On the hunt for a Shantung maple at Metro Maples
One thing that may surprise you about North Texas gardens is they frequently indulge a passion for Japanese maples. In the leafy, older neighborhoods of Dallas–Fort Worth, Japanese maples fill the understory with wine-red leaves and a ballerina’s grace. Although they need deep soakings during droughty Texas summers (and are suitable only to the eastern third of the state, with Dallas–Fort Worth just on the edge of that region), Japanese maples grow well given shade and deep soil.
Some of my North Texas gardening friends are also growing the sun-loving Shantung maple (Acer truncatum). I was unfamiliar with this tree until fairly recently. Turns out, Shantung maple is a Texas Superstar: “Reminiscent of Japanese maple but with much greater toughness. This beautiful maple has spreading canopy with attractive foliage that turns spectacular red, red-orange in late fall. Tolerates heat and alkaline soils. Makes wonderful shade tree for smaller yards.”
I decided I had to try a Shantung maple in my own garden, especially now that my garden is a little sunnier. But I couldn’t find any in Austin over the winter. So when I was in Fort Worth a few weeks ago, I paid a visit to Metro Maples, a tree nursery several local gardeners recommended. Metro Maples is open by appointment, which I didn’t realize, but they graciously made time for me when I showed up.
On that cool, cloudy day in late March, I wandered the grounds, enjoying the colorful leaves and delicate, dangling flowers of Japanese maples planted in the ground and for sale in pots. A few azaleas were flowering too.
Who says a shade garden is only green?
While admiring the trees I met owner Scott Hubble, who worked at the nursery for a decade or so before purchasing it from the previous owner in 2016. Soft spoken but welcoming, Scott told me about the nursery and his passion for bonsai. The whole place felt almost like a nature park, quiet and woodsy.
‘Orangeola’ Japanese maple
‘Orange Dream’ Japanese maple
Frilly pink-and-white azaleas made a pretty complement to the burgundy trees.
There were beautiful pines too.
I’d never seen a weeping Japanese maple, but Metro Maples had one: ‘Ryusen’.
A big maple, balled and burlapped
Look at the claw-like leaves, pretty flowers, and tiny moths sipping nectar on this Japanese maple. I didn’t get the cultivar name.
‘Osakazuki’ Japanese maple
Fall-like color
A large koi pond enclosed by a Japanese-style fence adds more orange.
The koi swarmed a hello.
Behind the fence, I spotted a tall Shantung maple with a rounded canopy of fresh green leaves.
Metro Maples carries several cultivars of the Shantung with richer coloring and a smaller mature size, like ‘Super Dragon’.
I settled on a 5-gallon ‘Fire Dragon’ Shantung maple and planted it in the back garden near the deck, which I hope it will eventually shade. It’s one of my sunniest spaces, and I planted it high as I was advised. Shantungs do not like to have their crown sitting in moist soil, I was told. I hope it grows fast and has good fall color. It’ll be nice to have some diversity amid all the live oaks.
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Digging Deeper
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I have 2 Fire Dragon Shantung Maples from Metro Maples that I got over 10 years ago. They are slow growers but the fall color is like nothing ever seen around central Texas!
Thanks for the heads up about them being slow growers, Debbie. My fingers are crossed tight for good fall color!
Best wishes with your new acquisition, Pam! I wish I could grow more maples. I’ve got 3 Japanese maples but placement is key to keeping those alive as I learned by stretching those boundaries on other occasions. I looked up the Acer truncatum species but even the Sunset Western Garden Guide shows my Sunset zone outside their guidelines, if only just a bit, so I won’t be pushing my luck.
When I first learned of Shantung maple, I was surprised to hear we had another maple option for Central Texas besides Japanese maples (in the right conditions) and bigtooth maples. With our alkaline soils and summer heat, most maples aren’t happy here. It seems that Shantung maple should be more common in Austin since it’s a Texas Superstar plant (which means it’s undergone field testing in Texas and is recommended).
What a lovely investment in future shade, Pam. And Japanese maples are always an investment!! I remember paying $100 for an 24″ stick with two branches many years ago when I got my Red Dragon. I hope yours does well and meets all your expectations for it! Are you going to name it? I always name “investment” plants, lol! Enjoy!
Shantung maple is from China and a separate species from Japanese maples (for local readers thinking about trying one). But yes, still an investment, hah! I paid $100 for this small ‘Fire Dragon’ Shantung.
I think I’ve only ever planted two non-native trees before — a pomegranate and a crape myrtle. I’ve planted redbud, Mexican plum, goldenball lead tree, Anacacho orchid, yaupon holly, desert willow, possumhaw holly, Eve’s necklace, Texas mountain laurel, cedar elm, and bur oak — all natives. So this feels a bit like a plant trial for me. But I couldn’t resist because of the promise of fall color, which is so often muted here in Texas. I don’t know if I’ll name it. Maybe in a few years if it proves its worth! 😉
Ohm wow. That nursery is gorgeous! I love shade gardens….must be my swampy Beaumont roots 😉 Thanks for the tour, Pam and I look forward to watching your new baby grow!
There’s a lot to love about shade gardens, especially in hot, sunny Texas. Here’s hoping this baby Shantung can soak up the sun and spare us some of it on the deck one day.
Beautiful tree! I got most of my Japanese maples from Mr Maple Nursery online, I’m in the hill country, I am anxious to see how they will do as this is their first year in the ground. They have what they call the hot series like Hot tamales, hot blonde, and baton rouge that can handle the heat (not sun) well in TX.
I hadn’t heard of those, Vilan. Interesting! I hope your trees do well for you.
In fall 2021 I planted a similar-sized fire dragon shantung maple in east Austin that I had delivered from Sooner Plant Farm as I couldn’t travel to Metro Maples as I had hoped. I was replacing an Arizona ash that died in the Feb 2021 freeze–haha–but I likely won’t have similar shade in my lifetime as it’s growing slowly. When I received it & planted it, it had beautiful red leaves but last fall the green leaf edges turned white & curled up & the leaves fell off before they turned red–so I’ll definitely be interested in learning how yours does! Right now, the new spring growth is lovely. It’s planted in full sun & still quite small.
I’m thinking about also getting a bigtooth maple, but I’m not sure.
I’m so glad you’re profiling Metro Maples! I LOVE their website & hope to go there in person sometime!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Kate. I wonder if last summer’s extreme heat and drought exhausted your Fire Dragon before it could put on any fall color. Hopefully this summer will be gentler on a baby tree.
I live in DFW. I have a Seiryu, Shishigashira, Mikawa Yatsbusa, Bloodgood and Wantong all planted with sun from 10am – 430pm. The Sieryu is getting over a bit more sun. The Mikawa Yatsbusa has not flinched at all. In my experience it’s bulletproof but it is very slow growing. The Seiryu has shown some leaf burn but not much. The Bloodgood struggled the first year but that’s mainly because I wasn’t good watering in the summer. I was so scared of overwatering but they need the water in the summer.
A collector! Those sound like beautiful trees. I hope they grow well for you.