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pauln_gw

Top Ten Favorite Autumn Coloring Trees

pauln
20 years ago

Ok gang, here's my picks for alltime favorite fall trees. I'm sticking with natives because even though Bradford pears have nice colors, I'm afraid that's all we'll have on our roadsides before long.

10.Hickory- great golden giants

9.Northern Red Oak- late season finale

8. Sweet Gum- sometimes almost black

7.Red Maple- when they're on, hard to beat

6.American Smoketree- a rainbow on every leaf

5.White Ash- Often outstanding

4.Beech- amber embers of light in a dense forest

3.Black Gum- Gets the party started early with brilliant red

2.Dogwood- Wine colored tiers fanning out underneath the forest

1.Sugar Maple-hey, I have a fondness for the Classics.

Comments (25)

  • christie_sw_mo
    20 years ago

    Hey - you forgot sassafras. Some are a very pretty scarlet red in the fall and they turn almost as early as sumac.
    I walked back in our field to investigate some red I could see from the house and it was poison ivy. Blah! It could be red for six months and I would still hate it. It does seem more colorful this year than normal though.

  • gailozarks
    20 years ago

    I'm with Christie -- I have a few Sassafrass scattered around my property and they were gorgeous this year. Plus I love the leaf shapes on them.

  • pauln
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Thanks for reminding me. That's why I posted this thread, to remember the great trees which I've overlooked. Poison Ivy colors splendidly, as does Virginia Creeper. Perhaps I should've made up a top 100 list!

  • lucky_p
    20 years ago

    Ginkgo - Great yellow, and they all fall in virtually one day.

    Scarlet oak - fall color will knock your socks off. I'll stack it against any of the oaks and red maple - will beat sugar maple for show many years.

  • pauln
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Nice choices. Other than ginkgo, some other excellent exotics include crepe myrtle, japanese maples, tallow tree (I know, very invasive, don't plant this!), and chinese pistache.

  • anettemartinrn
    20 years ago

    sweet gum is my favorite. the unending range of colors amazes me. i think God made them so pretty in the fall to make up for those spiny balls, lol.

  • gailozarks
    20 years ago

    One of my favorite recent pics.

    {{gwi:1120503}}

  • jaceysgranny
    20 years ago

    Sweet gum is my favorite too. I'll never forget the first Ginko I saw. It was a rainy, gloomy day and I was driving down the street. I turned a corner and it was as though a burst of sunshine had flooded my vision. It was fantastic!

  • cutrgrl
    20 years ago

    Dogwood
    Any of the Maples especially Silver
    Sassafras
    Sweet Gum
    Wild Plum
    And you would not believe the color of the Ginko at our area Library....unbelievable yellow!
    And I have to list the Crepe Myrtle because of that beautiful color as well!

  • huffy1
    20 years ago

    Sumac, Hickory, Red Maple

  • FourSeasons
    20 years ago

    Yeah Huffy! I'm with you......

  • gailozarks
    20 years ago

    Hmmm, guess I swapped my pic and now it doesn't show. Sorry for the double post.

  • christie_sw_mo
    19 years ago

    What's pretty this year? I'd like to trade our maples for some others that I've seen. The ones in my yard aren't very showy.

  • pauln
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    I haven't gotten out in a while to see what's really coloring up. In my yard my american smoketree is outstanding right now. I hope to do a hike this weekend to see if there's any color yet here in Central Arkansas. I think the late season drought might have taken a toll on our fall foliage. Hopefully, the remaining leaves will put on a show.

  • gldno1
    19 years ago

    This thread is great! I just went out yesterday morning with the camera to see what I could find. Here is another beautiful tree, sycamore:

    {{gwi:1120505}}

  • pauln
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Great photo gldno! It makes me think "Auntie Em, Auntie Em!" Hurry up and take that photo and head to the root cellar.

  • jaceysgranny
    19 years ago

    I nearly forgot that persimmon is a beautiful one too in the fall. Great pics!

    Nancy

  • glenn9643
    19 years ago

    Can't believe there was no mention of sourwood or shumardi oak!

  • pauln
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Back by popular demand (my own!) I dredged this old crusty jewel up from the depths. Looks like another late autumn in these parts after a rather trying summer. Between the Easter Freeze, the caterpillars, and the drought let's hope that any remaining leaves will perform with glorious display to close out the season. I have a small sugar maple that did really well this year, and I bought it a couple of years ago because it colored so well.

    Autumn is like a big fireworks display. It slowly builds up to a great crescendo with a huge finale. Everyone oohs and ahhs and gasps and claps, then they grab their things and head home.

  • gldno1
    16 years ago

    Paul, I don't think we are going to have much color here. Lots of leaves are dropping too soon for that. My two dogwoods are looking good, but not much else. This has been a year for trees to self seed. I have always wanted sassafras nearby and this year have what I believe to be two in various flower beds. I know I need to move them before they get too big. Hopefully they will survive the transplant. I still haven't moved the Tulip tree yet. The redbuds are looking a little straggly that I moved earlier. Hope they survive.

  • oakleif
    16 years ago

    The sumacs are the dominant color here and they are beautiful. The purple dogwoods have brightened up the last couple days. Maybe we'll have more color than i thought.

    I can never quite make up my mind if i like the differant shades of pinkish orange of the sweetgum or the brilliant yellow of the hickorys best.
    vickie

  • gldno1
    16 years ago

    We are still not getting much color here. I did see some nice trees in town, but in our area north it is very bland.

    BTW, I finally got wireless internet and I can't believe the change in downloading pictures.

    If you all can get some good shots of the fall color, bring 'em on!

  • pauln
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I think this chilly weather we're getting right now is going to boost the colors quickly. I've seen lots of movement that direction in the last week. There are some technicolor sweetgums on one of the lakes in the lakewood area of north little rock. They looked great reflecting on the water. As long as we don't get a bone-chilling hard freeze within the next couple of weeks I think the remaining leaves might finish with a flourish.

  • seedsonshirt
    16 years ago

    This thread is great - it reminded me of some trees I had forgotten about!

    But if I had to pick only one, there's nothing like the vibrant orange of a sugar maple!

  • pauln
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Ok, so this year was somewhat of a bust. We didn't get the sweeping vistas of Momma Nature's bounty. Most of the good color was spotty with the occasional outstanding trees. In my little patch the best color came from my staghorn sumac, serviceberry, sugar maples, sourwood, crepe myrtle, and assorted japanese maples. Some STILL haven't turned yet! I've got a viburnum (burkwoodii "mohawk") and an itea which have consistant late color and a bloodgood jap maple that is starting to color.

    I think Momma just called this year a wash and let's hope that next year turns out better for everyone concerned. It may be an old wifes' tale, but it seems like when we have a hard winter, it will be followed by a nice spring and summer. Will we ever get another hard winter? I'm hoping for as much. Long sustained hard freeze would do wonders at controling fire ants and water hyacinths which have really exploded here in Central Arkansas. Next time someone tells me that water hyacinth can't survive our winters I'd love to take them to a spot near here. But, I degress. Hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving and rest of the Holidays.

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