It would be hard to air layer with that pruning job & reaction, and I agree with bboy that sprouts likely won't be able to hold the apparati to layer. Whether pruning and sticking will work is anyone's guess, as I'm not familiar with that tree (westerner) so can't go to my texts for instruction - usu something like that is seed-propagated. But I have the texts in my library for propagation instruction if someone can ID. Dan

I was on a trip this past week to Arkansas and took a detour to the source tree to obtain some acorns. Following Kman04's line of testing--- "if you have any acorns or acorn caps from the original tree, is the inside of the acorn cap hairy or mostly hairless? If it's mostly hairless, it's Q. shumardii, and if it's hairy, then it's Q. nuttallii."---the acorns show the tree is Q. shumardii. The inside cap is mostly hairless. Further the acorns have the characteristic overlapping scales, short stalk, and mostly flat top. I learned from the Louisiana State University Ag Center site that the Nuttall acorn "has a distinctive cap with scales extending onto the projection holding the acorn to the twig. This characteristic makes it readily identifiable from all other southern acorns." These acorns are definitely not the Nuttall. This confirms the central insights given. Thanks for your help.

Interesting flora - what I find online says zone 5-9 and none of the range maps I have found indicate it resides in Canada. Range is up to New York and Pennsylvania, though. It sure would not be a surprise to find it in Canada. Canadianplant, are you near the border around NY/Pennsylvania? John ps - and bboy is right about e. alatus being so invasive so that is, IMO, the most likely by default. A close up of twigs and foliage arrangement as well as bark might help the the more knowledgeable on here (like the two above that already responded) attain a positive ID

My parents' azaleas face west. They likely have been there for 20 years and are doing great. We are also in NC. BUT...there are several trees that do help shade them. I will have to take a peak outside one afternoon to see how much sun they actually get. My hydrangeas face west. They tend to wilt in the afternoon sun, but always perk up that night/next morning. Dh dug out the box about 1-2 feet down and filled it with nice soil, and they get watered often. I am not sure if that would help the azaleas, but just a thought.