ospreynn, I was searching for something on the gardenweb and came across your question that you asked last April. Although it was quite a while ago that you presented your question, I thought I might be of some help to you. Some of the responses you got mentioned to try a Mediterranean Maple. Being the Virgo that I am, I'm pretty specific. Technically, the only place in the United States with a Mediterranean climate is in California. A trait that differs from a Mediterranean and the desert or high desert, depending on where in NM you are, is a touch of humidity and a bit more rainfall. So, I would suggest that you look into a maple that evolved in a climate closer to yours such as the Great Basin. Basically, the Great Basin is what is left after the prehistoric Lake Bountiful drained and left a desert and the Great Salt Lake. The area is from the Western slop of the Rockies in Utah west to the Sierra's in Nevada. Then up into Southern Idaho and Southwestern Wyoming all the way down into Arizona and New Mexico. I live in Missouri now. But, I received my undergrad in Ornamental Horticulture at Utah State University. We worked a lot with natives and how much more successful they are in a landscape than those that are introduced. Having said that, I am completely biased toward Bigtooth. We did a lot of work out there with it. Dr Larry Rupp is involved in a project of collecting in nature and propagating at USU these small trees. He is selecting for various fall colors. At the demonstration farm up there he has a row of yellow, one of orange, red and even a vibrant maroon; close to the A. truncatum 'Fire Dragon' that lou_midlothian showed you. It's amazing. But, that variety over the others has an aphid attraction that Larry was trying to weed out. I love the tree for the rootstock especially. It can handle the high pH, salt and low water. Basically, it grows as fast as you water it. The more you water it, the faster it grows. If you decide not to water it, it just slows down its growth. But, it does not thirst. It's amazing. Also, it can be trained as a single trunk or a multi. Personally, I like the multi. It comes out looking a lot like A. ginnala. The single looks like a smaller Sugar, saccharum. I'd suggest ginnala to you over any other tree based on your description of the site. But, it just doesn't like the heat that you get. At Utah State, there are several A. griseum's on the North end of the Geology building. They look amazing! In fact, that's where I fell in love with them. We expect to get married next summer :). On the Northwest side of Old Main there is a hybrid. A. truncatum x platanoides. It has the leaf of platanoides and the seed of truncatum. It thrives as well. However, it is not nearly as beautiful as truncatum alone. So, I'd say both will do well in your area. You also mentioned Silver, A. saccharinum. That's a tough old bird. We have them here in Springfield, Missouri everywhere. I have four in my yard alone. They have prolific volunteers. They will survive about anywhere. Although they don't need a lot of water, they will tap what's there, therefore preventing competitors from getting much. They prefer it a bit acidic like most in the Sugar group. I wouldn't suggest this where you live. There are three strikes right there: weeds, water and pH. The Caddo might be ok for you. But, if OK and KS are anything like their neighbor, Missouri, it's a bit more humid than NM. Therefore, it might not perform as well there as it does out here. Cacu mentioned A. campestre. Utah State also has several of these on the North end of the ROTC building. They are problem and pest-free. Perfect specimens. They will do extremely well in your area. They can handle almost any soil condition from acidic to alkaline; from full sun to shade. They don't like wet feet. But, somehow I doubt that's much of a problem in NM. They like dry, well-drained soil and can handle compacted soil as well. It sounds a lot like the NM soil I witnessed when I took Interstate 40 from Southern California to Missouri. In England, they use these as large hedges; somewhat like we would do with Boxwood. Although they are not really ornamental, they are graceful; extremely graceful. Check this out: the truncatum was very likely what you lived with in Germany. Very likely. They are native to Europe. To sum it up, I would suggest truncatum, 'Fire Dragon' if you can get it. Absolutely campestre. Also, griseum is extremely tolerant of soils and climate. You can't go wrong there. All of these trees are rather medium-sized trees with slow growth rates. The area you mentioned seems rather small. So, these will work for now. Eventually, however, they might outgrow the area. You are pretty limited out there. That's one of the main reasons that I moved to Utah State. I wanted to learn how to be successful in a stressed environment. I figured I'd learn more that way. I look up to you for taking this challenge on. So, it's been about eight months since you posted your question. What did you decide to do? And, how is it performing? I'm very curious. Thanks. EricPaul

I'd give it another couple of weeks, if no buds, return it. The situation sounds grim, sorry. But it's a tough tree, so maybe. HTH -E Sounds dead to me. Get it replaced, but replace it with something else better than this invasive horror ;-) Hmmmm... What does "this invasive horror" mean? This is a bad tree? You will know exactly what Michael means the first spring after it bears a crop of maple keys (seeds). Once the tree starts producing seeds, it will do so in abundance every year onwards. In my experience, every single one of the seeds germinate, and every single one of those will develop into a tree if you pull don't them out. It's a pain in the *** for a gardener and rather upseting to the local forest habitat. The seedlings are quite shade tolerant and will elminate wildflowers and other seedling tree species through shading of the forest floor. Well, OK, this is certainly an invasive tree. And you can argue it's way over planted. But I think they've got a bad rap. A. platanoides is a gorgeous big (or medium in this case) street tree with some of the best flowers in the maple family. They're tough, grow fast, and the dark reds are impossible to match in any other big maple I know of. Very pollution tolerant. Good city trees, as far as I know Milwaukee is not a forest! ;) The street lights on the flowers is spectacular. My garden has Crimson King, Maculatum (?), Princeton Gold and Drummondii, and I intend to plant Waldersei and Tharandt. I do try to exterminate seedlings, but I get more sycamore than Norway here. -E

Actually, I think Shainas grow fairly quickly or normal for a Japanese maple while they are young, but slow down as they get larger. I've got one that was about 2' tall when I bought it last spring and it's already about 3' tall now. However, Shaina is considered a dwarf, so it will never get as large or grow as fast as many JMs. You can probably accelerate the growth of your Shaina by lightly fertilizing it, and making sure it is mulched and watered regularly. But are you sure you want that? JMs that grow fast often have gangly limbs and not the best form. Personally, I would rather have one that grows slow rather than fast. If you want a larger or faster growing tree, you might have simply bought the wrong variety of Japanese maple. Shaina is a dwarf variety. Other varieties with similar deep red leaves that will grow faster and taller include Bloodgood, Emperor, Fireglow and many others.

Doesn't appear to be very widely available here in the US. Buchholz & Buchholz carries it but they are wholesale only -- and a wondeful source for a whole host of great and less common maples and conifers. Any chance you could talk your favorite local garden center into placing an order?