The last 2 to 3 weeks, your eye may have caught the lovely red blossoms of the Red Maples that are trying to make seed.  Each spring when rubrum maples wake up, the first thing they do is push out their flowers and pollinating structures.  This creates a beautiful red glow throughout the entire crown of the tree, and this year many trees displayed this impressive spring color phase for 2 to 3 weeks.  Since some red maple varieties flower sooner than others, this color show can continue for much of the month of April all the way through the first week of May if several varieties are present.  Some Red Maple varieties that have done well in our area are ‘Northwood’, ‘Autumn Spire’, Burgundy Belle’, ‘Red Sunset’, ‘Northfire’ and ‘Autumn Radiance’.  ‘Redpoint’ is a promising new release.  Red Maples prefer a slightly to strongly acidic soil, with adequate, but not excessive soil moisture.

The real show from a Red Maple is the fall color – pictured here.  Plan now to plant for fabulous fall color.