Hints of autumn are in the air and in our fields. Shorter days begin with cool, marine layer-misty mornings that give way to warm sunny afternoons. In our fields and container yard, in our arboretum, and in local landscapes, the green leaves of summer sport hints of fall color.
This week’s featured trees are fall color favorites favored by our garden center customers across the continent. Our crews will be busy for the next several weeks pulling these autumn beauties from our container yard and loading them into refrigerated trucks so they’ll arrive at your favorite garden center fresh and ready to flaunt their fall colors. Find a garden center in your area that’s stocked with colorful JFS trees via our Retailer Locator.
Red Sentinel® Maple
Acer rubrum ‘WW Warren’ PP 36538
True to its name, Red Sentinel® Maple stands watch over the autumn landscape. Towering straight, tall and narrow, it delivers a bright combination of fiery red fall color and remarkable columnar form. Commanding attention throughout the seasons, its symmetrical column of medium green, anthracnose resistant leaves casts cool shade in summer. Winter reveals a striking silhouette of well-spaced branches and a dominant central leader.
Hardy through USDA Zone 5, it matures to a height and spread of 40’ x 18’. Find additional information and a four-seasons photo gallery in our online reference guide.
Tree introduction - a multi-generational effort.
It takes vision, patience, determination and decades to develop new and improved trees. In fact, Red Sentinel® Maple has been in the works for more than 30 years! Our newest red maple introduction combines the best genetics of our Acer rubrum selection and hybridization program that began in 1989.
In 2005, Keith Warren crossed an unnamed JFS selection with the popular but slow-growing Red Rocket Maple, an introduction of the US National Arboretum. Only four of the most promising among hundreds of seedlings produced from the cross were planted in 2008 for long term evaluation. Observed for 15 years, only one of the four “made the grade” and was granted a patent on March 11, 2025. You can find additional details about the development of this outstanding new tree in its United States Plant Patent document.
Powder Keg® Maple
Acer saccharum ‘Whit XLIX’ PP 23957
Originating from a tree that was grown from seed collected in the Caddo Mountains of Western Oklahoma, this cultivar offers spectacular fall color, stout branching and upright form. Selected and introduced by Dr. Carl Whitcomb, its leathery dark green leaves are heat and drought tolerant and resist leaf tatter. The best of hundreds of seedlings grown from seed of an outstanding tree found in a Stillwater landscape, it thrives on the Oklahoma plains and is proving to be a top performer in varied landscape settings across the continent. Hardy through USDA Zone 5, it matures to height and spread of approximately 50’ x 40’.
Presidential Gold® Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba ‘The President’
Outstanding in the nursery row and then in the landscape, this robust selection has great sales appeal in the garden center. Thanks to its strong central leader and full branching at a young age, it is impressive even as a young tree. As this handsome cultivar matures, it develops a dense upright crown and a broadly pyramidal to oval shape. Fall color of this seedless male selected by Dr. Michael Dirr is bright yellow in the fall.
Typical of the species, it thrives in city growing conditions. In general, ginkgoes are tolerant of compacted soils (acid or alkaline) and aren’t bothered much by air pollution, heat or cold, diseases or pests. According to the Chicago Botanic Garden Plant Finder, it is drought tolerant and resistant to the browsing of deer.
Mesa Glow® Maple
Acer grandidentatum ‘JFS-NuMex 3’ PP 27930
Mesa Glow® Maple delivers the blazing fall color of rugged Rocky Mountain canyon maples to urban landscapes. Its glossy dark green leaves withstand the heat, drought and drying winds of summer with ease before turning bright orange to orange red in autumn. Developed by Dr. Rolston St. Hilaire at New Mexico State University from local stands of the native Bigtooth Maple, it was selected as a top performer among thousands of seedlings grown from seeds collected from many Southwest sites.
Its uniform canopy is perfectly suited for street tree plantings and landscapes where a predictably mid-size shade tree is needed. Upright branches form a symmetrically oval canopy as it grows to a mature height of 28’ x 18’ feet. Cold hardiness, adaptability and upright form make it a tree of choice for landscapes of the Intermountain West and beyond.
First Blush® Cherry
Prunus ‘JFS-KW14’ PP 28248
Bright, double pink flowers smother the slender branches of this narrowly upright cherry in early spring. Its fully double flowers attract human admirers along with hummingbirds and other pollinators. Bloom time for this hybrid of Prunus campanulata is earlier than most cherries, but a little later than the well-known Okame Cherry, to which it is related.
The breathtaking floral display gives way to petite, dark green, finely textured, disease resistant leaves that turn bright orange to orange red in autumn. Fall color is late and long-lasting. Its upright, narrow oval shape is well-suited for planting in small gardens and courtyards and is narrow enough for street use.
A breakthrough in ornamental cherry breeding, this hybrid selection of Prunus campanulata is the first with large, fully double blooms in a species that typically has single blossoms. It blooms earlier than most cherries, but later than is typical of the species. Mature height and spread are approximately 25’ x 12’.
This is an outstanding tree for all seasons, per the images in our online reference guide.
Persian Spire™ Parrotia
Parrotia persica ‘JL Columnar’ PP 24951
Small trees for tight urban spaces are growing in popularity. This uniquely narrow cultivar is a perfect fit for courtyards, containers, rooftop gardens, beneath utility lines, and other confined planting spaces. Mature height and spread of this diminutive selection are 25’ x 10’. Refined foliage emerges purple and matures to green with purple-tinted margins that linger into the summer months. Fall color is a bright medley of orange, reds and yellows, with burgundy highlights.
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.
