Plant Autumn Blaze Maple for Brilliant Fall Foliage
This hybrid combines the best features of two species.
Autumn Blaze is a hybrid maple that combines the brilliant fall color and better branching structure of the red maple species with the rapid growth and adaptability of the silver maple species. This selection is noted for its long-lasting fall color and oval crown. This tree was named a Gold Medal Plant by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in 2022.
Common name: Autumn Blaze Freeman maple
Botanical name: Acer x freemanii ‘Jeffersred’
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Foliage: Autumn Blaze maple earns its name from the brilliant red color that its leaves turn in the fall. In spring and summer, the deeply lobed leaves are medium green. Deciduous.
Habit: This tree grows 50 feet tall, with branches reaching to 40 feet wide. The branching is notably upright and dense.
Origin: Freeman maple is a hybrid between two North American species: red maple (Acer rubrum) and silver maple (A. saccharinum). Autumn Blaze is a 1980 selection of Freeman maple.
How to grow it: Plant Autumn Blaze maple in full sun to part shade. It tolerates a range of soils, heat and urban conditions. Provide regular water while it gets established. While this selection has a naturally handsome shape, like any maple it will benefit from periodic assessment and structural pruning by a professional arborist. USDA Zones 3–7.
Image credit: Brady Smith/CC BY-SA 2.0/Wikimedia Commons
