I bought them from two reputable nurseries, but nonetheless ones that only offers a 30 day guarantee on plants and trees. They are sugar maples and oaks (I'm in South Carolina) so it's definitely not an issue of cold hardiness. It got cold this past winter (colder than usual from what I understand - I moved here from Iowa last June), but it did not drop below zero. I also did not use any fertilizer or root stimulator at the time of planting. I simply back-filled with the clay soil that the holes were dug from. The oaks were purchased b and b and were in the ground in the late summer; I kept them watered through the winter. They changed colors in the fall (the scarlet oak was beautiful) and held onto their leaves all winter long, losing them only recently. The sugar maple was purchased b and b and planted on the day it was dug from the field (which is about five miles away), which was in december after it had dropped its leaves. It received plenty of water at planting and through the fall and winter as well. The existing root ball is huge, though I realize it's significantly less than what the tree had before it was dug; I hope the digging and subsequent loss of the majority of its roots isn't going to end up killing it. In Iowa I purchased everything in containers. Down here it is significantly less expensive to plant large b and b trees than it was at home, thus, I thought I was doing something pretty special...I'm almost more worried about being able to move the trees if they don't make it than I am the money. They are very large and very heavy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for the responses.

Sugar maples were the last trees to leaf out in my yard this spring, despite a very mild winter. Sounds normal to me, particularly if your is showing some green in the buds. Try scratching the bark on some small branches; if you see green, it is probably alive.

You'll have to have an arborist look at the trees in person to be able to get any useful opinions about their structural integrity. Look for somebody that sells themselves as a consulting arborist or other tree expert as part of the package of services offered.

The most magnificent display of color in all of the kingdom of plants is the autumnal foliage of the trees of North America. Over them all .......rise the colors of one tree, the Sugar Maple. A Natural History of Trees by Donald C. Peattie Around this time of year we really appreciate the Sugar Maple because of the fall color. New posters confuse this tree with Norway Maple. The introduction of Norway Maple to colonial America is credited to one of my all time heroes, John Bartram in 1756. It took quite a while but I have come to forgive him for this :)Brilliant colors of SM can be had especially if foliage is exposed to the sun. Wings of seed not as large or broad spreading as NM. A broken leaf vein or seed releases white sap from NM during the growing season.Notice the sharply pointed & conical buds of SM. NM buds are broad and blunt tipped. SM bark of older trees develops long, gray plates. NM bark is more closely ridged & furrowed with age. These are good traits to use for winter ID. Observe the trees repeatedly and throughout the year and you can pick out the differences from a distance. One positive for NM, it makes great firewood.