Autumn Blaze Maple — Beautiful Fall Color That Lasts Longer Than Most

The Autumn Blaze Maple is a cultivar of the red maple, and it has become one of the most popular front-yard shade trees in the Midwest. It earns that popularity honestly: a rounded, oval form, fast growth, and a long-lasting orange-red show in the fall.

What makes the Autumn Blaze special

‘Autumn Blaze’ has a rounded oval form with leaves that resemble the silver maple. The fall color is orange-red and persists longer than usual, which makes it an especially pretty tree in autumn.

It is known for being fairly fast growing, up to 4 feet per year here in Wisconsin. It grows about as fast as the silver maple, yet it is said not to share the same weaknesses. It has also been shown to have fewer problems with girdled roots than the Norway maple.

Other red maple cultivars

The Autumn Blaze is far from the first cultivar of the red maple. Here is a short list of some of the others and their basic attributes:

• ‘Armstrong’ – Columnar to fastigate in shape with silvery bark and modest orange to red fall foliage
• ‘Autumn Flame’ – A fast grower with exceptional bright red fall color developing early. The leaves are also smaller than the species.
• ‘Autumn Radiance’ – Dense oval crown with an orange-red fall color
• ‘Autumn Spire’ – Broad columnar crown; red fall color; very hardy
• ‘Bowhall’ – Conical to upright in form with a yellow-red fall color
• ‘Burgundy Bell’ – Compact rounded uniform shape with long lasting, burgundy fall leaves
• ‘Columnare’ – An old cultivar growing to 20 metres (70 ft) with a narrow columnar to pyramidal form with dark green leaves turning orange and deep red in fall
• ‘Gerling’ – A compact, slow growing selection, this individual only reaches 10 metres (30 ft) and has orange-red fall foliage
• ‘Northwood’ – Branches are at a 45 degree angle to the trunk, forming a rounded oval crown. Though the foliage is deep green in summer, its orange-red fall color is not as impressive as other cultivars.
• ‘October Brilliance’ – This selection is slow to leaf in spring, but has a tight crown and deep red fall color
• ‘October Glory’ – Has a rounded oval crown with late developing intense red fall foliage. Along with ‘Red Sunset’, it is the most popular selection due to the dependable fall color and vigorous growth.
• ‘Red Sunset’ – The other very popular choice, this selection does well in heat due to its drought tolerance and has an upright habit. It has very attractive orange-red fall color and is also a rapid and vigorous grower.
• ‘Scarlet Sentinel’ – A columnar to oval selection with 5-lobed leaves resembling the silver maple. The fall color is yellow-orange to orange-red and the tree is a fast grower.
• ‘Schlesingeri’ – A tree with a broad crown and early, long lasting fall color that is a deep red to reddish purple. Growth is also quite rapid.
• ‘Shade King’ – This fast growing cultivar has an upright-oval form with deep green summer leaves that turn red to orange in fall.
• ‘V.J. Drake’ – This selection is notable because the edges of the leaves first turn a deep red before the color progresses into the center.

A popular (and sometimes pricey) yard tree

The Autumn Blaze Maple, often called an ABM, has become a very popular front-yard tree in the Midwest, and a mature one often commands a premium price. I’ve seen an ABM as old as 15+ years being sold for transplant with a price tag around $2,000. That’s an expensive tree, but I’m sure it’s not so bad for some people when you consider the size and the amount of instant shade it gives you.

My own Autumn Blaze maples

Still, it’s hard to beat the $10 ABMs I planted last year. They were skinny little things, likely about a year old and completely root-bound in 1-gallon pots. After planting, they seemed to ride out the rest of the summer without incident, though I can’t really say they grew much at all. I was pleased to see that at least one of my ABMs is showing signs of life (shown at the end of this post).

This year’s growing season should prove very interesting. We have many trees and bushes that we planted last year that have a great start, and I really hope we get a nice wet spring to help move things forward. I hope our need for water this year is primarily limited to the garden, since water bills soared into the hundreds of dollars a month last summer. The garden is in raised beds and takes comparatively little water. I’m also looking forward to seeing our hostas grow; we collected dozens of varieties last year and planted them all over the yard, with a particularly impressive collection under our ash tree.