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Japanese Maple, Brooklyn Museum

Edward Sibley Barnard calls the Japanese Maple the aristocrat of trees in his New York City Trees book and I'd have to agree. Everything about them is so refined. The one above has to be one of my favorite neighborhood trees, and just last week I found out from Dan that this Japanese Maple growing on the slope near the Brooklyn Museum used to be on Brooklyn Botanic's grounds. It still has an accession label hanging off a branch. All throughout the year, I've enjoyed walking past this tree on my way into the garden and right now it is this incredibly bright color that lights up the block. The Red Bistort below isn't nearly as an exalted plant, but still it looks pretty nice hanging on to its blooms in the Perennial Border when everything else is mostly finished.