged with cream-white. Its reddish young shoots punctuate its luxuriant mass like a flowering and come in shades of salmon pink to very light pink on the lower leaves, adding more colour and depth to the whole. Its slow growth and small size make it particularly suitable for creating bright hedges requiring little maintenance or for the ornamentation of small gardens and narrow spaces. Its variegated foliage is more sensitive to scorching sun, so plant it in a semi-shaded location, benefiting from morning sun. Otherwise, it is a hardy and robust species that can be planted in well-drained soils that are not too dry and not too moist.

Originally from Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa, Acer campestre is a forest tree rather than a field tree. 'Carnival' is a horticultural variety of small size, highly sought after for its variegated pink and cream foliage. Slow-growing, it will reach an average size of 5m (16ft) in all directions, if not pruned. Its habit is rounded and compact. This species can live for well over a century. Over time, this species can develop multiple intertwined trunks, each carrying a dense canopy. Its deciduous green foliage is slightly satin-like and is composed of small leaves, measuring 5 to 10cm (2 to 4in) long, with 3 to 5 lobes with a very wide cream-white margin. Milky sap often oozes from the leaves of this species. In autumn and with the onset of cold weather, the foliage turns yellow-orange. Discreet flowering takes place in spring, at the same time as the leaves emerge. The small flowers are yellow-green and grouped in corymbs. Winged fruits, often reddish, called samaras, then form. The wings of this fruit are opposite, perfectly aligned.

The field maple forms the hardest wood that can be found in this genus. Its bark is pale grey and fissured. The branches of young subjects often show a corky, ribbed, insulating, and channelled bark, used for making perches for poultry. It should be noted that when it grows near to Acer monspessulanum (Montpellier maple), the two species hybridise very easily.

The field maple is easy to grow. It thrives in any ordinary soil, even limestone, as long as it is deep enough. The 'Carnival' variety is decorative throughout the growing season with its variegated white and pink foliage and will be ideal in the centre of a mass of shrubs and perennials with purple foliage and pink flowers. It can also be planted in a rural hedge with deciduous spindles, Carpinus 'Orange Retz', Cotinus, hawthorns, ornamental apple trees or its cousin, the Montpellier maple. Plant shade-loving perennials (lamium, Epimedium, Geranium macrorrhizum, Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Niger') at its base to enjoy its beautiful bark and flamboyant autumn colours.