As the leaves start to turn, I started thinking about the fall foliage in my back yard. I've noticed that my Chinese Pistache trees turn a reddish-rust color when fall arrived and my Oklahoma Redbuds turned yellowish. So, I'd like to add something that would turn orange during the autumn season so I'll have the full palette.

Anybody know of trees that will grow in the North Texas climate and have orange foliage in fall? Obviously, there's a lot more criteria that I'll be looking at when adding another tree, but this is something that interests me.

 

I'll take a look around our n'hood. Seems there are lots of yellows and some red/browns, but I don't have anything orange either. We do have some really cool Japanese maples under our oak trees. Two of them turn and incredible crimson, and the lace leaf one is turning red at the tips and fades through orange and yellow to the leaf centers which are still green. Really nice!

C-

 

^ Thanks, I did some research and the only popular tree with orange fall foliage that I could find that would grow around here was Sugar Maple. But, supposedly, it's really sensitive to pests & diseases, so I probably won't go with it. Plus, it develops surface roots which would be annoying, and it might be a bit too big for my yard.

I really like Japanese Maples, too, but supposedly they get scorched if grown in full sun down here. Once my Chinese Pistaches get bigger, I'll probably plant a couple under one of them.

 

I would agree about the sugar maple. They are native where I grew up in NY, maple syrup and all that... The previous owner of our house planted a maple in the yard and we'll be taking it down before it gets much bigger. It gets super heat stressed in mid summer, leaves get damaged, and it needs a ton of water, bugs have gotten into it too.

Maples are one of the species up north that provide the bright yellows and firey oranges. I haven't seen many of those colors here. We'll have to snap a shot of our Japanese maple as it is changing and send it along. It may be the way to go, once you have a nice shady spot. Ours are planted under two large Red Oak trees on the north side of our house.

Fun bit is, my mom knows I miss the color change up north, so she pressed and waxed maple and oak leaves in orange, yellows and reds this year and sent them in the mail I've got them in frames on the mantle... nice bit of color.

C-

 

Here's a nice pic from wikipedia that shows all the maple colors we can't have http://<a href="http://upload.wikime...)_crop.jpg</a>

 

^ Ahh, see, now that's just mean to tease me like that!

I looked around as I was visiting my parents (who live out in the country) this weekend and didn't see a single bright orange tree. I saw some "rust" colored trees that were almost orange, but closer to brown IMO. My dad had several nice oaks that were bright red (brighter than my Pistaches), but again, I think those might grow to be a bit large for my yard (although I'd probably be long gone before they got that big).

I think I'll stick with what I have for now. I'm tempted to put in a one of the more upright ginkgo variants for some more yellow, then add those Japanese maples when I have some shade for them, and maybe an evergreen to fill in where I would've liked to have orange. That might be the best I can do, for a colorful fall display.

 

I'll have to take a look at some of my books--If you have access to a recent Dirr book that might be a good place to first start.

I do know that there are some Sugar Maple cultivars that will grown in the lower mid-west such as in Oklahoma, but I'm just not too well versed in these trees.

Another option is Acer barbatum (Florida maple), which is often mistaken for a sugar maple (Acer Saccharum) but is more acclimated to warmer temperatures and still has some very nice fall color.