I am worried that since I planted the trees deeply, that they may rot and die. What do you think would be the best thing to do in my situation? I would like to get these trees on Caddo roots, but don't want to do it if it's going to kill them. I have some perlite and cactus mix. I'm thinking of three options. I could re-pot the trees into a normal potting mixture with the graft above the soil and hope that they would still be hardy enough for me. Alternatively, I could put them into some perlite with the graft covered and hope for rooting to take place. Or I could get risky and cut the scions of the Caddos off and dip them in rooting hormone and stick them into the perlite and try to root that way. I know the first option is definitely the safest, but I just want to make sure that these trees will grow well in my area. I'm open to all feedback and hopefully y'all can help me decide on what the best option would be in my scenario. Thanks.

We have a Commemoration and a Fall Fiesta. Of the two Commemoration is slower growing than the FF in both caliper and size. It does grow faster than species, but more like 15-18"/ good year vs 12"/good year for the species. The leaves are smaller but intensely dense green and thicker when mature, but the classic Sugar Maple leaf shape. Caliper is also faster than species. However, our FF has caught up and pasted the Comm. on both caliper and size. It grow 18-22"/good year. The Comm has been more rounded in shape, and the FF more upright oval. However the FF is spreading more now, but then it has lost it's terminal bud the last couple years, and that probable has allot to do with it. Where the Comm. wins between the two, is intense orange to orange-red color. Just gorgeous. It also begins early just like the literature says, and is long lasting just like the literature says. The FF is more variable from year to year, some years orange, other red with some orange, and others yellow orange. Very nice itself, but not as reliable IMHO. Where is loses to Comm. IMHO is that it's color display is much much shorter for us. That may or may not be important to you. I have also seen some very nicely colored very orange Legacy. But to me, they are more of a "flat" orange, while to me Comm is more of a "vivid" orange.Could just be the conditions contributing to that. Also I believe Legacy is later to color. Other cultivars that I have seen that I like that would be suitable in your Z7 are John Pair and Autumn Splendor which are the 'Caddo" ecotype, and therefore much more heat/drought resistant. They are also smaller trees than the typical species. Both are real lookers in their own right, but I have no personal experience with their growth. Supposedly AS is faster growing of the two. Lastly, I have also seen what I believe are Bon Fire. They are kind of a hot pink red in fall, and reportedly fastest growing Sugar Maple, performing well in warmer climates. You might look at Moon's Nursery (IIRC) that have some great pics online. IIRC they are in your general area, so that would seem a good place to start. Arktrees

Here’s my inferno. Your autumn blaze will be fine if you give it lots of water and make sure to not encourage it to grow late into the season. It has a tendency to grow too late and burn if it does. Cut off the watering early August and don’t fertilize past May. The only ones I see that seem to bite it or dieback are ones that are in dry neglected areas of the city. People that take care of them seem to do fine with them. There is a 20ft autumn blaze and a couple smaller ones in my town and we are a zone colder. It’s beautiful in fall. I can’t wait for the show in a couple weeks.

Bag is just how I got it ... mostly for transport, I think. Apparently that was the root flare ... and I just didn't know how tiny the tree was. I've got Coast of Maine potting soil, top soil, aged compost (from out compost pile - tree company has previously mentioned that it's very good compost), and sphagnum moss and bark chunks that I use for my orchid. I have blueberry bushes in the CoM potting mix that do okay (other than not being fond of the current weather ... my bad on getting the wrong variety) Its pot can sit under the red maple ... our staging area for plants that don't have homes or whose homes aren't ready (a peony lived there for a year waiting for porch construction to finish). We're realizing that permanent location may be harder to pick than we thought. Recommendations say to put it 20' from other trees, which is going to be hard to find in our yard (back has three giant pines, a 30' sugar maple, a couple 35' oaks, some 20' silver maples, and a handful of tall cherries; side has 25' eastern red cedar, a 15' Japanese maple, a Bradford pear (seems to be sterile), and a 35' hickory; front has a 40' cherry and the town's 50' oak). How close can it really be to others? There's a lollipop cherry that could be coming out, but there would be a bunch of understory trees (dogwoods mostly) that we wouldn't want to wipe out.