Acer negundo Flamingo

Experience the dazzling beauty of Acer negundo ‘Flamingo’, the spectacular Variegated Box Elder that brings exceptional year-round colour, eye-catching variegation, and vibrant presence to your garden with its stunning pink, white, and green foliage. This outstanding ornamental maple offers remarkable visual impact—extraordinary tricolour foliage with leaves margined in creamy-white and suffused with the most gorgeous shrimp-pink, particularly vibrant on new growth, fast-growing vigorous habit that responds beautifully to pruning for enhanced colour and compact form, bright fresh appearance that illuminates shady corners and brings light to darker areas of the garden, and adaptability to a wide range of conditions including urban pollution and challenging sites, making this one of the most colourful and versatile variegated trees for creating dramatic focal points, brightening borders, and adding contemporary flair to Irish gardens.

Throughout spring and summer, this captivating tree displays its characteristic pinnate leaves composed of 3-5 (occasionally 7) leaflets, each measuring 5-10cm long with serrated edges. The foliage emerges in spring in the most spectacular display—new growth appears in brilliant shrimp-pink and soft white with green centres, creating an absolutely stunning colour combination that catches every eye. As the leaves mature, they develop creamy-white margins with soft pink tones and green centres, maintaining beautiful variegation throughout the season. Each flush of new growth brings renewed pink colouration, so regular pruning encourages constant fresh growth and maximises the pink display. The overall effect is bright, fresh, and luminous—like a flamingo has settled in your garden. In early spring, small greenish-yellow flowers appear before the leaves but are largely insignificant. The smooth grey-green bark adds subtle winter interest.

Native to North America, Acer negundo is commonly known as Box Elder due to its compound leaves resembling elder and its hard wood resembling box. ‘Flamingo’ is a selected cultivar bred for its exceptional pink and white variegation. Exceptionally hardy and adaptable, this maple thrives in Irish conditions, tolerating urban pollution, exposure, a wide range of soil types, and even coastal conditions. Fast-growing and vigorous, reaching 4-6m if left unpruned, but responds excellently to annual hard pruning which keeps the tree compact (2-3m), encourages abundant fresh pink growth, and maximises colour intensity. Best pink colour develops in full sun—partial shade produces less intense pink tones.

Create stunning compositions by planting as spectacular specimen features in mixed borders, contemporary gardens, or as focal points in lawns where the vibrant variegation creates dramatic impact. Magnificent in urban gardens where the pollution tolerance and bright colour bring life to challenging conditions. Exceptional pruned as multi-stemmed shrubs or coppiced annually for maximum pink new growth and compact form. Works beautifully combined with purple-leaved shrubs like Cotinus or Berberis which enhance the pink tones, or with silver foliage plants like Artemisia. Perfect for brightening shady corners or illuminating darker areas. The fresh, contemporary colour palette suits modern garden designs.

Planting: Space trees 4-5m apart if planting multiples (unpruned), or 3-4m for regularly pruned specimens. Plant container-grown specimens year-round, though spring or autumn is ideal. Dig holes twice the width of the root ball and incorporate organic matter. Plant at the same depth as the container. Stake if needed for the first 2-3 years. Water thoroughly and mulch around the base. Choose positions in full sun for best pink colour development—partial shade produces less intense variegation.

Soil Preparation: Thrives in moist, well-drained soil with pH 5.5-7.5. Tolerates a wide range of soil types including clay, loam, sand, and moderately acidic to slightly alkaline conditions. Prefers moisture-retentive, fertile conditions but adapts to poorer soils. Dislikes waterlogged sites. Exceptionally tolerant of urban pollution, compacted soils, and challenging conditions. Best colour and growth occur in full sun with consistent moisture, though tolerates partial shade and drought once established.

Container Growing: Can be grown successfully in large containers (minimum 60cm diameter) using soil-based compost, especially when pruned annually to maintain compact size. Water regularly during growing season. Feed in spring with slow-release balanced fertiliser. Protect containers from hard frost in winter. Repot every 2-3 years in early spring. Container growing with annual hard pruning creates spectacular patio features with maximum pink colour.

Seasonal Care: Benefits significantly from annual hard pruning to maximise pink new growth and maintain compact form. Prune hard in late winter or early spring (February-March) before growth begins—cut back previous year’s growth to within 2-3 buds of the framework or even coppice to ground level for maximum effect. This encourages vigorous new growth with the most intense pink colouration. Without pruning, the tree grows large and produces less pink colour. Remove any all-green reversions immediately—cut back to variegated growth. Apply slow-release balanced fertiliser after pruning to fuel new growth. Mulch annually. Water during establishment—very drought-tolerant once established.

Propagation: Cannot be propagated from seed as this is a selected cultivar that will not come true from seed and may revert to plain green. Professional propagation is by grafting onto Acer negundo rootstock. Softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings can be attempted in summer with rooting hormone, though success is variable. Home gardeners should purchase nursery-grown grafted specimens for guaranteed quality, reliable variegation, and characteristic pink colouration.

This vibrant beauty is absolutely stunning—that shrimp-pink and white variegation on fresh new growth is simply gorgeous! The tricolour effect creates such bright, contemporary impact. Annual hard pruning maximises that spectacular pink colour and keeps the size manageable—the more you prune, the pinker it gets! Fast-growing, tough as nails, and brings such fresh, luminous colour to gardens. Like having a flamingo in your border—pure eye candy!