I planted an Autumn Fantasy Maple back in September 2004. It was about 7 feet tall at the time. It has grown to at least 15-18 feet tall in the last 3 years. I had to do some pruning to undo some bad Home Depot pruning when I got it, but it is really growing well now. Here are some pics:
This is a picture taken in May 2005
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This is another picture taken in May 2005
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This picture was taken in June 2007
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Another picture taken in June 2007:
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nice looking tree.

how are the fall colors?

any problems with roots?

So far here in the Austin area it hasn't produced much fall color, I think it is a little too warm here during the fall time. maybe this fall will be different but the past 3 falls it has held onto its leaves until early December then they drop with very little color other than brown. But thats the way most deciduous trees are in my area. So far no root problems, although I do have mine planted fairly high due to drainage concerns in the back part of my yard. I can see a couple of roots that are beginning to show up along the surface, but that is only within the mulched area for now.

I planted two autumn fantasies in fall 2006 and have been very happy with them so far. At the time of planting they were about 10-11 feet tall and had a caliper of about 1 1/2". Now, not even a year later, they've put on a couple of feet and increased the trunk caliper to around 2". I'm anxious to see what they look like this fall, but last fall they were an insanely bright red. Kind of cartoonish looking, but I loved it and it was certainly the most eye-catching thing in the nursery. I didn't stake them and they servived a very cold and windy winter and added some winter interest with their bright red branches. One thing to note though, so far the canopy on my trees is somewhat spread out. Not as dense as my Autumn Blaze, but still pretty. I would plant them again. BTW, I'm in eastern Iowa.

Forgetting to spell check fails me every time; meant to type "survived". One more thing about the roots. I mistakenly planted mine a bit too deep. When I learned what root girdling was about two week ago I went out and dug them back only to notice several roots circling the base of the trunk. I removed what I could. Just plant properly and you should be fine.

I'm in eastern Iowa too, fenix.
My tree is doing great, but the branches on the bottom half droop down instead of going up.
Is this okay?
Thanks

Here's a pic (I hope)
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Here is another picture of my Autumn Fantasy maple:

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Notes, just prune them. It will be fine.