Q:   Which maple tree has the most beautiful fall color?   Thank you. G.L., Dallas

A:   My favorites are Caddo maple - yellow to red fall color, bigtooth maple - yellow to red, shantung maple - yellow to red, Drummond red maple - red flowers and seed in spring and
red fall color, Japanese maple - many sizes and fall colors available, trident maple - yellow fall color. Silver maple is not a good tree and shouldn't be planted. Shantung is the fastest growing
of the ones I recommend but Japanese and Drummond are the most colorful. Drummond will even do well in wetter soils. Bigtooth is the Texas native but slow growing. Chalk maple is another excellent native maple but will be the hardest to find in the garden centers.