Acer palmatum Pévé Dave - Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum 'Pévé Dave' is a small Japanese maple with delicate foliage and dazzling colours. In spring, its young shoots are a brilliant purple-red, then they darken to a deep purple tinged with bronze in summer, before turning orange and scarlet red in autumn. This lovely variety is particularly suitable for cultivation in containers and small gardens.

Native to eastern China, Korea and Japan, Acer palmatum is the origin of a multitude of horticultural varieties that compete in beauty. Japanese maple belongs, like all maples, to the Sapindaceae family (formerly Aceraceae). It is relatively hardy, but it cannot tolerate dry and cold winds, burning exposures and dry and calcareous soils. The cultivar 'Pévé Dave' has a fairly slow growth rate. Its habit is upright, bushy, and widening towards its top. It will rarely exceed 1.5m (5ft) in height and 1m (3ft) in width. In spring, this small tree develops reddish young branches and bright red young shoots. They unfold into finely dissected palmate leaves with 5 to 7 very thin lobes, toothed at the edges, and well separated. In summer, the lamina darkens to purple-bronze, with new red and shiny shoots continuing to appear. Just before falling, the leaves take on flamboyant shades, ending in scarlet red. The discreet flowering takes place in May-June. The flowers are grouped in small clusters and sometimes produce fruits with curved wings, called samaras, 3cm (1in) long.

With its unique foliage and natural elegance, Acer palmatum Pévé Dave stands out from afar in the garden, in a small Japanese-style bed, or even when planted in containers on a terrace or balcony. Extremely decorative from spring to autumn, it deserves a prominent place. Japanese maple is not strictly speaking an acidic-soil plant, but it prefers humus-rich and moisture-retaining soils. Chinese azaleas, pieris, hydrangeas, wild camellias, ferns, and heathers will be its most beautiful companions. It can form a magnificent bonsai to be cultivated in a flat pot. Combine several varieties of Japanese maples to vary the colours and structures of the foliage; the effect is always dazzling at the end of the season. Its purple and red tones go wonderfully well with variegated foliage shrubs (dogwoods, mock oranges, elaeagnus), or golden yellow like Gleditsia 'Sunburst', for example.