my contender is still green even after 2 killing frosts. thing doesnt want to go to sleep.
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Cottonwoods are always one of the 1st to signal Fall is coming here. I like the sound of the leaves in the breeze as well. Not really a useful tree for wood, the “cotton” in the Spring is a pain in the rear sometimes. However, I will always have one or two around just for the rustling leaves in the fall!
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OH , I have great memories of childhood with red twig Japanese maple:)
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The Sango Kaku has golden fall leaf color in a good year. Many other maples outshine it for color in fall. (But on a snow day as the sun comes out, it makes a spectacular statement.)
The place I went to see the cottonwood trees change color had a sign reminding us of the “self-pruning “ nature of the trees. In other words, a giant log could fall off the top and crush you to death without warning at any minute.
That would just ruin an autumn hike for me.
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they are the last to change here. red maples are the 1st. start to see some red in late august. they change slowly over a month. i saw cottonwood when i visited AK 5 ys ago. look identical to our quaking aspens.
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yes . you dont want to be in a stand of mature aspen, poplar or willow in high winds. have a family friend that worked in the forest industry that got brain damage from a large frozen branch that broke off a large aspen and landed on his head splitting his safety helmet. one of my cousins found him unconscious.
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I have a small grove of a member of the aspen family…found it along a river about 30 years ago. Pretty yellow shaking in the breeze.
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Could be caddo or black maple possibly, but chances are this is a hybrid, TNHunter.
I’m pretty sure it’s not pure sugar maple.
@BlueBerry … i had two alabama red maples in my front yard until 2007… bought from a local nursery. They both died that year… we had a nasty drought that year.
My wild sugar maples made it but the alabama reds did not.
I actually found this red leafed one when it first sprouted up in the spring of 2004… on the day my father passed away… we named it after him.
I transplanted it and it survived 2007 also.
It could be a cross with what our local nursery sold me as an Alabama red maple.
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I’m not into “aps” but somebody might do a search for a ‘leaf match’.
Thanks for sharing your personal stories.
But it’s not a sugar maple…possibly a hybrid though.
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red maples dont tolerate drought and actually prefer wet sites along swamps or near water. commonly found growing with ash and the white/ yellow birches here. they are prone to rot and dont live long compared to sugar or silver maples.
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Red maples are great for fall color for sure. And of some value as a source of early nectar and pollen for bees…from Canada to Lakeland Florida. It is native, but is over planted and over abundant in the forest (as oaks are harvested, red maples are one of the trees that comes back fairly soon to replace them).
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I actually suspect your red one is a Red Maple, acer rubrum.
Perhaps a root sprout from your previous tree?
Pistache tree.
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@BlueBerry … the red one came up from seed… a samaras ? Helecopter type seed.
It was a tiny sprout when i found it… came up in my landacaping/mulch.
The seed could have been from one of my red maples… they were planted in 2001… and died in 2007. Found the seedling red in April 2004.
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Sure, you just confirmed it’s red and not sugar, then. Agreed.
Tupelo trees.
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