I mentioned in passing that I don’t object to Japanese Maples, which is good as we have a number of them…Although some of the more strict ‘native plants only’ group would argue for them being invasive; they don’t fit the definition very well here. They grow much too slowly to compete with native maples or oaks, (assuming of course there are native maples to seed the area). They do, however, germinate and grow. We started with two: a finely cut dwarf and a fairly coarse purple/red back in the 1920’s. They have crossed over the years and have produced many babies: some with finer cut leaves than others; some with good fall color (brilliant orange or scarlet), some that are an OK purple/red; some that have green summer foliage (always orange in the fall), some with dark red summer foliage.
The original dwarf, finely cut one. You can see a branch of the other original in the top left corner. Sadly, this dwarf is not long for the world, this photo was taken three years ago, the top branches have since died.
One of the babies with a fairly typical medium fine cut, this one is almost green in the summer.
Two of the offspring, the closer one is a genuine scarlet in the fall, the other is noticeably more purple/maroon. That is accurate color in the photo.
One of the earliest photos that show the original two in 1957.
The same maples in 2012. This maroon color is the standard for most of the offspring as well.
Acair Fearann 
Great photos!
Spectacular Japanese maples (I love the fiery red one). You are so fortunate to have such antique photos of the same trees. You have some real oldsters gracing your property. The twisty branches in the first photo are fascinating and very Japanese! It’s sad to think it is declining now.
That dwarf has been a favorite for many years, what is amazing is how little it changes in photos for nearly sixty years. One of the things that is driven home by having photographs of the same trees throughout their entire lives is how important the development of the basic structural shape of the tree is when it is young. That fundamental shape created in the first decades is going to be what you have for the next century, better get it right!