Life of Wry

Redwood Barn called last week and said our maple had arrived. We didn’t expect to see it until January, so we were excited. It’s a coral bark maple and we picked it up today. The label says:

Vigorous, upright, deciduous tree with bright green leaves, turning golden yellow in fall. Bark is coral color. Grows 20-25 feet tall by 18-22 feet wide.

Wait, what? I actually thought it would be smaller. (Maybe I should have titled this Welcome Big Maple.)  We’ll see how this goes.. at least they’re slow growing.

For now, it’s a tiny little one gallon, planted near the front door (about 10 feet from the front door.. uh oh):

For scale, here’s Frances.

And that white stuff around the tree? Shells.. coral…and a few choice rocks:

The shells and coral were collected from beaches all over–Dillon, Brazil, Palos Verdes, Monterey, Mexico, Hawaii. The rocks, probably Sierra. Until two days ago, they sat on shelves in decorative ceramic bowls, trays, cups.. some little shells sat in bigger shells. It was getting a little out of hand. During the bookcase reorganization project last weekend, I’d gathered them all up, put them in a baggie, and wondered what I’d do with them.. until today when I decided they’d make a nice garden embellishment.

Think it works?