As we ring in the New Year, we’re happy to announce that Redpointe® Maple has been named a PHS Gold Medal Plant for 2025. It shares the limelight in the tree category with the ever-popular Autumn Brilliance® Serviceberry. A shrub and three perennials are also recognized and added to this honor roll of high performance plants.
The Gold Medal Plant program, administered by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), recognizes outstanding plants for gardens of the Mid-Atlantic region. According to the PHS website, Gold Medal Plants are “selected for their ease of cultivation, multiple seasons of interest, commercial availability, appropriateness for the mid-Atlantic region, and value to wildlife.”
Each year, according to the website, “PHS convenes nursery owners, horticulturists, expert gardeners, and professional growers to conduct a review of both newly available and classic species and cultivars, selecting the best performing and most beautiful for inclusion in the Gold Medal Program.”
Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Redpointe® Maple has also earned top honors from our customers across the continent who choose our trees for sale in their garden centers or for planting in their fields to grow on to larger, landscape-ready sizes. For years, they have voted with their pocketbooks to place both Redpointe® Maple and Autumn Brilliance® Serviceberry among our Top Five best-selling trees of the hundreds of species and cultivars that we grow. From coast to coast, Redpointe® Maple has been a popular choice and a reliable performer since its introduction in 2006.
As we flip the calendar page to 2025 and our 79th year in business, we thank you for your interest in trees, and for reading our blog. We hope these profiles of some of the PHS Gold Medal Plants that we grow will inspire you to plant trees in your own gardens and/or in your community. Most do well far beyond the Mid-Atlantic region and are selected for their versatility, durability and adaptability to varied growing conditions. Consult your local independent garden center for advice and pledge to plant in 2025!
Redpointe® Maple
Acer rubrum ‘Frank Jr.’ PP 16769
Redpointe® Maple combines the refined form and foliage of the best Acer rubrum cultivars with the urban tolerance and faster growth rate typical of Acer freemanii. Noting that it attracts a myriad of be species, the PHS databases states that Redpointe® Maple “possesses an improved branching habit and is great at enduring heat and drought. It thrives best in well-drained, moist, rich, slightly acidic soil, but is also tolerant of wet conditions.”
Rich, dark green summer foliage, brilliant red fall color, pyramidal street tree form and well behaved, balanced growth to a height and spread of 45’ x 35’ make it an easy-care tree. Improved disease and insect resistance, heat and drought tolerance, plus tolerance of higher pH soils are more reasons to choose this exceptional urban tree.
Autumn Brilliance® Serviceberry
Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’
Branches billow with fluffy, snow-white flowers when this naturally occurring hybrid of two native species bursts into bloom. These are followed closely by dark green summer foliage that glows bright red orange in the fall. Purplish-blue fruits are tasty and can be made into jams and syrups – if they can be harvested before the birds gobble them down!
The PHS database notes that “its brilliant fall colors of red and orange leaves give it its cultivar name,” and that it “attracts songbirds, pollinators, and is adaptable to a variety of soil conditions. It can grow to be 15-25 feet tall. It is hardy in zones 3 – 9.”
Introduced in 1986 by Illinois plantsman Willett Wandell, it is our top-selling Serviceberry and likely the most widely specified and planted of the species. A hybrid of A. arborea and A. laevis, we offer it as a tree form with a single, straight trunk, and as a multi-stem form that brings an informal look to landscapes.
Ivory Silk® Japanese Tree Lilac
Syringa reticulata ‘Ivory Silk’
Frothy white summertime flower plumes come to mind when one mentions Ivory Silk® Tree Lilac. When its blooms take center stage in late May and early June, after the blooms of cherries, crabapples, redbuds and other spring bloomers have faded, they attract pollinators eager to find new sources of nectar.
Named a PHS Gold Medal Plant in 1996, this unique flowering tree demands a curtain call in autumn when its rich, golden-bronze leaves stage a command performance. Adaptability to urban growing conditions, small stature and an upright spreading vase shape have earned this tough little tree a place on our UtiliTrees™ list. Mature height and spread of this USDA Zone 4 tree are 20’ x 15’.
Green Vase® Zelkova
Zelkova serrata ‘Green Vase’
Selected and introduced by Princeton Nurseries of New Jersey in 1985, this superior Zelkova cultivar was embraced by the nursery industry and by gardeners and named a PHS Gold Medal Plant in 1988. Over the ensuing decades, this selection has become the standard of comparison for Zelkova serrata cultivars. Fast growing and narrow, it is appreciated for its symmetrical vase shaped, American elm-like mature form. Height and spread at 30 years is approximately 45’ x 30’. Fall color is orange.
White Oak
Quercus alba
Mature white oaks are a haven and a food forest for songbirds and other wildlife and support hundreds of species of butterflies and insects. Named a PHS Gold Medal Plant in 2000, White Oaks are claimed by several states as their official tree and perform well across a wide range of climates and growing conditions through USDA Zone 4. Maturing in urban settings in 30 years to about 45’ x 45’, they can grow much larger if given enough time and adequate growing space.
Exclamation!® Planetree
Platanus x acerifolia ‘Morton Circle’
The perfect symmetry of this improved Planetree demands attention wherever it is planted. Its upright, pyramidal canopy is shaped by a strong central leader and well-spaced, upright-angled branches that make it an easy-care favorite of growers, landscape architects and arborists. Its resistance to anthracnose and powdery mildew, moderate growth rate, light-fruiting habit and resistance to frost cracking are among reasons to plant this remarkably adaptable urban tree that go far beyond its ease of care and good looks.
Named a PHS Gold Medal Plant in 2021, Exclamation!® Planetree is a hybrid of an unusually anthracnose-resistant North American native sycamore (P. occidentalis) and the naturally resistant Platanus orientalis. It was developed by Dr. George Ware of the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.
Gardeners! Please note that our nursery is strictly wholesale. To purchase these and other trees grown by our nursery, please use our Retailer Locator to find sources of JFS trees near you.
