Autumn Blaze® Red Maple Tree

One of the fastest-growing shade trees you can plant — and come fall, it ignites in the most saturated scarlet-red of any maple.

Autumn Blaze® (Acer x freemanii 'Jeffersred') is a hybrid of silver maple and red maple, combining the silver maple's explosive growth rate with the red maple's legendary fall color. The result is a tree that grows 3–5 ft. per year, forms a strong, oval canopy of deeply lobed green leaves, and then — in October — turns a blazing, uniform scarlet-orange that holds for weeks. It's one of the most widely planted shade trees in America, and for good reason: it's fast, tough, adaptable, and absolutely stunning in fall.

What I love about it

Autumn Blaze delivers the fall color show that most trees only promise. The red is deep, saturated, and consistent across the whole canopy — not patchy, not orange-ish, but a true fiery scarlet that reads from across the street. It grows fast enough to provide real shade within a few seasons, tolerates a wide range of soils including clay and wet spots, and is cold-hardy across a huge swath of the country. Plant it as a lawn specimen, a street tree, or a backyard anchor and it will be the tree your neighbors ask about every October.

Plant Care Tips

• ☀️ Light: Full sun to part shade — best fall color in full sun
• 💧 Water: Tolerates wet soils; water deeply until established
• 🌡️ Temperature: Hardy to -30°F (Zone 4); extremely cold-tolerant
• 🪴 Difficulty: Very easy — one of the most adaptable shade trees available
• 🐾 Pet Safety: Red maple leaves toxic to horses; generally safe around dogs and cats
• ✂️ Pruning: Prune in late summer or fall; avoid spring pruning when sap is running

Plant Specs

• Mature Size: 40–55 ft tall, 30–40 ft wide
• Growth Rate: Fast — 3–5 ft per year
• Fall Color: Brilliant scarlet-orange; one of the best of any maple
• Bloom Time: Early spring (small red flowers before leaves)
• Growing Zone: 4–8

Bloom bold. Be cheeky.