Paperbark Maple

Paperbark maple sells itself in January. When every other deciduous tree in the neighborhood is a gray skeleton against a gray sky, paperbark maple stands out with exfoliating bark that peels in translucent cinnamon-brown sheets, catching whatever low winter light is available and glowing like it is backlit. Native to central China, it grows slowly to twenty or thirty feet with an open, spreading canopy. The flowers in April are small and greenish-yellow, forgettable, but the fall color ranges from brown to deep red, and the bark display is year-round. This is a tree you plant where you will see it from a window in December.

In Western Washington, paperbark maple handles the climate well. It takes full sun to part shade and performs in the range of soils common to residential sites, though it prefers decent drainage. The slow growth rate means it will not outgrow a modest yard within your lifetime, which makes it one of the few maples appropriate for a fifteen-foot planting strip or a patio-adjacent spot. Like all members of the genus, it carries the standard maple susceptibility list, Verticillium wilt, anthracnose, powdery mildew, leaf spot, and the rest, but established specimens in good sites rarely show serious problems. The main practical concern is finding one: paperbark maple is not produced in the volume that Japanese maples are, and nursery availability in the region is inconsistent. If you see a good specimen at a nursery, buy it.