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October Glory Maple Late Bloom

10 years ago

I have an October Glory Maple tree that was planted in July 2013. It is about 12 feet tall with 3-4 inch trunk. It got scorch in Sept and I deep watered it and it seemed to recover. We had a very cold winter here in Houston with several days below 32 degrees.

This Spring it's been slow to bloom. I noticed in April the branches turned a reddish color and a few blooms showed up with a few helicopter seeds. Less than 20 or so in total. It has yet to sprout any leaves.

Any thoughts?

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

10 years ago

Photos? Some years maples bloom heavily and others not so much. Doesn't necessarily mean anything wrong.

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Comments (9)

j0nd03
10 years ago
" We had a very cold winter here in Houston with several days below 32 degrees."

LOL

It is very common for plants that are stressed during flower production for next year to make fewer if any flowers than normal. The stress was being planted and acclimating to the new surroundings. July could possibly be the worst month to plant a tree in Houston as this is when the REALLY HOT summer weather kicks and stays which is most challenging for a newly planted tree. The only other month that may be as bad or a little worse would be August. It usually takes a couple years to get established and then normal flower production resumes. My OG is going into its 4th growing season and has yet to have a big crop of flowers but it's only a matter of time.
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Did the roots look brown? If so, root rot may have set in due to them standing in the subsurface pooling water. I would try to get some advice from an arborist about what else you may need to do, or if you should just start over with a new tree, and plant it where it will get better drainage year round. Also, if you have clay soil it might be difficult to prevent the subsurface pooling around the roots at this time of year since the heat and the fact that the tree you plant most likely will not be dormant, means you will need to water a lot at first so it can get established. Personally, I do not like to elevate Maple trees, because their roots grow so near the surface and send up suckers even when you plant them at ground level in soil that drains properly. For that reason, about the only Maple trees I will plant anymore are multi-trunked paperbark maples, and Japanese maples. These cultivars seem to grow slower and do less damage to foundations and cement surfaces than most of the other larger, faster growing Maples. there is another issue about the red maples that even many landscapers either do not know or fail to tell thier clients, and that is the fact that research has proven that horses like the leaves that fall from red maple trees. When horses are allowed to eat the red maple tree leaves that fall in their pastures it makes the horses very sick. Horses can even die if they eat too many of those leaves. I have a friend who lives right next to a horse farm, and her landscaper planted two October Glory Maples in her yard without ever telling her that once the trees get big enough for their leaves to litter the horses'pasture, that she could be liable for any problems those horses encounter from eating the leaves. The landscaper even planted one of the October Glory Maples only 4 feet away from her driveway. In my opinion, He should have informed her that the roots of that tree will end up damaging her driveway, and either suggested an alternative tree that would not do that damage, or an alternative place to plant the red maple tree where its roots could not do such damage.
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isee
Original Author
10 years ago
Photo of October Glory Maple from today. Note the low number of blossoms, seeds and no leaves.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 years ago
I agree with j0nd03 - with a relatively recent planting and a stressful beginning at that, the tree is just taking some time to get settled and properly acclimated to its environment. I'd give it another season or two before I made any serious decisions about its success.
isee
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks the great responses. Very helpful
Embothrium
10 years ago
While this is a southern adapted cultivar I have to wonder if the climate there is giving it problems, with despite there having been some frosts this winter its dormancy requirement (minimum number of days below 40 degrees F. - whatever those are for this particular tree) not having been met.

That's what it looks like, a cold climate tree trying to function in a warm climate that does not have enough cold days in winter for it.

On another subject if it comes around and develops normally later it will produce a large tree over 60 ft. tall. Is that what you had in mind for that spot?
j0nd03
10 years ago
Since the native range of acer rubrum goes nearly down to the Florida Keys where there are quite a bit less chill requirements to go around than even Houston, I think it is significantly more likely transplant stress is responsible for the lack of flowering this year
allen456
10 years ago
I think it's quite common with recently planted Acer Rubrum. By the way, didn't you plant it kind of close to the house? You realize the mature spread is going to be a good 40', right?
Sequoiadendron4
10 years ago
I was wondering the same thing Allen. More wondering what the roots are going to do to that beautiful driveway..

I have a Acer rubrum Red Sunset and while it was establishing itself, it never got a nice full bloom. This year is its fullest bloom yet and it's on its 5th season.

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