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Posted on Sat, Oct. 24, 2009

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Glossary of fall colors

Here are some of the best varieties of trees for color in the Wichita area:

* Ornamental pear, especially Autumn Blaze, which is a good example of a tree that runs the gamut of purple, orange, yellow and red. Its glossy leaf makes it even more dazzling.

* White ash, especially Autumn Purple, which is one of the first trees to turn purple and also hits bronze and maroon notes; Autumn Applause, which turns purple-red; and Urbanite, which turns bronze.

* Sweet gum, which turns purple, red, yellow and a little orange.

* Red maple, especially Autumn Blaze, which is a hybrid with the silver maple and glows red-orange to maroon.

* Sugar maple, especially Legacy, which is mostly orange but sometimes starts out red.

* Trident maple, orange to red.

* Red oak, which sometimes goes straight to red, or to red via yellow.

* Golden raintree, usually a glowing yellow, but sometimes orange as well.

* Chinese pistache, varying by tree from bright red alone to a red-orange mix to purple-red.

* Bald cypress, moving from bronze to a pretty red-brown.

* Oak, especially bur and swamp white, which are usually yellow but sometimes go straight to red-brown.

* Gingko, bright yellow.

* Kentucky coffeetree, starting to turn a nice yellow.

Among the shrubs to plant for fall color are burning bush (Euonymus alatus), barberry, sumac and serviceberry.

For more on what makes this a special year for brilliant fall color, see 3C.

— Annie Calovich