I found this little maple tree growing in my flower bed last summer. We have a large maple near the front of the house, and those little helicopter seeds spread themselves far and wide. By summer's end our yard starts to look like a little maple orchard. The ones in the grass get mowed down often enough that they don't do much but in the flower beds they really thrive unless I yank them out.
I wanted to try an experiment with a few to see if they would grow inside if I planted them in pots. So I dug out three little trees, potted them and brought them into the bay window in my office.
They all lost their leaves, which piled up around the base of their little trunks making it feel like a miniature autumn world inside. If only we had tiny rakes to rake them up...
And so it was hard to tell if anything was going to happen with them until around late March/early April when all the sudden they sprouted little green leaves. I was so excited! They had over-wintered and were coming back to life just like the trees outside.
As the weather warmed up, I brought them back outside by the pool so they could get some good sunshine and fresh air. Two of the trees got some kind of black mold on their leaves and eventually kicked it but this one little maple is thriving.
It seems to think that fall is approaching again. Check out the color change happening on its leaves. Starting with the smallest leaves, at the top of the tree, it is turning red. The ones at the bottom are still bright green, but the leaves in between are a perfect gradient from green to red.
Isn't Mother Nature such a lovely artist?
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