February 1999: The only tree that shaded the backyard for a few minutes in the morning was a mature river birch, which, as you can see, bit the dust after an ice storm.

March 1999: A few weeks later, we built the tree house, and planted the October Glory red maple near where the river birch was.

I used to take pictures of Bradley and his friend, Andrew, playing, but secretly, I was positioning myself so as to get the trees in the background.

May 1999

June 2002

November 2002

September 2003

May 2004 May 2005   November 2005 May 20, 2006 July 2010 During spring, summer and fall, we have complete privacy from the house behind us now! After 11 years in our yard, the trunk of the October Glory tree measures about 31.5 inches around at chest height. In the background of the pictures at the top of the page is a large Purple European Beech with a majestic 100-foot-tall purple crown. This was my all-time favorite tree.

See the October Glory Red Maple Journal See the October Glory Red Maple Growth Chart For Julie's detailed comments, see the October Glory Red Maple fact page Read the latest Tree Grower's Diary blog entry