Acers are ace!

This week it’s:

IN gardening terms, the maples (forms of acer) are best known for their autumn foliage tints of gold, orange, ochre, copper, red and russet. But this is a diverse genus, from small plants for patio pots to enormous trees. It holds many rewarding species for gardens of all sizes, and for most of us the small and mediumsized Japanese maples tick our boxes.

As acers are now in full leaf, at their freshest and best, it is a good time to look at some of the stories surrounding them. Although the Canadian flag contains what is supposed to be the leaf silhouette of a North American sugar maple (), it is actually a stylised 11-point leaf. Normally, a real