Plan landscape for autumn color

A few days ago I was talking with a young couple who had just moved into their first home. They had been driving around the community and were just amazed at the spectrum of fall colors that were evident in the vegetation they had seen. They wanted to add some of those fall colors to their landscape, but didn't know where to begin.

I will tell you what I told them: If you want shade trees, plant red maple or a sugar maple. Both are native to the Heartland. Red maple has green leaves in the summer, but those leaves turn to gorgeous shades of red depending on the variety you purchase.

Sugar maple -- the source of maple syrup -- leaves may be different shades of orange to red. Again the shade that it turns to will depend upon the variety that you select at your local garden center.

Japanese maples also have a plethora of shades of red, oranges and yellows in the fall. They also will have different leaf shapes and mature plant height, so the variety seems to be endless.

The nice thing about maple is that they are plants that thrive both in shade and in sun. So you can plant them in almost any area of your landscape.

The leaves of dogwood, also native to our area, will usually turn a dark red in the fall. Often the red seeds of dogwood will add a splash of color throughout the fall after the leaves have fallen.

Burning bush is a signature plant for fall color. Depending upon variety, it grows from 4 to 20 feet tall. The green leaves turn a brilliant red -- thus the name -- in the fall before they drop. Although burning bush is not native to the Heartland, it does very well here. Eastern wahoo, a native to our area, is a "cousin" to the burning bush.

Baldcypress is a native tree to our area that grows naturally in wet places. An added bonus is that it will grow quite well in dry areas also. The "needles" turn a gold yellow in the fall before they drop to the ground.

If you want a broad-leaved evergreen that provides different shades of color both throughout the growing season and through the fall and winter, choose from several different varieties of nandina. An added bonus to the foliage color are the red to yellow berries that stay on the plants throughout the winter.

Nandina is a plant that will grow well in both shade and in sun. It is very flexible in the conditions that it can tolerate and do well.

Listed above are just a few ideas on what plants to select to add fall color to your landscape. Because of the increase in variety development, go to a local garden center and ask the clerks about the different varieties that may be available in each of the species listed. Don't be overwhelmed by the variety, but take it all in and select the shades of color you prefer.