October Glory AND Autumn Blaze won't turn red

13 years ago

Three years ago, I purchased what I thought were two October Glory maples from a nearby nursery. (I live in zone 5 - Michigan) They were both about 20 feet tall and had large rootballs when I planted them. I planted them about 20 feet from each other, in the strip of grass between my sidewalk and street. They are planted in full sun, receive water a couple days a week when the sprinklers water the grass, and are extremely healthy and green during the summer.

In doing some closer identification last fall, I realized that one is an October Glory and the other is an Autumn Blaze. "Fine", I thought, because they should both turn red, which was my reason for purchasing October Glories. But I've been through THREE autumns with them now and neither of them turn red. They go from a healthy, full green foliage to yellow/brown and then the leaves fall off the tree by October 1.

The part I find so strange is that they are two different varieties of red maples, but neither ever turns red. If they were the same variety, I could maybe believe that they were both genetic duds that didn't have the capacity to turn red. But I don't buy that since they're two different varieties.

What could possibly be the problem? Is it an age issue? Gender issue (does being male vs. female have any effect on color?) Could it be a location issue (soil too warm between sidewalk and street?) Any insight and/or suggestions would be very appreciated.

Thanks!

Featured Answer

Shelley Hartley

4 years ago

Thank you for the info🙂 I would have to guess then it is warm falls. I don't have any other

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Comments (8)

j0nd03
13 years ago
I would post this over in the tree forum. You might get more responses over there.

As to your trees, it almost sounds like they are not quite as happy and healthy as you think they are since they are losing their leaves early and without color. Can't help you with a dx, though. Pics would sure be great if you have any.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree Forum
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j0nd03
13 years ago
After re-reading your OP, I think we really nead leaf pics. I am wondering if you somehow received seedling maples instead of known cultivars. Did the tags on them say "October Glory" or are you guessing at what you thought they were?

John
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houstontexas123
13 years ago
how wide is that grass strip between the side walk and the street, down here they're about 2.5' wide.

you said when you planted the two trees, they were 20' tall, thats pretty big. personally i'm not a fan of planting large trees in those strips of grass. there are giant oaks here with roots that have totally destroyed the sidewalk, and other large trees that have that square-ish cut away from trucks, and others that are pruned awkwardly to keep their large branches away from the road or away from power/telephone lines up above.
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whaas_5a
13 years ago
Not normal, you have some troubles going on there. I would say don't worry about the fall color its the dropping leaves by 10/1 that is an issue. These trees keep leaves in my area until early November in some years.
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Shelley Hartley
4 years ago
I also have both types of maples and neither one of them have turned red either in the 3 yrs I've planted them. They were both purchased from reputable nurseries in northern Ohio where I live. We have had very warm winters lately so Im wondering if that effected them. I also read to put mulch around them to help .
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years ago
"We have had very warm winters lately so Im wondering if that effected them."

Shouldn't have anything to do with it. Both are heavily planted and grow well here and generally get great fall color and we have much milder winters than you ever get in Ohio! But fall color is highly dependent on climate and weather issues as well as tree genetics. Drought as well as excessive rainfall and too warm temps late into the season can negatively impact fall color development.

btw, both are not Acer rubrum cultivars. 'October Glory' is but 'Autumn Blaze' is a Freeman maple, a hybrid between red and silver maples.
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DeeDee Gentry
6 months ago
last modified: 6 months ago
I have the exact same issue with my October Glory. I live in North Carolina and my tree was 20 ft when planted. That was about 5 years ago. The last couple of years the tree has been nice and full in the summer and I hoped for red or orange color in fall. However, the tree turns yellow and the leaves begin to fall shortly after. We had a lot of rain in late summer, then a dry spell during which I didn't really water much. Then we had a nice cool spell with temps in the 40's at night. It is October 29th and the yellow leaves are falling. My dreams of red leaves is just that.....a dream.