Although the graft union is not really obvious in the photos, that is definitely growth coming from the rootstock. And the rootstock is just straight species Acer palmatum - any growth from this source will virtually always be green.

If there are no viable buds or signs of life on the top growth, then you have lost your Fireglow. It is not uncommon for the scion or grafted portion to die off for various reasons (often from cold damage) and the rootstock to remain alive. Your decision now is whether to keep the little tree in its current damaged, never again to be tree-like, non-Fireglow form or toss it in favor of a healthy, well formed replacement.

btw, you will usually get more responses to your posts about Japanese maples (or any other maples) in the Maples forums. It's quite a bit more active than this forum with a lot of experienced growers participating.

Thank you so much! I am. But saddened that the fireglow may be gone but thankful for your feedback - I did not realize there was a maple specific forum, should have known :)

strangely enough, a few of the branches that were all green last week have reddened a bit, so I may keep it around for awhile and see if there's hope yet ....

It may be pot bound but all that will do is cause some dwarfing of growth - growing woody plants long term in a container situation is a bit like bonsai without the training and pruning :-) It is a natural dwarfing process. But being pot bound - if it is - did not cause the issues we see here. Graft failure or the die off of the scion is NOT the result of being pot bound and repotting or planting in the ground will not reverse the process and regenerate the Fireglow portion of the tree (the scion wood).

btw, the reddish coloring you are seeing now is just the typical fall coloring of a species JM - virtually all green leafed forms will produce reddish-orange (sometimes gold) fall color. The leaves in your lower photos are NOT the leaves of Fireglow and will not somehow miraculously return to that specific variety.

My suggestion is to leave the tree until spring and verify at that time if any life is apparent on the currently bare branches of the grafted portion. If no life apparent at that time (stems/twigs will be gray in color and brittle or dry and no sign of any viable {plump} buds), then your choices are to remove the dead top growth and allow the rootstock to grow on or trash the tree and start over. If you choose the first option, be aware that what you have will be much more shrub-like than a real tree and will not produce the spring/summer red foliage of your former Fireglow.

Edit: this was posted in response to a post that was subsequently deleted so that's where the reference to being 'pot bound' originated. That info may or may not be appropriate to the discussion at hand but all the rest of it may be of some value to you so I will leave it intact :-))

Gardengal48, thank you for all the information you have shared with me, and everyone. It's helped a lot!

I wanted to update my post, and ask two more questions

I moved the JM to our front porch, to see if sunlight would do the trick. It did. Within a day the Fireblood was changing colors and by the weekend was bright red again. The covered porch gets sun all day, but also gets wind. (I should have taken photos yesterday, before we had a windy night, because a bunch of the leaves have blown off now.)

Should I bring the JM inside for the rest of the winter, to better protect it from wind?

Also, in the first photo, you can see two dead main branches in the center. Should I leave them? Cut them?

Here are the before and after pics to show how dramatically it changed in just about a week:

Before:

After:

Thank you!

ticopp - the red color you are seeing (or saw - before the wind came :-)) is just the typical fall coloring from the species rootstock. Your 'Fireglow' has not magically recovered or reappeared nor should you expect to see it in the spring. Although it is difficult to determine absolutely just from a few photos, I am fairly certain that the graft has failed and the Fireglow portion of your tree is dead. That's what those dead branches are - the remains of what was Fireglow.

What you choose to do now is pretty much a matter of personal choice. If it were mine, I would not offer any particular care over winter as I would replace it in spring. It will not be the red leafed maple you purchased, producing rather nondescript green leaves during the growing season and just showing a hint of personality with some red fall coloring. And it is unlikely to grow into any sort of tree form, simply producing a collection of straggly branches from low to the ground (below the graft line) in more of a loose, shrubby shape.

So it's your choice to prune out the 'dead' now or wait until spring for any potential signs of life then. And I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope for that, unfortunately. As to any winter protection that may be necessary - should you decide you want to save this plant for whatever reason - you want to make sure the pot/roots are not exposed to temperatures that drop below 25F. Inside the house is not appropriate but it can be moved to an unheated garage or similar structure. Depending on your winter, it could be perfectly safe on your porch. Without leaves and dormant, wind is not much of a concern (I live on the beach and my containerized maples are in wind all winter long!).