by KYW's Fran Sorin

Few people are familiar with the wide variety of one of the all time great smaller trees for any type of garden, the Japanese Maple.

There are a plethora of Japanese Maples that have outstanding chartreuse, yellowish green or crisp apple green leaves, rather than the more traditional burgundy.

For example, one of my favorites is Filigree. It consists of an understated pattern of tiny yellow dots on leaves that are bright, light green with a delicate fine texture. Another great and new offering is Emerald Lace, whose fine leaves start off as a pale yellow green color, eventually transforming to an emerald green in the summer and into a bright burgundy red in the fall. The best place to find these gems is mountainmaples.com.

Contact Fran Sorin at fransorin.com.