Hot Wings Maple: A Fiery Twist on Shade Trees

Ever play with those little brown helicopter seeds when you were a kid? The ones you can toss on the air and they fall while spinning in fast circles? Officially, they are Maple seeds, but helicopter seeds are much more fun and relatable.

Just about every Maple will produce these types of seeds. Some make more and others less. The Norway Maple makes the biggest ones I have seen so far, but the prettiest ones come from the Hot Wings Tatarian Maple. The seeds are bright red and bring colour to the tree in mid-summer. If looked at from a distance, a lot of people believe the seeds to be flowers.

Hot Wings Tatarian Maple has an upright, uniform shape that creates a small, round canopy. They are one of the smallest maple varieties available, growing only 15’ tall and wide when mature. The fall colour is often a yellow to burnt orange tone. It is a great little tree for smaller yards or as a larger center piece in a flower bed.

Like most maples, it can struggle to grow in heavy clay so some soil amendment might be needed when planting. Once the tree is established, Tatarian Maples have a good drought tolerance and cold tolerance making them an easy fit into our climate so long as they are kept out of low spots and heavy clay. The only real problem is… they do not produce real hot wings. If so, then that is a tree I would plant in my yard by the dozen…