http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/resource001358_rep1815.pdf

I would choose an Enkianthus of some sort. It's not common and doesn't self seed all over. Hardy to Zone 3.
Here's one of mine. The rest will color up later due to different exposures. The picture taken was looking south with the Enkianthus on a small north facing slope in partial shade.
Would I buy it for my friend? Depends on the friend and the price.
Yes Ken, the blue is a phone booth. I think I have one of the few left. ;-)
Mike

I'd vote for the red chokeberry, Aronia arbutifolia. Redder than a stoplight with red berries. Can get a bit leggy, and the plant spreads slowly with expanding sucker growth. Having said all that, it is an eye stopper in the fall.
hortster

Hmmm No burning bushes and well above zone 5. Whew! MY garden is not ken's target. ;)

Mike, the phone company has probably sent people out multiple times to remove your phone booth. When the technicians get out there, they are so enchanted with your landscape that they forget what they are there for and go back empty handed, dreaming about what they can do with their own place.

Mike isn't the hardiest species Enkianthus campanulatus and borderline zone 5? Perhaps the zone 3 comment was a typo or is there something else out there that is more hardy?

For a bulletproof plant you'll want to go for V.trilobum or dentatum. They have the best intense red fall color for shrubs in our area. Depending on the cultivars and pollinators they bloom and fruit! How can your friend not want to upgrade?

Sunset lists Enkianthus at zones 3-9 and then lists E. campanulatus at zones 2-9.
OK, I see where I made a mistrake. I used Sunset zones, not USDA.
Sorry for the confusion. I know better. Duh.
My other books list it as USDA zones 6-9.
Mike

Itea. Ours are still holding leaves in Zone 6, while the BB's are past their prime for the season. Plus the added benefit of flowers.

Pinkshell azalea (Rhododendron vaseyi)? It's more orange than red, but can be stunning! Plus, I'd take those brilliant pink trusses of flowers over Burning Bush any day.

{{gwi:279888}}
Photo by Mt. Cuba Center

My suggestion would be Physocarpus "Coppertina". It has wonderful fall color, interesting bark, arching shape and seed heads in winter, and flowers in the spring that contrast with the foliage. It is one of my favorites in my garden. Some other suggestions would include: Fothergillla gardenii, Itea virginica, Viburnum trilobum, and of course any Acer palmatum ("Seiryu" is very bright red).

Rhonda

I'd second the aronia arbutifolium...

Maybe you really need Euonymus carnosus...

mmmmmm also fond of the common old euonymous europaeus Red Cascade

Coppertina nine bark is lovely, and carefree. Tigers Eye Sumac is equally as lovely, but spreads to form a copse, nothing equal to it in fall though.
And I know the Tardis when I see it!

Lots of good suggestions here, most of which have much longer periods of garden interest than the burning bush. If your soil is acid, you could also try blueberries.

Boy that zone 5 is a kicker...well here's my only suggestion.

It's slower growing, but the flowers and berries (and reddish purple foliage that holds a long time), make it superior to the euonymus, Viburnum rufidulum.
Here's a good writeup and everything in photo but fall color:
http://www.floridata.com/ref/v/vibu_ruf.cfm
Here's some fall color:
http://www.mtcubacenter.org/images/plant-finder/Viburnum_rufidulum_4.JPG

Don't be frightened by it calling it a small tree. It grows quite slowly and would take consistent pruning well. My plant grew out from a 1 1/2 foot quart pot (or so), to a six foot as wide as tall ball, in about 10 years, and that was with no correction..just natural form in a sunny exposure.
It bloomed the last 4 of those years.

I would call changing the natural, genetically directed form of a shrub with pruning alteration rather than correction.

Except for one with abnormal structural defects, that most individuals of the species do not present.

Lol, wonderful images...I have pets.
So...correction means correcting a behavior you don't want.
Alteration...usually means surgery and umm...you know.

I can see your point in that context too. I typically leave plants natural and alter my pets.

This post was edited by dbarron on Fri, Dec 27, 13 at 16:27

I agree with rbrady. Ninebark 'Coppertina' would be an excellent choice as would Ninebark 'Summerwine'. My Ninebark 'Summerwine' is by a south-east corner of my house and stays ruby red through the month of December here in South-central Kansas. It holds its fall color a lot longer than the Burning Bushes do around here. I'm pretty sure Ninebark 'Coppertina' would behave in a similar way.

I second Itea!!

A second image of the same plant ('Henry's Garnet')

Henry's Garnet would also be a good option, but make sure you bury some plastic 5" lawn edging around it as it has a tendency to sucker.

I'm on the cold end of zone 5 and in my garden Enkianthus campanulatus has grown well for a number of years without any problems such as damage from late spring frosts, tip dieback or any of the issues that borderline hardy plants seem to have. Itea virginica (I had 'Little Henry') had severe tip die back and faded away a bit more each winter for three years until I finally couldn't stand it and shovel pruned it. I know that there are Itea that grow in Durham, NH, but it's on the coast and so warmer. I don't know of any Itea growing successfully in my area.

Coppertina, Rhododendron vaseyi as well as several others of the deciduous rhododendrons, several Viburnums (though I don't know about V. rufidulum), Aronia, and Vaccinium are all fully hardy here for me.