Since no one else is touching this I will sort of ...Really we all feel your pain but there is NO way to know from any certainty what caused your plant's demise therefore NO way to tell or advise you to do something differnt next time.I suggest getting J.D. Vertrees JM book , google or yahoo up "care for Japanese maples", read the past threads on care for such here or at Daves garden ...but even with the best advise and following all prescribed proceedures for max. health you will likely loose others just like any plant or tree from time to time. David

I agree with David. My guess would be some sort of shock caused the death based on the fact that it was alive when you got it then died quickly. But it could be a whole host of other things and there is no way to really tell. Vertrees book is great, it tells nearly everything you would ever need to know about JMs. The van Gelderans (sp?) "Maples for Gardens" is also a good read.

Depends where it came from and the zone it WAS in. Most Jap. maples are in dormancy right now and in fairly cold zones. All my jap. maple bonsais are in the garage now and for at least another 6 weeks or so. That garage is unheated and has been just above freezing to just under freezing for the last 5 weeks or so. No sun and watered only twice.

If they were to get into zone 10 heat and even diffused sun it would definatly shock them and probably kill them. It takes about 2 weeks of slowly and gradualy introducing them to sun and warmth in the spring to get them ready for outdoors.

I would say next time order in the late spring and summer which should be closer to your zone from their originating zone, then still keep them in a cool shaded place for the first 4-5 days. Even so, in your summer heat they should not get direct afternoon sun. Some early to mid morning sun will be fine and you may need to water a couple times a day during the worst heat. They survive cold better than they do heat.

John

Sorry if I am stating something that is so obvious it may seem like an insult--please, I just want to make sure.

OK, it is now winter--could this tree just be trying to enter dormancy? If the leaves on the tree turned brown and are hanging on the tree and if the very tips of the twigs are turning brown and drying up--yes, the tree is dead. But if the leaves just fell off and the tips of the twigs have good color and little, maybe very, very little buds on them, maybe the tree has just, belatedly, entered dormancy.

--Spruce