Curious as to how much growth are you getting? Ours grows maybe two feet/yr, and up until last year, had one flush of growth per year. Lou has reported much more growth than I've seen on our tree. Otherwise your tree is looking very nice. I'm sure those red points stand out nicely.

Arktrees

Arktrees, I have one in non-irrigated turf (4' mulch ring, though). I only get one flush of growth per year, 12-18". We are also on our way to a year full of 100's here. I would say that northtexas' tree is in lush, irrigated turf judging from the picture and that might contribute to the summer flush of growth.
hortster

hortser,
Ours is in an irrigated fertilized Bermuda lawn with a 4' ring of mulch. It had put on one flush per season until last season, when it pushed a second smaller flush. Of note is the fact that last season was much hotter than normal, especially on the overnight lows. I don't want to give the impression that I'm overly concerned about the tree. I'm just of the opinion that the "Fire Dragon" cultivar is happier in a bit warmer climate, or perhaps Shantung Maple as a species will grow different further north, and therefore people that plant it further north need to be aware of that if it proves to be true. In short just trying to define the characteristics of Shantung and reasonable expectations.

Arktrees

I woul say that I am at around 9 inches to a foot on growth so far for both this regular shantung and the fire dragon. May was cooler than normal but we had ferocious wind which has now continued this month. Both trees are indeed in irrigated bermuda. We did get four inches of rain last week which may have sparked this latest flush. I do no see any of this on the fire dragon though right now. This shantung was planted last May and the fire dragon last September. I will post a couple of pictures of the entire trees when I get home.

OK here are some pictures of the entire trees.

This one shows some of the shoots of growth. This is my regular shantung that was planted last May.

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Fire Dragon on left planted last September, regular on the right.

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Fire Dragon by itself.

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Thanks for the reply back NT. Hope you stick around and update over time.

Arktrees

It is still really growing. You can see all the shoots in this picture. My fire dragon is not growing nearly as fast. The leaves on the fire dragon are only a little bigger than half the size of the leaves on the regular shantung. They are the exact same shape just smaller. The regular shantung was planted May 2010 and the firedragon September 2010 so the regular one has been in the ground for 4 months longer maybe that is why I am getting better growth.

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Very nice, you must have some serious irrigation to have grass that green this time of year!

I potted (3) 3" plugs early this spring. One has grown 18" already, one 12" and the last one only 6". I'll have to re-pot these in September.

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Wow, yours are really taking off. OK I must admit I am a little concerned on the size difference in leaves between the fire dragon and the regular shantung. First two leaves in the picture came off the same regular shantung (even though they look different) and the second two came off of the fire dragon. Hopefully Lou or Arktrees will chime in and let me know if they have ever seen the fire dragon have smaller leaves like this. Also, its leaves are more curled on the edges.

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NT,
You rang? ;-) I can't say that I specifically remember the leaves being smaller, but I do believe they were the first year. I know when I first saw our tree, I was surprised the leaves were so small. I do remember not at all being surprised by how it behaved that first year. BTW, ours was planted in early December. Personally, I would expect for your tree to have smaller leaves. The difference in time, is not just 4 months, but it's the first tree gearing up for the growing season, extending roots vigorously, and in an overall expansion phase. While in September, the days are growing rapidly shorter, and probable cooler, and the tree knows winter is on the way. So it's energy is going to be dedicated to winter survival, and not root growth etc. BTW, what did your seed grown Shantung do last year?

All this to say, as long as your planted properly, and there are no signs of other problems, I wouldn't worry about it. If next year it persists, then a soil test would probable be in order. But I think your tree is probable just fine. Just needs time, climate, and photosynthesis.

BTW, while your Shantungs are growing in Texas, our FD has not shown any growth since May. We are apparently far enough north to change the trees behavior. Hort reported one flush of growth/yr above as well.

Thanks for the updates. Keep them coming.

Arktrees

Whaas,

NT lives in tiny part of Texas that are not under drought. :) He's lucky!

NT,

The unusually strong winds this year thanks to La Nina seemed to have slowed down growth. Hopefully, next year will be a better year with more rain and not so hot weather during the summer. Starting now, you may notice that the trunks will fatten up significantly by end of the fall.

Here's a pic planted in the spring of 2006 - Probably 5 ft if at all.

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Now...

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Wow Lou! That is crazy how much bigger your FD has gotten in 5 years!

Arktrees, thank you for the reply, I do not have any seed grown shantungs though. After reading on metro maples web site I did see that the fire dragon does have smaller leaves than a regular shantung so maybe it is genetics plus the factors you mentioned.

MY FD has probably not grown since May either only the regular shantung but like you said it had 4 more months of vigorous root growing so I would expect it to perform better.

We have already had 17 days over 100 down here which beats all of last summer which only had 15 days total. June was the hottest since 1980 which is the standard bearer for hot summers down here. Hot drying winds have been prevalent so not ideal conditions for sure. About three weeks ago it rained 2.5 inches one night followed by 1.5 inches the next but not a drop since then. One of my poor japanese maples is feeling it.

We are a little less than two years later and the shantungs have really grown. The fire dragon is in the forefront and the regular shantung behind that. I have may shade in these hot Texas summers sooner rather than later!

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Fire Dragon.

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Regular Shantung. The weird bagel looking thing hanging from it is a bird feeder my three year old made for me in pre school.

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Sorry I have no idea why the bottom trees are sideays. They are correct in photobucket.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shantung Maples