Metro Maples

Metro Maples - Shantung Maple Cultivars

Sorry, none of these are available for sale yet.

Here are some pictures from my selection program in a effort to introduce many more Shantung Maple cultivars:

	Golden Dragon is a cultivar I am selecting that has this very nice leaf shape and brilliant deep yellow fall color. It was selected for further testing because it had the highest percentage of matching, beautifully shaped leaves. Shantung maples are polymorphic, meaning they will have slightly different leaf shapes on the same tree but this cultivar has a very stable leaf shape.
	Skinny Dragon has very narrow leaf lobes giving it a distinctively finer texture. So far the spring and fall colors have been very exciting. Fall colors are usually a deep golden yellow but I have also seen some that are bright pinkish-orange..
	Dwarf Golden Dragon is a 2007 selection that had the ability to keep this beautiful yellow leaf color throughout the summer. Summer growth is deep red-orange. So far it does not seem to burn from the hot sun as do all other yellow-leaf trees I have tested in Texas.
	Blaine's Dragon was named after my daughter because it was discovered when she was working with me in the summer of 2006 after she graduated with a molecular biology degree from Pomona College and before she started working at Southwest Medical Center in Dallas. It has about the nicest looking Shantung maple leaves that I have ever seen. So far it is the only other Shantung maple besides Fire Dragon that has a consistent red fall color in my hot climate.
	Baby Dragon was found in the first group of Shantung maples I grew, way back in 1994. It turned out to be a true dwarf. This picture was taken in 2007 when it was 14 years old. It has a very tiny leaf, a thin willow-like habit, and is only 4 feet tall and wide. It never stops putting out colorful summer growth, yet remains very small. It also wants to start growing early in the spring like a lot of dwarfs tend to do but has never been damaged by a late freeze.

Witches Dragon is under review because of the interesting leaf shape. It has an unique leaf base attachment which makes the lobes hang down, or look droopey. Fall colors have been a brilliant orange, or multi-colors of yellow, orange, and red.

Doric Dragon has a columnar growth habit. After 10 years it is 25 feet tall, but only 8 feet wide and so far has mostly yellow fall color. It should be a much better and longer lived tree than the Lombardy poplars that are over-planted and short-lived.

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