Seeing red

Here's the coral bark Japanese maple I got at 50% off maybe 4 years ago at Lowes.  It had an odd shape, and a little damage near the bottom of the trunk, but I took a risk with it, and I love it, and have gotten plenty of complements on it.

Right now the bark still looks dark red, bordering on brown or gray in some areas.  By midwinter the leaves will be gone, but the bark will have turned a vibrant red.  Here's what it looked like in April 2011 - even in early spring the bark was still intensely colored.