Kiyohime Maple Update

My broom style kiyohime shohin, which performs well throughout the spring and summer, was by August, beginning to look tired and dried out with all the sun it had been exposed to. I partially defoliated it in the first week of August (first picture)

One month later, it has a full canopy of fresh new leaves again. This regeneration of deciduous trees never ceases to please and amaze me.