Spring is coming in Iceland..

Nice looking Acer Gummib ,your garden season must be so short.

Hello Guðmundur
Interesting to read your blog, and good luck with your acers ...

You have a challenging climate ...
Nice warm knitted jumper for gardening !

thanks, its so nice to see fresh foliage in spring. Season is jun jul and august. sometime also half may and september. So every day is precious.

Hi Terratoone, thanks, yes climate is challenge but I have a small greenhouse and a sheltered garden. I also live in south but picture is taken in north, Iceland.
But a god jumper made of Icelantic wool is no 1 ...

Useful to have the greenhouse ... and a great advantage having a sheltered garden ...
Chilly in England today ... I'm wearing a woolly jumper too !

Same in Scotland infact heavy rain and very chilly I too have on a cosy sweater.

I don't envy you having such a short growing season! I too have an acer shirasawanum aureum. It's pretty big now, well over my head. I've removed the lower branches gradually to make it into a tree shape, as it would have been too big for my garden if I'd let it grow into a big shrub with leaves right down to the ground. I grew it in a pot for the first few years, but it's been in the ground now for around about 12 years I think.

I look forward to seeing more photographs of your acers.

Welcome to Goy ! We have members all over the world in all sorts of climates. Its always interesting.

Hi Guðmundur, acers are beautiful, aren't they! I have well established Acer rubrum (red maple) and Acer platanoides (Norway Maple), the former is fabulous in the autumn while the latter looks so pretty all summer especially when a breeze stirs its variegated leaves. I love the acer palmatums too but haven't had much success in growing them, they dry out quite quickly and don't like windy weather.
Your Acer shirasawanum looks very happy. Do you grow all your acers in pots? I imagine your winters are too cold to grow them in the garden. Acers are popular with bonsai growers, do you have any bonsais?

Hello, thanks to you all. I agree we have all sorts of climate but sheers the plant passion. Louisa, I saw your, A. shirasawanum aureum in your pictures, it is beautiful, and good idea to prune him to a tree. Xela, yes acers are beautiful, I can spend hrs just to watch them. I have, A. platanoides, green and red, and, A. palmatum too. A. platanoides is, usually hardy. I have 5 palmatums, two in greenhouse 3 outside, they seems to be damaged but alive I hope. That was their third winter outside and worst. Usually acers gets harder, by years but any 2 winters are same.
I have got several acers in pots, but most of them are in ground. they are pretty hardy most of them. And some are both. Last winter only, 4 acers was in greenhouse. But many was digged in garden in pots, for frost shelter.
Unfortunatly this winter seems to have injured many of them, but I don´t know that jet. I have some bonsais, but they are not acers.

Thanks again, hope to hear from you again, Guðmundur

Nice to meet you Gummib, Sunday here is a lovely English spring day here in the midlands, I have some acers in the ground
A. Drummondii
A. Crimson King
A. Brilliantissium
One I don't know the name for that is a random cream/green leaf
A. Negundo. (ash leaf acer)
Oh and some field maple Acer campestre
these are all hardy here, in my greenhouse I have a japanese Acer palmatum dissectum which is not hardy and very tempramental, losing its leaves at the least breath of cold.

You may gather I like trees.........

Its been a difficult few gardening years in Britain but very hard I would think in your country.

Surely it would be sensible to have fleece covers for these
Acers in extremely cold winters ?

The coldest part of the night is from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.
so while we are all asleep, our plants are suffering.

Nice to meet you too Pam, and nice to think to England today. You have interesting plants there, Crimson king, Brilliantissium, and A. negundo. I have A. Royal red, but I really like the colour of A. Brilliantissium. But I have not seen them in Iceland. I have seen these, cream/green leaf acers in England, they are very beautiful. And I have A negundo. An American acer, very fast growing but winter take some inch every year. That acer don´t get very old 50 or 60 years only, and it is a female or male plant, like Salix. The, Acer palmatum dissectum is very beautiful, pity to hear he is not hardy.

Gardening depends so much on weather, and past 8 years have been better average summer heat than many before. I was checking my diary summer ´94 and there was 2 days over 12 degr C. But last years have been dryer also, specially April and May, and that is a serious problem.

Nice to hear from you, hope you post some pictures of your acers one day....

Hello Gummib nice to meet you and welcome from me as well, I have been looking through your blogs and noticed you have actually been on goy for quite a while, its going to be interesting hearing all about your garden and seeing what you can or cannot grow in your country...