Mother Nature is smart. She knows how to keep our spirits up even when the nights are closing in. Just as the colors fade from the garden, she cranks up the volume on the trees. First the dogwoods (Cornus) begin to tinge crimson. Then the maples (Acer) glow peach and tangerine as though washed in sunset. Then practically overnight, the Ginkgoes (Ginkgo biloba) switch from kelly green to saffron.
“I also love the Ginkgo for the fact that they drop their leaves all at once,” says Stephanie Wooton, horticulturist at Garden Treasures garden center in Easton. “So you only rake once. And Japanese Dogwood (Cornus kousa) has beautiful edible fruits.”
A tree’s colorful fall foliage can act as a foil for evergreens, a gorgeous seasonal standout like a new actor taking center stage, or even as a neighborhood beacon like American Yellowwood (Cladrastis Kentukea), whose name describes both the wood and the fall color.
“It’s that beautiful butter yellow against the blue sky,” says Wooton
Yet while fall leaf color is genetically programmed, its intensity varies from year to year with weather conditions.
“When anything gets stressed out on either side of the spectrum like with drought or with too much rain, it won’t show its fall color well,” notes Rob Ditmars, Manager at Quail Run Nursery in Millington and proprietor of Still Pond Horticultural Design and Sales in Still Pond.
Heat and cold affect brilliance too.
“Warm sunny days with cool crisp nights favor formation of a chemical that enhances colors,” says Laura Schweitzer, a forester with American Forests, a citizen action group in Washington DC. Early frost stalls the process and dims colors.
Arborious Rainbowicus
While not all deciduous trees turn vibrant colors in fall (many oaks fade to brown), the trees that do turn are deciduous. But not all deciduous foliage consists of leaves.
“Baldcyprus (Taxodium distichum) has gold-green feathery deciduous needles that turn beautiful golden yellow then rusty orange,” says Sylvan Kaufman of Sylvan Green Earth Consulting in Denton.
Needled or leafed, in every case, the colorful cast will put on its show, then exit. And what a show it is. Golden yellow Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) and Yellow Birch (Betlua alleghaniensis) both glimmer like candlelight. Native Hawthorn (Crataegus crusagalli) is a luminous peachy blush while Redbud (Cercis) ‘Forest pansy’ has a coppery russet sheen.
Gum trees offer a smorgasbord of color. American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styracilfua) runs through yellow and red to purple-burgundy depending on variety, while Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) aka Tupelo or Sour Gum turns an eye-popping scarlet.
“Black gum is one of my favorites,” says Wooton. “There’s a new one called ‘Wildfire’ and another called ‘Red Rage.’
Colorful trees come in many shapes and sizes, so there is a wide range of design options. For example, low-growing (10-15 feet tall) Chinese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis) spreads darkly elegant limbs cloaked in mango-colored fall foliage, which makes a lovely specimen in a small yard. Pears (Pyrus) are generally smallish (10-15 feet tall) and contained in habit. However, Bradford pear, despite its lush spring blooms, is short-lived, sheds branches, and is highly invasive in the environment. Two better choices are P. ‘Chanticleer,’ which has dark burgundy foliage in fall, and P.’Aristocrat’ whose leaves are the color of ripe pomegranates.
But it’s maple (Acer) that has, as a species, long been considered THE tree for fall color. In part it’s because there is a painter’s palate of varieties that present options for tint and hue as well as size and shape. Trident maple (A. buergerianum) 25-23 feet tall, is yellow-tipped scarlet in fall. Hedge Maple (A. campestre) also large, is gold-dappled orange. Paperbark Maple (A. griseum), 20-30 feet, is cardinal red, Japanese maple (A. japonicum) ‘Aconitfolim’ is muted cherry and bronze and only 8-10 feet tall while A. japonicum ‘Vitifolium’ can reach 25 feet and looks from a distance like a huge ripe Georgia peach. Acer “Autumn Glory’ glows like a fiery sunset, and Maryland’s native Red maple (A. rubrum) is fabulously red.
“It’s also fast-growing and grows almost anywhere,” says Kaufman.
“Amur Maple (A. ginnalla) is now used as a street tree in Maryland,” says Ditmars. “It’s got a beautiful tiny orange-red-burgundy mix leaf and a pretty high tolerance for urban environments.”
The only (current) caveat with A. ginnalla, as with many maples, is their tendency to scatter helicopter-like seeds that produce volunteer trees.
Choosing A Tree
First, as with any plant, consider the location. Do the soil, sun and moisture conditions suit the needs of the specific species and variety?
“Sweetgum can grow almost anywhere and Tupelo is an easy grower and tolerates a lot especially once it’s established,” says Kaufman, “but Baldcypress prefers a wetter place.”
“We have to pay special attention to our soils here in Talbot County,” says Wooton. “Many areas are clay-challenged or have incursions of water — Easton Club East, Cookes’ Hope, St Michael’s road corridor. I always ask people where they live so I know what kind of soil they are dealing with.”
Consider the tree’s growth habit. Stuffing a fast-growing wide-spreading tree beside the house is a guaranteed maintenance problem.
“Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) is a good tree closer to the house because it’s slow-growing, upright, and narrow,” notes Quinn Craughwell, associate in Graham Landscape Architecture in Annapolis. “And it has beautiful fall foliage.”
Putting an edge of the woods tree like native dogwood into full sun in the yard won’t work either.
Also, consider what fall colors really turn you on. Not every fall leaf color will suit every gardener.
“Sometimes people have very strong color preferences,” notes Craughwell.
SOURCES:
Garden Treasures
29350 Matthewstown Rd.
Easton, Maryland 21601
410-822-1604
fax: 410-820-7728
29959 Matthewstown Road
Easton, MD
(410) 822-9255
Bridges Landscape Management
St Michaels, and Queesntown
410-820-4784410-304-2031
Sylvan Kaufman
10805 River Road
Denton, MD 21629
Phone: 410-310-0160
https://www.sylvangreenearth.com/
3621 Church Hill Rd.
Church Hill, MD 21623
410-556-6010
800-348-5430
Kingstown Farm Home and Garden
7121 Church Hill Road – MD Rt. 213
Chestertown, MD
410-778-1551
Still Pond Horticultural Design and Sales
P.O.Box 89
26691 Old Still Pond Road
Still Pond, MD, 21667
(443)-480-0724
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Trident Maple Seeds…
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