
When we think of beautiful spring flowering trees it would be easy to overlook northern hardy Red Maple trees. The commonly recognized flowering trees include magnolias, redbud, flowering crabs and some tree lilacs.
I suggest you add Red Maple trees to your collection of flowering trees. As soon as the buds swell in early spring, the flowers begin to develop that later become seeds. Within 7 to 15 days after buds first swell the beautiful red flowers emerge. Its EARLY spring flowering.
We may fail to recognize the beautiful red glow on the twigs of Red Maple trees as flowers, since they are not flowers like a flowering crab. Individually, the flowers of a Red Maple tree are not stunning. However, when the whole tree is covered by the lacy red pollinating and seed producing structures, the overall effect can be an impressive mass of glowing red covering almost every twig.
Some of the better Red Maple (acer rubrum) varieties for southern Minnesota are Red Sunset, Autumn Radiance, Autumn Spire and last, but not least, Redpointe®. Redpointe®is a new rubrum maple released a few years ago and is rated zone 4b or 5a for cold hardiness. Another nice feature of Redpointe® Red Maple is its ability to tolerate alkaline soil a little better than some red maple varieties.
Consider adding a new dimension of spring flowering color by placing a Red Maple tree in your landscape. Red Maples add spring color, summer beauty, and brilliant red fall color, creating visual interest most of the year.