Evenings are finally starting to be more enjoyable, maybe even a little chilly, which means fall is coming! Fall is one of my favorite seasons for so many reasons, including fall color that can be so amazing in our landscapes. It is sometimes hard to get good fall color in Nebraska, but when we do get good fall color, it is worth the wait.
Fall Color
Fall color varies from year to year. Leaves turn from green to red, yellow, or orange in the fall due to the pigments present. During the spring and summer months, green chlorophyll is the dominant pigment in leaves, this hides the other pigments from view. In fall, production of chlorophyll slows down and eventually stops altogether which allows other pigments to show up in leaves. Different weather conditions each year affects the how much variability and how vivid the colors are in the fall. Clear days, cool nights, and dry fall conditions promote high quality fall color, according to Iowa State University.
To get good fall color in your landscape, take time this fall to plant great trees for good fall color.
Shagbark Hickory
Shagbark Hickory is a great choice for a large tree with great fall color. Shagbark hickory is a beautiful tree that grows up to 60-80 feet tall. It has compound leaves that consist of five to seven leaflets per leaf. The leaflets are oblong with a point at the tip and are serrate along the edges. These trees are named Shagbark hickory due to their “shaggy” bark that exfoliates as the tree ages. This has the traditional hickory-type nut that is edible. One of the best features of shagbark hickory is the beautiful golden, yellow-orange color that the leaves turn in the fall.
Other great choices for larger trees with good fall color include ginkgo, Kentucky coffeetree, honeylocust, and many of the oak trees.
Persimmon
Persimmons are a great choice for a medium-sized tree for fall color and for fall ripening fruits. It is a native tree with an edible fall maturing fruit that grows 35-60 feet tall. The oval-shaped leaves of persimmon are arranged alternately on branches. Persimmons are dioecious, meaning trees have either male or female flowers, but not both. Dioecious plants require both male and female trees to produce a fruit crop, a pollinator tree is necessary. The fruits are orange, rounded, 1-1.5 inches in diameter and mature in September to October after the first hard frost of the year. The fruit needs to be completely ripe and soft before eating otherwise they are very astringent and inedible.
Other great choices for a medium-sized tree for good fall color include birch, sweetgum, quaking aspen, yellow buckeye, and black gum.
Serviceberry
Serviceberry is a great choice for a small tree for fall color, growing up to 25 feet tall. It can be grown as a multi-stemmed tree or shrub. Serviceberry leaves are arranged alternately on the stem and are oblong to ovate shaped with fine teeth along the edges. The leaves emerge purple turning green as they mature and turn a brilliant orange to red in fall. Serviceberry blooms in spring with fragrant, white flowers, the petals fall before the leaves appear. Serviceberry plants produce an edible, small, red berry that turns purple black at maturity in June, making it a good choice for wildlife attraction. Serviceberries grow well as an understory tree in full sun to part shade but will flower and fruit better with more sunlight.
Other great choices for smaller trees for good fall color include sassafras, American hophornbeam, pawpaw, and common witchhazel.
If you have any further questions please contact Nicole Stoner at (402) 223-1384, nstoner2@unl.edu, visit the Gage County Extension website at www.gage.unl.edu, or like my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NicoleStonerHorticulture and follow me on twitter @Nikki_Stoner
Nicole Stoner
Extension Educator
Gage County
September 2024