European Maple, Norway Maple 'Drummondii'

I bought my current home three years ago. It has three of these maples in the front yard. Beautiful. A real eye catcher. They do have so...Read Moreme limbs that the leaves go all green. Just have to keep an eye on the tree and trim them out. Trees are no problem.

I was recently in Quebec City, Quebec and saw Drummondii Harlequin Maple over 30 feet tall that was extraordinary. It was growing on the...Read More street (north side). It did not seem likely that anyone was taking care of the tree, but it had no reverted branches or leaves. I wonder if the cold winters of Quebec contribute to its success.

I live on Eastern Long Island, NY (Zone 7) and wonder if I could grow it with the success. I read all the comments with concern. Despite some of the negative comments, it was such a beautiful tree and would love one in my garden, but cannot seem to find anyone that sells the tree.

Norways are, yes, a huge problem in North America. The only pest that seems to have a liking for it is the Asian Long-Horned beetle (whi...Read Morech will eat anything.) Smart landscapers and landscape designers will not plant Norway maples under any circumstances - however, the Harlequin can be considered the lesser of evils because of it's redeeming foliage, and because examples from QUALITY GROWERS do not produce seed. (Or, if they do produce seed, it is sterile.)

Species Norway Maples self-seed almost as badly as Acer negundo (Manitoba Maple), and create a HUGE mass of fallen leaves in Autumn. This is currently wreaking havoc on native woodland flower and moss species in North America.

I've treated quite a few customers' Harlequin problems -- most commonly, browning around the edges of the leaves. This type of browning can be caused by too little water. Oftentimes, however, the browning is caused by aphids.

Aphids can be safely controlled by a sharp blast of water from a nozzle or **EXTREMELY** careful use of a pressure-washer. For more extreme cases, mix a light solution of insecticidal soap into a "feeder-nozzle" and spray the foliage with this. It's important to spray the ENTIRE tree or the aphids will simply migrate back to treated areas.

Harlequin Maples will revert back to species when they're improperly maintained (as with ALL 'anomalous' foliage plants!) Proper maintenance of a strong central leader, good branch-trunk attachments, and elimination of competing leaders will ultimately produce a tree that is less likely to revert. A harlequin displaying more than 50% reverted foliage is a painfully obvious sign of neglect and ignorance. They are intended to be specimen trees - a testament to the skill, expertise, and patience of their caretakers - NOT low-maintenance, "plant-and-forget" trees.

I've had this tree for over 14 years in the yard. In that time is has proved to be a SLOW growing, well behaved tree with a very pretty l...Read Moreeaf. My only beef with the tree is that it is slow growing: I had hoped to have a tree approaching full size for a Norway Maple, but our climate is harsh. The tree is planted in full sun, which, during our worst drought years, will cause some browning of the edges, but then again, other trees suffer in drought as well. I think the full sun locale may give our tree a much more defined variegation than the type pictured in some of the photos.

There are no seeds on this tree -- the tree is sterile, as another poster commented.

There are occasional all-green-leaved twigs, few and far between, which have been easy to remove. The effect of the variegated leaves has been worth the extra trouble to me, and the all green twigs are easy to spot, once a season, when I stop to admire this tree's beauty.

To my knowledge, there is no other cultivar of this type of maple, or its closest relations, that has this type of variegation.

As these cultivars can vary, I will state that I purchased my tree all those years ago from Jung Seed and Nursery Co.

Please see my photos of the beautiful edging on the leaves. I wouldn't hesitate to plant another one in my yard!