My turn... with Ark's blessing I'm going to post some fall pics taken in Fort Smith yesterday. Unfortunately, the trees peaked 2-3 days before I could get the camera out and most trees lost a LOT of color, especially the sugar maples. Some pics were taken at my house, some on the side of the road and some just off the road in town. Let's start with sugar maple pics: Acer saccharum By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 Liriodendron tulipifera By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 Prunus spp By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 The camera really did not do justice to the last two pics above. Beautiful oranges... Carya spp By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 More coming...

This is a hard question to answer without actually going to the site. But, you should look into the alkaline issue. Because your soil is so alkaline, your plant is unable to take in certain nutrients (elements) that are responsible for making chlorophyll, carotein, xanthophyll, and other pigments used in photosynthesis. These same photosynthetic pigments give the colors in the fall. Green (cholorphyll) is the first to go because it is unstable in cold temperatures. Carotein and others hang in there longer. When the colder temps come, chlorophyll is broken down and not replaced. The other pigments stay in the leaves and continue working. But, a plug forms at the petiole where the leave attaches to the stem trapping those other pigments in the leaves giving the colors. Like I said, high pH soils prevent the tree from taking up some elements like iron that are part of building these pigments. So, with a low volume of pigments, you will have little color; even year around. If my guess is correct, then your tree should be a weaker yellow than what you saw on the tag when you bought it. If I am wrong, hey, you got to read a bit of rambling about plant science. If it is a pH issue, you can add sulfur to the soil to bring down the pH. But, it is not long lasting. You will have to add it often. A little often is better and more useful than a lot once. It will wash away (along with the nitrogn when your husband is watering excessivly). Sometimes too much water can cause many more problems than suffocation of the roots. Contact the extension service up there. http://extn.msu.montana.edu/ These people work for the state and answer questions for free. They do charge for soil tests. My state's extension service charges $14.00 for it. It's not much. But, most of the people you talk to over there have doctorates and specialize in issues just like yours. You will find them very helpful. Good luck!

One advantage of "Mexican Dogwood", Cornus florida subsp. urbiniana, besides the odd looking flowers: it is extremely late to color. Which, in my climate that seldom has a freeze before Thanksgiving, is OK. Other dogwoods have already dropped most of their leaves and this is just starting to color.

I stand corrected on the Freeman maple, being that it is a hybrid or crossbreed of Silver and Red maple, maybe it does actually provide shade, and has better wood. I personally like the Sugar maples bark better. Caldwell, I think the OP was being sarcastic about cutting it down now. Lets all just chill now. Hey, maybe I'm wrong and Leslie chopped it down.....But, anyways, I had looked this up before, because my veteranarians office has a huge Sugar maple, or black Maple, the thing is huge and has a nice bright yellow foliage in fall. When I looked it up, I could swear that it said that Sugar maple needs full sun to grow. I will definitely be there as soon as the samaras/helicopters start falling. I have an area under a small tree that will likely be dead in 15-20 years. It is deep shade. I am trying to find a tree that will grow in this shade. I will be looking soon near the Beech trees near me, but, I think the critters may start earlier, and I doubt that the Sugar maples can grow in deep shade. I thought this tree was Sugar maple, but, Dax thought it could be Black maple. he is usually right, but, he may be overthinking this one?