I had a freeman maple once (Sienna Glen), and this leaf looks spot on for a silver x red maple hybrid to me. Weird you’ve gotten no color yet. Autumn Blaze is usually reliable for fall color from my observations.

Looks like a Freeman (Autumn Blaze), tho conditions can always affect fall coloring.

The first full Fall it was planted was very mild and then BOOM Winter temps

is anything turning color yet in your neighborhood???? ... not much here.. and im due east of you ...

report back once a month for the next 3 months.. let us know ..

also.. having planted about 100 trees with large potential... some took years to develop the color.. i presumed it was a function of growing the requisite root mass.. to perform properly .... with oaks it took 5 to 7 years with some of them ..

and god help me.. i moved to get away from maples.. they do grow somewhat faster ...

also.. especially with the red and purple fall color oaks.. its is highly variable as to when and how good the coloration was.. any given year... i never really figured it out... was it drought.. leaf damage... etc.. at least i could rule out winter leaf damage... lol

tree time is counted in decades.. not one year since planting.. so give it time ..

ken

ps: one trick is to shop trees in the field.. WHEN THEY ARE IN COLOR .... and then either tag them at the field .. pay a deposit ... or bring the pot home.. and hold it for digging delivery and planting at the proper time.. just because you buy it.. doenst mean its the perfect time to plant it ..

and do note.. potted trees are.. by definition.. stressed.. which usually mean they color well in the pot ... but once settled in in the soil.. they might take a year or 3 to color up again ..

did IL win yesterday ... play???

Ken I’m stuck with the damn thing so it’s gonna do whatever anyway 🤣 ughhh let’s not talk about the Illini football team

The amazing autumn colors of New England are due to the acidic soils and the climate conditions there. If you are in one of the alkaline soil areas of your region you have that working against you right off the bat. A way to check on what to expect is to try and find out what previous experiences with coloring of AUTUMN BLAZE ('Jeffersred') have been in nearby locations. Or others elsewhere that have basically the same climate and soil.

Does this help anyone?

Not seeing Good Fall colors, the first year in the ground, doesn't sound all that unusual. Generally, the roots need to be fully established and that can take a year or two. Not that it couldn't have good Fall colors the first year, it's just not a given.

Weather conditions can affect coloring also.

That said, identifying a certain selection of maple by looking at a leaf is at best sketchy.

I'd wait to see what happens this Fall, then if not satisfied, talk with the seller. If it's a dud, they might replace it.

Thanks, this November will be 2 full years we’ve had it

Hopefully, you'll see the blaze this time around.

Let us know how it goes. :-)

Looks like rootstock growth to me.

Acer saccharinum (silver maple) are notorious for sending up shoots from the base. I would think a cross between the red & silver might produce the same thing.

The only thing worse is letting them grow, which produces a huge, multi trunk tree someday.

In some locations, like out in a field, that may be fine.

Vigorous growth (like what you see) is less likely to color well, instead hanging on to its green until killed by frost.

ughhh let’s not talk about the Illini football team

==>

isnt the usual default.. we are a basketball school.. rotflmbo ...

trim out the very low growth... properly.. and as close to the trunk as possible.. you probably wont find a collar ..

tree time.. yada.. yada.. decades ... it took some purple ask and maroon oaks 5 to 7 years to color up .. its age as well as weather all summer ... bad summer this year.. the early leaf losing trees are dropping barely yellow green leaves... without frost.. most your great color comes after a frost ...

be patient ...

and quit buying maples and transplanting maples ...

ken

SW facing split-level house, needed shade badly and wanted some color. Maybe should’ve gotten a fast growing evergreen instead

Any kind of tree is going to take many many years to produce a shadow big enough to cool a building. And exceptionally fast growing trees tend to be the same kinds that overwhelm less-than-palatial residential planting sites in time with their out of scale mature sizes. With of course certain specific ones like silver maples and poplars being notorious for dropping large branches and other structural issues presenting themselves after large size has been achieved. So if you are cooking now you really need to take other approaches in order to get significant relief from this time forward. Instead of decades into the future.

did IL beat someone last weekend???

we need to look at this tree.. in a new post.. when its leafless ... im wondering about your crotch angles.. and if you dont need some prophylactic pruning.. to insure you have a great tree in 50 years ... even if it is a maple ....

and no.. none of that is obscene... lol ..

ken

Of course they beat the Badgers of Wiscy like we all expected ;) I’ll get a new photo when it’s bare

I know I know what a complainer I am. Here’s to hoping next year the color gets really vibrant. This is still a little blah for me lol

I had a Sienna Glenn maple that was trash. Blah color and it froze on me and died.

Hey Ken- (you don't have private messaging enabled)

When were you at Illinois? I was there in '64-'65. Had a stadium horn that was later outlawed for noise. You were probably just a gleam in your parent's eyes. My grandmother was growing the green and the green and white edged hostas back then.

-Babka

Bare now! How’s it looking for the future?