Ice Dragon™ Maple is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental globe-shaped form. It has attractive green deciduous foliage which emerges cherry red in spring. The deeply cut ferny palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of yellow, orange and red in the fall. It produces red samaras from early to mid fall. The rough gray bark and red branches add an interesting dimension to the landscape.
Ice Dragon™ Maple is an open deciduous tree with a strong central leader and a more or less rounded form. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.
Ice Dragon™ Maple will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 3 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 80 years or more.
This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.
