Fall Color Time
Modesto and Stanislaus County have a reputation for fall color. It may be only a local reputation, but it is deserved. Although it is nothing like the spectacular shows in the East or in the mountains, we do put on a show.
Right now the most showy are the Pistache, Liquidambar and Ginkgo. All these trees need to be selected carefully.
My personal favorite is Chinese Pistache. A point to keep in mind is that Chinese Pistache comes male and female on different trees. This means when you purchase a seedling tree you have a 50 50 chance of having a female. Not to be sexist about it, but you don't want a female tree because of the masses of berries. This makes a mess and slows down the growth of the tree as it ripens the fruit.
Unfortunately the supply of grafted male trees is still limited. I have worked for years to get growers to grow grafted male trees and the availability is much better. As much as possible I carry Keith Davies pistache in #15 and only Keith Davies in 24" boxes. Because I can not get grafted trees in smaller sizes I do still carry seedling trees in #5 and #15 sizes. Cost of the Keith Davies is $140 in #15 and $450 in 24" boxes and I feel the higher price for the grafted trees is well worth it. In addition the fact Keith Davies is male it was selected for the excellent fall color of oranges and reds. It is spectacular in its full glory.
Liquidambars are grafted primarily to ensure great fall color. Palo Alto is the primary choice and is noted for the colors of red and orange highlighted by yellow in the interior of the tree. Liquidambars are losing favor for two reasons. One is the aggressive root structure which makes them questionable near concrete and the other is the round sticky balls they make. There is a variety called rotundiloba (because of the rounded lobes on the leaves) that doesn't make the balls. Here the fall color is purple and yellow.
Ginkgo is that spectacular golden yellow tree you see so much of. Here again the female tree makes messy smelly fruit so grafted males are the better choice.
Autumn Gold is the name you will see most often. My problem with Autumn Gold is it tends to grow one sided when it is young. I am trying out some alternatives including one called Saratoga. They all bright golden foliage. We have one of the largest on the nursery grounds but it is very late coloring. It generally doesn't color until mid December long after all the other Ginkgoes have colored. For a reference it was planted sometime in the late Thirties
In addition to the the big three we have lots of Modesto Ash which still makes for lots of color. The development of various diseases and insect pests has made this unusable here. Many varieties of Crape Myrtle also have attractive fall color. I especially like Muskogee, a light lavender pink.
Some less common trees include Red Oak, Japanese Maple, and various forms of Red Maple.
In addition to the obvious trees there are lots of shrubs that color up and can add to your gardens seasonal interest, but that is an article that will have to wait for another day.
