13 Trees With Brilliant Fall Color

Red Oak

Red oak trees (Quercus rubra) are native to North America, commonly growing on slopes. One of multiple popular oak species, red oak is often planted for ornamental value, thanks to its fall foliage. As the name suggests, the leaves fade to a rich red shade before they fall in winter.

These native trees are also a food source for squirrels, deer, and birds, and they tolerate a lot of common tree challenges, including drought, air pollution, and black walnut. With time, they may reach up to 70 feet in height and width.

• Name: Red oak (Quercus rubra)
• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 8
• Color Variation: Green-grey leaves in spring and summer, reddish-brown to red leaves in fall
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Soil Needs: Moist, well-drained soil

'Sunburst' Honey Locust

The honeylocust typically produces bright yellow fall foliage, but the 'Sunburst' cultivar (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis 'Sunburst') is even more interesting, because its leaves feature a touch of green mixed into the yellow. It also has golden-yellow foliage in the spring, which then transitions to deep green in the summer before returning to golden yellow in fall.

As an additional benefit, it's also a good street tree, tolerant of drought, road salt, and pollution. Unlike other honeylocust trees, it is thornless and seedless. 'Sunburst' grows to about 40 feet.

• Name: 'Sunburst' honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis 'Sunburst')
• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 9
• Color Variation: Golden spring foliage, green summer foliage, yellow-and-green fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Needs: Rich, moist, well-drained soil

River Birch

River birch (Betula nigra) is a colorful tree in the fall, but to stop there would be to shortchange it. The river birch's best feature is not its fall color, but rather its fascinating peeling bark, which is there for you to enjoy during winter, spring, summer, and fall. As an added benefit, river birch trees—which grow 30 to 60 feet tall—tolerate wet areas better than many other plants.

River birch may be one of the more popular birch trees used in landscaping in North America, but consider other types of birch, too. The classic paper birch displays bark with white color, while yellow birch offers an interesting golden bark. Other birches have a weeping form. All of these trees display beautiful yellow leaves in autumn.

• Name: River birch (Betula nigra)
• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 9
• Color Variation: Dark green leaves turning yellow in fall; attractive peeling bark in white and reddish-brown
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Soil Needs: Moist, well-drained soil; tolerates wet conditions

Black Gum

The spectacular scarlet fall color is just one great feature of the black gum tree (Nyssa sylvatica), also known as tupelo. Growing up to 80 feet, this is another tree with excellent tolerance for wet soil, even adapting to standing water. It has blackish fruits that are a favorite food of birds.

Adding to the beauty of the fall color is the shininess of the leaves. If you are buying a black gum tree intending to achieve optimal fall color in your landscape, select the 'Autumn Cascades' cultivar, which has a weeping growth habit.

• Name: Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
• USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 9
• Color Variation: Dark green spring and fall leaves; bright scarlet fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Soil Needs: Medium-moisture to wet soil

Sugar Maple

Maples are the most popular trees of the fall foliage world in North America. Different types of maples display brilliant yellow, red, orange, or burgundy fall colors, and the color of an individual tree can sometimes vary from year to year. Tourists, who are dubbed "leaf peepers," sometimes drive hundreds of miles to locations such as the White Mountains of New Hampshire to witness the magnificent fall foliage displays.

Within the Acer genus, sugar maples (Acer sacharum) offer the unique benefit of sap that can be tapped and boiled down to make delicious maple syrup. Growing 40 to 120 feet, sugar maples are relatively slow-growing trees with large leaves that are good as yard or street trees.

• Name: Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
• USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 8
• Color Variation: Medium green spring and summer foliage; yellow, orange, or red fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Soil Needs: Medium-moisture, well-drained soil

Japanese Maple

Many varieties of Japanese maple trees boast colorful leaves not just in autumn, but during other seasons as well. Most types grow 15 to 25 feet, but 'Crimson Queen' Japanese maple is a dwarf type favored by lovers of weeping trees.

The finely lobed leaves of Japanese maple are especially attractive from a close distance. This species is popular for Japanese garden designs and with aficionados of the art of bonsai. The leaves add gorgeous texture in the garden, as well as color.

• Name: Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)
• USDA Growing Zones: 5 to 8
• Color Variation: Light green, dark green, or burgundy summer foliage; yellow, red-purple, or bronze fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Soil Needs: Rich, moist soil; prefers slightly acidic soil

Shagbark Hickory

Several hickory species exhibit attractive golden brown fall color, but the shagbark hickory also has bark that exfoliates and peels in long strips that give the tree great winter interest. This species of hickory also provides edible nuts, and its wood is excellent as fuel for smoking meats or for use in furniture. The shagbark hickory grows 70 to 90 feet tall and provides plenty of shade.

