My frosty yard isn’t good for late- coloring trees (Except oaks, which don’t seem to care about typical November freezes) And in fact, I was about to post that various red oaks seemed better than normal this year. Could just be that they are standing out better, since various other trees look awful. I see oaks that hold onto to a bright red color for a really long time, I wonder if any have been selected for that?

Thanks for your replies. The drowning diagnosis makes me confused a bit, since these pistache trees are supposedly great for the Houston area, where it is not uncommon to get heavy rains from time to time. (The tree is in an area with good drainage.) If they were so susceptible to occasional 5" rains, then why would they do well here? And can someone tell me how this was improperly planted, and what I can do to fix? I know our soil isn't the best here, but again, they supposedly are good for this area. I don't know much about trees, but I'd think the experts would plant it correctly...

That's why Michelle and I are wondering about it too. This tree is supposed to be just about as bulletproof as can be. I'm hoping she'll get some sort of answer from some tree expert about why her tree is scorching as much as it is. Her location south of the Red River is not that different, weatherwise, from ours or yours north of the Red River....though I think her daytime highs are worse than ours. My best uneducated guess is that something in the drought years of 2011 and beyond (my drought that started in 2011 didn't really end until 2015, so hers may not have either) just prevented the tree from settling in and thriving. We lost even tough native trees in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, though they all were in areas where we don't water. When even well-established natives cannot overcome extreme heat and persistent drought, we have to consider that maybe those years were just too hard on Michelle's Chinese Pistache. Or, maybe it is a root issue. I had trouble in those years with voles eating tree roots, especially newish trees. Maybe young trees have smaller, more tender roots? Often the first sign that a tree's roots were being eaten was than it started to lean sideways because there weren't enough roots to hold it upright. I dug up my damaged trees, put them in containers, pruned them back really hard (more than 50%), put them in total shade, watered them constantly and brought them back from near-death. However, voles also can eat just enough of tree roots to set back a tree but not enough to make you realize they are damaging it. So, that sort of thing is a possibility.

i didnt find a direct answer.. but found this page interesting : https://wikifarmer.com/pistachio-tree-propagation-and-pollination/