1. Why did you choose the most extreme worst time of year to plant your trees? In your area, that was near the very peak of hottest weather. (Here's your average weather stats

2. How did you water and how did you determine when to water?

3. What is the plastic junk around the tree? (More curiosity than cause of death, but just wondering what was going on there.)

I'd remove the stem just above the highest still living shoot. It appears that the top is dead. Hybrid poplars are grown from cuttings, so whether or not the shoots are "suckers" is really of no consequence. Remove the plastic junk and apply a 3" layer of mulch. I'd also make sure the bottom of the border wasn't setting below ground at all (so you wouldn't be encouraging circling roots). Killing hybrid poplars is next to impossible, so, next time, plant them when it's a little cooler and keep a close check on soil moisture.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub

was this an arbor day mailing.. in the wrong season????

they are a deciduous tree ... i have to imagine, even in balmy FL ...

they probably went dormant where ever they came from ...

as such.. there would be no growth ... until they come out of dormancy in spring ...

what he said about the plastic ... you are cooking the soil ... trying to kill the weeds.. but why would that not harm the tree????

that tree isnt big enough to need the stake ... untie it ... but i would leave it there.. so i wouldn't stomp on it ....

if it lives.. in a year or two.. you can root branches you cut off ... if you continue to want more poplars ...

i actually messed with 'hybrid' poplar ... they are weak wooded.. and short lived ... in 8 years.. they were near 30 feet tall ... those that lived... dropping large branches in high winds [not a great thing in FL i have to imagine] ... and half were diseased ... fast to grow.. fast to die.. and not even useful as firewood... i took the last of them down.. when i decided me and my chainsaw could do it for free.. knowing the following year i would have to pay for it ....

you could do so much better for a long term tree than this tree... if you wish to discuss such.. start a new post ... add city.. soil.. etc ... and we can come up with some ideas for you.. well.. they can.. because this MI boy would have no clue .. lol ...

late winter is PROBABLY your next best planting time ... but that needs to be confirmed ... where is salicea .. or however he spells it.. lol ...

ken

From what Jim wrote, I take it that the taller stem has been bare since shortly after planting. If that is right, it's almost certainly dead and should be removed before growth begins in the spring. IF it just recently lost its leaves, then Ken's theory about them going dormant might be right.

Thank you all for the info. From what I'm reading here about hybrid poplars I may just remove this tree. The plastic is only there to help kill off some grass. The grass is zoysia and tough to dig up.
From a donation we made to the Arbor foundation we have free trees coming in mid-Dec, a better time to
plant. Here is what we'll have:
2 redbuds
2 goldenraintrees
2 dogwoods
2 Washington Hawthorns
2 Sgt Crabapples
2 crepe myrtles
The goldenraintrees are Koelreuteria Paniculata which
according to Arbor foundation are not the invasive type.
The Poplars did not come from them but they know when the best time to plant trees for our area is.

The Arbor Day Foundation has a really bad reputation for sending junk twigs for plants, so don't be surprised if what you get is less than what you expect.

Here are some things you may want to consider with the trees they are sending:

Redbuds are notorious for developing poor branch crotch angles and splitting apart. If you start when the tree is young and train the branches (with branch spreaders, like used in orchards, and/or, with proper pruning), you can greatly reduce the chance of failure later down the road.

Koelreuteria paniculata may be somewhat less invasive than Koelreuteria elegans, in Florida, but they are still known to be invasive (including in Florida). They aren't nearly the problem that some other species are, so it's not the end of the world if you decide to keep it, but just say'n...

Wonder what kind of dogwoods they are sending.

Hopefully your Washington hawthorns hold up. They do have a few pest and disease issues. Fire blight, fungal leaf spots, powdery mildew, cankers, apple scab, borers, caterpillars, lacebugs, leafminers, and scale are known to be occasional problems.

Be sure to plant your crApe myrtles where they have plenty of room to grow. You don't mention the cultivar, so we don't know how big they'll get. I really like crape myrtles, but see so many people fail to plan for their eventual size and then end up butchering them (crape murder) later on.