Question
QUESTION: I bought a young tri-color beech and planted it in the front yard a couple years ago and now the leaves have all turned a dark maroon, the color that should rim the pink leaves.  I don't have a speck of pink in those leaves and that is exactly why I bought the tree, I'd never seen anything like it before.  It was spectacular but now looks like some ordinary maples I've seen.   I don't know much about trees but feel it's probably a ph balance thing. The soil here has a lot of clay.    
Thank you for your time.

ANSWER: What you have is the common 'Purpurea Tricolor' ('Roseomarginata'), thus the purple-pink-white combo. (Extremely rare, perhaps even extinct 'Tricolor' has no purple coloring). I have seen tall specimens that were still true-to-type (although the white often diminishes rather soon after planting, much to the consternation and bafflement of many). So, no, I wouldn't say it is usual for all-purple branches to appear.


'Purpurea Tricolor' burns in full sun during hot summers. It's almost to be expected that the pink portion will burn. For that reason, and the fact that they don't make nicely shaped trees compared to the species, that I don't consider that cultivar in my list of favorites for Fagus sylvatica. The massive dome of structure and foliage that can be expected from Fagus sylvatica, doesn't appear with 'Purpurea Tricolor', rather you have a month or so of beautiful foliage, and 11 months of irregular habit and burned leaves. It is more the sunlight than the soil.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the response, but I've got a couple questions.  You say the tricolor "burns" in full sun during hot summers and it would be expected that the pink portion will burn.  The thing is, I never get any pink, not even in the spring.  I live in Chicago and the hot part of summer doesn't get here until July, so in May and June with much cooler temps, I still never see a hint of pink.  It would seem that simply full sun would affect the color then and temps would have little to do with it.  If I move my tree to a more shaded area, can I expect to see the pink leaves then?
Again, thank you for your time

Answer
I would not move it. It generally needs dappled light. Dappled Light refers to a dappled pattern of light created on the ground, as cast by light passing through high tree branches. This is the middle ground, not considered shady, but not sunny either. Dappled remains constant throughout the day. And it sounds like that is the case.
I would try fertilizing the tree.   Fertilize with Holly-tone approximately April 1st, May 20th, July 4th, August 15th & October 30th.  Keep granular fertilizers off foliage and away from stems and trunks.  Use 1/2 the recommended rate of fertilizer for new plantings. The container should have the amount to use.