Shantung Maple has done very well out here in the Great Plains and believe me, that's saying a lot, since many trees struggle with the heat(a dry desert like heat) and wind out here. I've seen it growing well in Salina, KS, Hutchison, KS, Wichita, KS, Oklahoma City, OK, Ardmore, OK, Gainesville, TX, Dallas, TX, Wichita Falls, TX, and Waco, TX. Like Lou mentioned it also did very well in trials at the John Pair Research Station near Wichita, KS. It also grows well and gives great fall color down into South Texas, where few other trees give good fall colors. It grows well up into Nebraska, so it's cold hardy as well(zone 5). It's much much tougher in terms of wind, ice, heat, and cold hardiness than Japanese Maple. Along with the Caddo Maples(couple different cultivars named by the late Dr. John Pair) which also did very well in the trials up near Wichita, KS, I'd say they are the toughest, best performing ornamental Maples out in the Great Plains(Silver Maple does well also, but usually isn't nearly as ornamental as these and isn't nearly as good in ice storms). My Shantung Maple which is planted out in a field has grown well and performed great for me, although I'm in a very humid summer area with relatively high rainfall(40" per year).

Yes, CA is in a shameful state. They don't want to belong to the USA, any longer, until of course the next big fire, or earthquake! Right now, I have an Acer Truncatum 'Main Street'. It's doing well as far as marginal leaf-burn, but we have had very mild Falls with numerous SA Winds, so fall color has been weak. On the other-side of the yard is a rather newly installed Acer Rubrum 'Redpointe'. It did shockingly well. No leaf-burn until the fall coloring began, but still minimal. It turned a very nice orange-red, despite our very warm windy Fall.

I have a few Shantung maples I grew from a local seed source that are now 18-24" tall in their pots (2 years old), and so far I've been pretty impressed with one in particular for it's spring coloration However, all the spots in my yard that would be suitable for large trees (greater than 35 ft) are already planted in with chestnuts, Turkish tree hazel, various oaks, etc. I do however have plenty of spots reserved for smaller understory and edge habitat trees, to which I've been adding fringetree, redbud, ironwood, hophornbeam, leatherwood, spicebush, hazel, fothergilla, ninebark, chinkapin, etc. There is one spot where I could plant a tree that gets no taller than 30 ft, because any taller and it will begin to shade part of my garden and orchard. One thought that keeps popping into my head is to plant my favorite Shantung maple in this spot, and then coppice it once it starts getting too large. I've seen intentionally coppiced trees before up close, and I do appreciate the form they develop (I just really like the multi-stem look on a medium-sized tree). Given the relatively slow growth rate of Shantung maple, I may not even have to cut it for another 15 years, and then only once every 5 years or so. I'm young and good with a chainsaw, so this doesn't scare me :-) Anyone have thoughts/insights/hateful scorn for my idea? Thanks!

No difference than what I did with others. Others went dormant as usual. Just not this one. It just kept on growing and growing. Pretty short internodes so it acts a lot more like a dwarf type but still rather vigorous. Always putting out new red growth all year long. I have to admit that it's pretty neat plant to have so I'm hoping to keep it. No idea what to expect out of it.