Here are photos of the possible new buds (fingers crossed):

all those words.. and you dont tell us where you are.. big city name ..

i looked out my MI window.. my JM out the window is barely a few days ahead of yours.. neighbors plants are a good reference.. but not determinative ...

last two pix.. seem to show buds.. but all are almost out of focus ...

quit wounding it.. and give it a month..

lets try not to kill it with too much love .. be patient ..

its stressed.... it will never be hungry.. fert is not a response at this time.. or ever .. imo ...

ken

are the twigs supple and pliable? Or do they seem dry and snap? The buds look like they could be alive, but it’s hard to tell. The scratch test can be funny. My norway maple reveals a very light green when I scratch it while my bigtooth maple reveals a deep healthy looking green, but both are very healthy and alive. One not familiar with the Norway might think it’s dead due to its faint color. Same with box elder. not sure about JMs

I have been in the hospital over the past few days - and forgot about this post - until I came home last evening.

@L Clark (zone 4 WY) - When I took photos of the twigs (or should I say, ”tried” to take close up photos) - my phone camera kept focusing on things in the background instead of the twigs/potential buds. I will take some more photos. I could bend them - they did not snap/break.

I will take some additional photos: 1. I will place a piece of white paper behind the twig/buds so my auto focus won’t decide on its own what should be ”in focus” (I did try by touching the correct portion of the screen that I wanted it to focus on - but it didn’t help much apparently), and 2. I will take a photo from farther away - so, the tree itself can be seen as a whole.

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 - This house is in a suburb of Kansas City - Leawood, KS (I split time - back here is where my daughters + siblings + nieces nieces/nephews live. I apologize - I should have included my area in order for everyone to know what zone is applicable (I wasn’t feeling well - so, not entirely thinking clearly).

I was hoping that no one was going to direct me to make more ”scrapes” - I felt bad for ”injuring” my tree! I’ve had this JM since he was a little baby - planted 26 years ago (never thought I’d still own this house to see him get this old!). I felt bad about making the two scrapes - and only did so because every post I read on here where someone asked about whether their JM was alive/dead, the OP was asked about whether he/she did this in order to take a look underneath the bark.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) - I will post some additional photos that I included in a post from last summer when I was concerned about how JM was dropping leaves last summer (I think it was late July/early August).

I truly appreciate your help/input!

" I was hoping that no one was going to direct me to make more ”scrapes” - I felt bad for ”injuring” my tree! I’ve had this JM since he was a little baby - planted 26 years ago (never thought I’d still own this house to see him get this old!). I felt bad about making the two scrapes - and only did so because every post I read on here where someone asked about whether their JM was alive/dead, the OP was asked about whether he/she did this in order to take a look underneath the bark. "

I discourage this practice for several reasons. First, it is not an efficient or necessarily accurate means of assessment. It takes time for a woody plant to lose all that moisture in its internal tissues so even a truly dead tree or shrub can retain a 'green' or viable appearance just under the bark for quite awhile. On a dormant JM, it is easier and more accurate to assess plant viability by examining the buds. A tree that is alive will have plump buds that at this time of year should be swelling and just about to unfurl, if they haven't already. Any stems or twigs with shriveled or dried buds are dead and can be pruned off. Finally, JM's have very thin bark that is easily damaged and any bark wounds, intentional or otherwise, can be opportunistic inroads for pathogens. And JM's are susceptible to a whole host of potentially fatal pathogens.

An important question that might help. Have you been under planting this JM with annual plants during the growing seasons? Or doing any digging activity that would disturb/cut through its roots? Verticillium wilt lives naturally in soils and enters a plant through cut roots. It is very often the cause of maple tree deaths.

Dear Nandina. Out beautiful JM maple is dying. I think verticillium wilt. I noticed our dog has been digging about a couple of feet near it. Yesterday I noticed a couple of weird Beatles on a leaf and a little white powder. I’m heartbroken. I hope for a miracle.

dani, I noticed no further pictures added here and your mentions of health issues….. are you well? Are you unable to send new pictures? I am hoping all is ok and perhaps you have forgotten the post or maybe the tree died??

debra

@Jeannine Mahoney, your maple is not dead. It is certainly stressed but not sure whether that is the result of excessive sun/heat or insufficient water. I highly doubt it is Verticillium wilt as ALL the leaves would appear dried and crispy and very, very rapidly....like almost overnight.

And it is always a good idea to start your own post when you have issues like this rather than piggybacking on to an existing old thread.

I will definitely start a new post in the future @gardengal48. Houzz is a new app for me and I’m just getting started. Thank you so much for your advice on our Maple. The weather has been hot here in California and a large tree near the Maple has been removed due an extreme unusual storm a few months ago. Thank you for your message.