'AUTUMN BLAZE' RED MAPLES

TWO RED MAPLE 'AUTUMN BLAZE' MAPLES TOWER OVER THE  ODE BAYFIELD HOME,
AS VIEWED FROM TENTH STREET...

...DITTO, AS VIEWED FROM OLD MILITARY ROAD

Monday, 8:30 AM.  53 degrees F at the ferry dock, 46 on the back porch,  Wind WSW, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy, trending to overcast.  The humidity is 66% and the barometer is more or less steady, at 29.77",  It is much warmer today but the weather is quite unsettled.

   We have twin 'Autumn Blaze' red maples (Acer rubrum  X 'Autumn Blaze') in our front yard.  They were planted as seven-foot saplings in 2000. They are magnificent trees, always true to their blazing red fall color.  They have grown very quickly, about two feet per year on average.  They have not shown any predilection toward disease or insect infestation.  For fall color, rate of growth and lack of problems they would seem hard to beat.
  According to the Morton Arboretum, the original hybrid between the red (Acer saccharum) and silver (Acer saccharinum) maples, is  Acer X freemanii 'Jeffsred',  'Autumn Blaze being one of several selections of the original cross. It has the strong branching characteristic of the silver maple, and its red autumn coloration.  It is less susceptible to iron chlorosis than the silver maple and will eventually reach fifty or sixty feet in height and slightly narrower in width.

   There is a potential of them being over-planted, which is always a problem with popular plant introductions, so give it some thought before you purchase them.  And remember, they get very large and will change the ecology of your landscape as they grow.