• Name: Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 8
• Color Variation: Yellow-green spring and summer foliage; golden-brown fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Soil Needs: Moist, well-drained loam

Beech

Beech trees (Fagus spp.) and shagbark hickory trees have several things in common: lovely yellow-golden leaves in fall, beautiful bark, and edible nuts. However, beech trees have two notable advantages when it comes to fall foliage: They change color later in the season, and they hold their leaves for a longer period of time.

Two species of beech, American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and European beech (F. sylvatica), also have attractive gray bark that adds winter interest. One cultivar, tricolor beech (F. sylvatica 'Tricolor'), has colorful variegated leaves that are attractive in spring and summer, as well as in fall. Beech trees grow to a mature height of 20 to 80 feet, depending on the variety.

• Name: Beech (Fagus spp.)
• USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 9, depending on species
• Color Variation: Dark green summer foliage, golden bronze fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
• Soil Needs: Rich, moist, well-drained soil

American Sweetgum

American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) can be as colorful in fall as any tree—at least when climate and conditions cooperate. You may not get such a spectacular show every autumn, but when you do, you will revel in the mixture of colors: red, orange, purple, gold, yellow, and green.

The gumballs produced by the sweetgum is of interest to those interested in crafts, as they can be used in wreaths, kissing balls, and other projects. Sweetgum trees typically grow to be 60 to 80 feet tall with large leaves that make for good shade trees.

• Name: American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 9
• Color Variation: Dark-green summer leaves; yellow, orange, purple, and red fall colors
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Needs: Medium-moisture, well-drained soil; does not do well in alkaline soil

Purple-Leaf Sand Cherry

The purple-leaf sand cherry (Prunus × cistena) is a large shrub often trained as a small tree. It is aptly named, as the reddish-purple foliage is consistent throughout the summer. However, this specimen also has beautiful pinkish-white flowers in spring, leading to blackish-blue fruit that attracts birds in late summer.

Its fall color is an attractive greenish-bronze, making this a tree with excellent year-round interest. This is a hybrid form of cherry that is somewhat short-lived, around 10 years as the typical lifespan.

• Name: Purple-leaf sand cherry (Prunus × cistena)
• USDA Growing Zones: 2 to 8
• Color Variation: Reddish purple summer foliage; greenish-bronze fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Needs: Rich, moist, well-drained soil

Dogwood

Dogwood trees (Cornus spp.) such as flowering dogwood (C. florida) and Japanese dogwood (C. kousa) boast terrific spring interest on account of the flowers they bear, while red-twig dogwood (C. sericea) has bright red stems that provide winter interest.

Many folks sell dogwood short when it comes to its fall color, but the foliage is quite attractive, with colors ranging from orange to reddish-purple. Like black gum, dogwoods bear fruit that is eaten by wild birds. In size, dogwoods range from dwarf shrubs to small trees growing to about 25 feet tall, depending on species and cultivar.

• Name: Dogwood (Cornus spp.)
• USDA Growing Zones: 5 to 9, depending on species
• Color Variation: Dark green summer foliage; orange to reddish-purple fall color
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
• Soil Needs: Rich, moist soil; prefers slightly acidic soil

Sumac

Among sumac tree (Rhus spp.), smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) are the most common landscape varieties, both growing 10 to 15 feet tall. These non-poisonous varieties can be considered potential landscape trees, because they provide splendid autumn foliage and are easy to grow.

In addition to the spectacular fall color, sumac has been used for culinary purposes, for erosion control, and as a windbreak. Along with black gum and dogwood, you can add this plant to the list of trees that feed wild birds with their berries.

• Name: Sumac (Rhus spp.)
• USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 9
• Color Variation: Bright orange to red fall color; red, berry-like drupes
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
• Soil Needs: Dry to medium moisture, well-drained soil

Quaking Aspen

The colorful fall foliage of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is almost synonymous with autumn in the American West, but the proclivity of its leaves to tremble in the breeze is as famous as its golden-yellow color. Being able to listen to and admire the sound is an added benefit to growing this plant.

The leaves add movement to the garden. Quaking aspens also have an attractive, smooth whitish-colored bark that offers year-round interest. The trees grow to 40 to 50 feet at maturity.

• Name: Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)
• USDA Growing Zones: 1 to 6
• Color Variation: Golden-yellow fall foliage; brilliant white bark
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Needs: Moist, well-drained soil