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Before you say “excessive”, read its name again 🥵
Family: Sapindaceae · Pot diameter: 19 cm · Height: approx. 45–55 cm
Acer palmatum ‘Extravaganza’ fully justifies its name with a palette that has no interest in understatement. Spring opens vivid pink, summer leaves develop green and cream streaks, and autumn returns the crown to fiery pink, red and orange. Variegation shifts from leaf to leaf, making every plant feel like a living individual artwork. Its presence remains refined at close range and clear from a distance, allowing it to act as a complete ornamental feature that renews the composition with every seasonal transition. It is a cultivar with a distinct identity, capable of turning even a restrained corner into a scene of colour, movement and collectable character.
Its small broad softly spreading crown suits sheltered entrances, terraces and compact gardens where close detail matters. It softens rigid lines and immediately becomes a collectable focal point, particularly against a calm dark background.
Three substantial qualities explain why ‘Extravaganza’ stands out both in close detail and in its overall presence.
Vivid pink spring growth changes to green with cream streaks in summer and returns to fiery pink, red and orange in autumn.
Fine lobed leaves show natural variation across their pink, cream and green areas.
The lower softly spreading habit acts like a multicoloured brushstroke around the base of a composition.
Why you will love it: A collectable Acer that makes extravagance look completely elegant.
Use it as a focal point near an entrance, sheltered seating area or in the middle layer of a cool mixed planting. At maturity, it develops a small broad crown with a softly spreading habit and benefits from a calm background and sufficient open space to retain its natural architecture.
For several plants retaining a free natural crown, allow centre-to-centre spacing close to the verified mature spread of 1–1.5 m. In a pot choose a stable base, free drainage and a position where the roots are protected from overheating.
The pink, cream, green and red palette of ‘Extravaganza’ becomes clearer beside black bases, burgundy-silver ferns and white margins. All three choices suit bright partial shade and organic soil with even moisture and good drainage, creating clean layers around the Acer’s natural form.
Bright partial shade or gentle morning sun; protect variegated foliage from fierce afternoon sun and drying wind.
Water thoroughly when the upper layer begins to dry, maintaining even moisture without waterlogging; check pots more frequently in hot weather.
Deciduous and hardy in winter cold; fresh growth benefits from shelter against late frost, hot dry air and extreme summer exposure.
An ornamental plant, not food. It is not intended for consumption; place it away from children or animals that tend to chew plant material.
Bright partial shade or gentle morning sun; protect variegated foliage from fierce afternoon sun and drying wind.
Plant in fertile, organic, acid to neutral soil that retains moisture yet drains freely. Keep the root collar level with the surrounding soil and allow the natural crown the space indicated by its mature habit.
Use a roomy, stable outdoor pot with unobstructed drainage holes and a structured growing medium that resists compaction. It can grow for years in a large outdoor pot with free drainage and even moisture. As it matures towards 1.5–2.5 m × 1–1.5 m, check available root space periodically and move to a larger pot when required.
Water thoroughly when the upper layer begins to dry, maintaining even moisture without waterlogging; check pots more frequently in hot weather. An organic mulch helps buffer sudden changes in moisture and temperature.
A light application of balanced fertiliser in early spring is usually sufficient. Avoid excessive nitrogen and late feeding, which encourage soft new growth.
Pruning is rarely necessary. Remove only dead, damaged or awkwardly crossing branches after leaf fall and before midwinter. A bare crown in winter is entirely normal.
After planting, new growth may be restrained while the root system settles. Even moisture and a sheltered microclimate matter more than rapid extension.
As the main shoots branch, the plant gradually develops a small broad crown with a softly spreading habit. Its natural line is most attractive when it is not clipped into a rigid shape.
With maturity it repeats its distinctive colour cycle each year: vivid pink in spring, green and cream in summer and fiery pink-red in autumn, followed by natural leaf fall.
Indicative natural silhouette; verified mature dimensions 1.5–2.5 m high × 1–1.5 m wide.
The crown is naturally bare in winter. Colour intensity and timing vary with light, temperature and microclimate.
What to expect after planting: In a suitable position in open ground, the mature form reaches approximately 1.5–2.5 m in height and 1–1.5 m in spread over 5–10 years. Growth usually remains more restrained in a pot.
The cultivar arose as a chance seedling found by Jonathan Savelich at his grandfather Del Loucks’s nursery in Eugene, Oregon. Savelich retained it for its shifting variegation and first named it ‘Lileeanne’s Jewel’ after his daughter Lileeanne.
A first small batch was supplied to MrMaple in 2009. The same cultivar was later marketed in Europe under the trade name ‘Extravaganza’.
In the horticultural classification of Japanese maples, this cultivar belongs to the Palmatum Group: its leaves usually have five to seven lobes, cut beyond halfway into the blade without the fine secondary division of the Dissectum Group.
Six practical answers covering light, seasonal colour, pots, mature size, pruning and winter leaf fall.
Bright partial shade or gentle morning sun; protect variegated foliage from fierce afternoon sun and drying wind. A sheltered microclimate matters just as much as the number of hours of light.
The balance of pink, cream and green naturally varies between leaves, seasons and growth stages; this variation is central to the cultivar.
It can grow for years in a large outdoor pot with free drainage and even moisture. As it matures towards 1.5–2.5 m × 1–1.5 m, check available root space periodically and move to a larger pot when required.
In a suitable position in open ground it reaches approximately 1.5–2.5 m in height and 1–1.5 m in spread over 5–10 years. Microclimate and available root space influence the rate.
Usually not; its natural architecture is central to its beauty. If cleaning is needed, work after leaf fall and before midwinter, removing only what is necessary.
Yes. It is deciduous and sheds its leaves in autumn after completing its colour cycle. Fresh growth returns in spring.
