Maple seeds (called "samaras") are best harvested when the papery wing part of the seed turns brown, but the thick fleshy part of the seed is still slightly green and not dried out. They need to be stratified, which means they must endure a period of cold. What I do is harvest the seed, break the pair of seeds in two, and then plant them in a shallow 4" garden pot - cheap plastic will do. Do not plant them deeply. You may want to cover the pot with some wire screening to keep out the squrrels and chipnumks if you have a problem with those in your area. Plant as many pots as you want and then find an area for them to spend the winter. They need to be exposed to the cold and rain. In the spring you should have new maple seedlings come up. If you don't see seedlings, don't give up. Sometimes it takes 2 years for them to sprout. Then just transplant the baby trees to whatever part of your garden you wish. Easy! P.S. They can grow for a whole year in that 4" pot if necessary.

In good soil and no really harsh drought conditions, they get pretty huge. I would say comparable to an oak when given time. I will GUESS, 80 ft wide and 80 -100 ft tall. I am being very generous on these measurements, though. It will NOT be a small tree. The Sugar Maple is the only maple I will plant in my yard as a shade tree. Once my oaks and other shade trees get big, I just may want a Japanese maple, or some small shade loving maple THEN. Poaky1

Maple seeds do not store well. They are best sown fresh, but if old ones are sown, give them a long time to germinate just in case some will. It seems a good idea, keeping them in the fridge. In fact, I wonder if freezing some would work. I'd be tempted to try that.

Hey, how long do sugar maples seeds last if dry? Back in Febuary I ordered about 300+ sugar maple seeds from amazon and I managed to germinate about 100 seeds by soaking in some cold water in the refrigerator for 3 weeks changing the water once a day and them stratifying them in a damp paper towl wrapped in aluminum foil for another two to three weeks. I still have about maybe 500 seeds left and dont really want them to go to waste. So, how long will they last? Will they still be.good if I used them next year? Please let me know. Thanks.