Acer palmatum 'Winter Gold' (Japanese Maple)

Winter Gold is a distinctive Acer palmatum cultivar prized for its coral-pink to red winter bark on bare branches; foliage is light green spring through summer turning gold-orange in fall. It carries the refined four-season presence Japanese maples are loved for, with delicate spring leaf-out, a graceful summer canopy, and signature autumn fire.

Acer palmatum is a long-lived small tree from the woodlands of Japan, Korea, and China, bred over centuries into hundreds of cultivars. Tiny purple-red flowers appear in mid-spring before or with the leaves, followed by paired samaras that spin to the ground in fall and feed songbirds and small mammals. Mature specimens often live fifty to a hundred years and become the heart of the gardens they anchor.

In the Pacific Northwest, give this coral-bark maple humus-rich, well-drained, slightly acidic soil and part shade to gentle full sun. The signature coral-pink to red winter bark color develops most strongly on younger branches, so light annual thinning of older wood keeps the winter display vivid. Sterilize pruning tools to avoid spreading Verticillium wilt, and watch for tip dieback (Pseudomonas) in cool wet springs.

If you'd like a Pacific Northwest native maple with the same understory grace, consider Acer circinatum (Vine Maple), Oregon's classic woodland-edge maple with brilliant fall color and deep ecological value. Acer macrophyllum (Bigleaf Maple) is the keystone PNW broadleaf maple for larger sites.