Fall color can be "hit or miss" and is such a small window of time that I think most people look for other factors such as appropriate siting when choosing a maple. Think of the fall color as a bonus. That said, I'd suggest October Glory. Personal favorite.

With NO other consideration, Sugar Maple Acer saccharum. However, this is not a maple for any location, plus there is size issue, cost issue, desired fall color, etc. Sugar Maple tends to be so shade of orange to orange-red, to almost red, but some are yellow to yellow-orange. If you ideal of great fall color is red, then Sugar Maple is not the way to go. If you want orange but a smaller 25' tree, then a couple of Sugar Maples COULD work, but better options might be Chalk Maple (which is basically a small Sugar Maple that is MUCH tougher), or Triflorum Maple. Etc. Etc. You need to better define your site conditions (compaction and drainage especially), size expectations, and what you define as "spectacular".

With that said, assuming reasonable soil, the three I mentioned are favorites of mine. We have all three, and all can be "EXCEPTIONAL". Then of course if you have room for a large Sugar Maple, perhaps a Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum), Triflorum Maple (Acer triflorum), and Chalk Maple (Acer luecoderme) planted in place of one large tree might be a better option and more interesting. BTW, all three of the later species have grown much faster for me than indicated by the literature. All are in unrelenting full exposure southern sun. They need not be "understory" trees as many believe.

Arktrees

This post was edited by arktrees on Mon, Nov 4, 13 at 13:59

Just to be clea, the Sugar maple is Acer Saccharum, as opposed to the dreaded Silver maple, which is Acer saccharinum. It's easy to confuse the two.

They are all spectacular in Kansas right now, which made it all the more tragic to see utility crews hacking them into champagne-saucer stemware under power lines today. They should just take them down if they're going to butcher them that severely.

Even our Trident maple has turned a gorgeous orangey-gold color this year. It has never been this nice in fall before.

Of the common ones the most intense here are the more strongly colored individuals and selections of Acer rubrum. But your climate and soil might not be right for the best effects from that species.

Maples are the kings of fall color, nothing wrong with having one, or many.

Just plant other stuff too (if you have room). Also, don't forget about some of the less common maples (Ark mentioned a few):

Chalk Maple (Acer leucoderme)
Trident Maple (Acer buergerianum)
Amur Maple (Acer ginnala)
Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)
Korean Maple (Acer pseudoseiboldanum)
Shantung Maple (Acer truncatum)

Just a few, these are all smaller trees that generally have good fall color.

Most Japanese maple varieties can fit the bill, too.

In PA your soils should be acceptable pH-wise, but if you have heavy PA clay, be sure to avoid areas where water stands or pools (except A. rubrum, which can somewhat tolerate such conditions).

greenthumbz, I think the thing to do is wander your local nurseries and botanical gardens and pick what you like most.

FWIW, with the clones in an otherwise informal setting I think they are best limited to one of each. If you have a row of identical Autumn Blazes down the street or on a parking lot or whatever it just seems odd to me.

I took the below picture November 2 2010 at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Its a Franksred / Red Sunset per their tag. I took that pic with my old cell even lol.

Sugar is by far my favorite. Runner up award goes to red maple.

Not that familiar with asian maples, but Amur maple colors nicely around here. It is a small tree with some structural issues, but good for tight spots.

Never cared much for autumn blaze (red x silver) - like it is trying too hard. But effect is dramatic and tends to have a very consistent color.

Be a regular at your favorite nursery this time of year and decide for yourself.
There are other factors that make a tree a standout. Location is one factor as Allan456 said. Good pruning is another. Here's one of my seed grown Japanese maples.
Mike

Why must you PNW guys post pics of your gardens, then make the rest of us feel inadequate?

Seriously, gorgeous Japanese maple.

This is a very pic-heavy thread, but I and a few others have posted some maple pics.

Generally speaking, Sugar Maples show a more 'warm' color in fall, more 'natural' looking oranges with some yellows & reds, but the reds are more of an orange-red vs. a straight red.

Red Maples can also have warm colors, but others can be an almost fluorescent red color - see some of the pics at the bottom of the linked page for examples.

As far as other maple species, they can go either way.

Here is a link that might be useful: GW thread on fall color (most pics near the bottom)

according to ken, the only good maple is a dead maple ;)

"Somewhat tolerate"? Hell, A. rubrum loves heavy clay that's waterlogged half the time. My parents have a whole forest of them right behind their house on soil just like that, in neighboring New Jersey.

Sugar Maple (A. saccharum) if you like the variety, a good named Red Maple (A. rubrum) if you like right red. Norway Maple (A. platanoides) has good yellow depending on the specimen, but its usually late and there are other issues with that tree so I don't strongly recommend it. But I always fancied the Norways which decided to throw in a little orange, red and purple for good measure.

If bright red is your thing then as someone has said red maple October Glory would be my choice. Around our house this cultivar is consistently the last to color. We also have Red Sunset a little more toward orange/red and we have an Autumn Flame (red) colors earliest of the three. We have heavy clay here, NW Ind., and all these trees are doing well.

Hi Mikebotann - what Japanese maple is that! Simply spectacular, as is the rest of the garden. I'm thinking this tree benefits from part shade?

As Mike stated with that photo post, it is a seed grown maple. As such, it is only a species Acer palmatum, no other name attached :-) Named cultivars are only propagated by asexual means (grafting or cuttings). And partial shade is always a desired condition for JM's, although many can tolerate quite a lot of sun.

acer platanoides

acer rubrum

acer saccharum

if you have a small space, acer rubrum will probably be best because they tend to grow up instead of out. they still do get wide, most maples do. I personally like acer platanoides out of these three the best. These are some of the more common ones you could always go for something like acer griseum.

Just what AKAmainegrower said: Aesthetically, Acer platanoides is blah . . . not good fall color, not nice bark, not healthy foliage, and when its invasiveness and suppression of nicer plants is thrown in, it's a misery ecologically and aesthetically. It's also illegal to sell, trade, or plant in some northeastern states since it is such a problem.

It might be not invasive in some of the drier parts of the US - I don't know, but it's not a tree I'd ever recommend since it's unappealing enough that there are always better and more attractive alternatives.

Caldwell, would you recommend any one red maple cultivar? Generic species red maples are all over the place in regards to fall color. Some as good as anything, some almost nil in my experience.

I disagree with the notion that Norway maple is in some way inadequate in terms of aesthetics. Babs said "not nice bark, not healthy foliage...." and more and it is that part with which I find disagreement. The leaves are lustrous and thick-looking, the bark is okay, nothing wrong with it, the fall color, while not in the same league as sugar maple or red maple, is still brilliant in many cases. Hey, I totally agree with not planting this tree in situations where it can escape into the wild, which is most situations, but that's due to its invasive potential, not a lack of aesthetic attributes.

This is opinion, but after all, I do believe there are reasons that several million Norway maples got planted all over the northern US, and those reasons do not include that it is ugly.

One final point: Tar spot, a nuisance fungal pathogen, does impact the foliar quality of N. maple, and to a greater degree than in other maple species. So maybe that's what Babs was getting at, and to that extent, I do agree with her. But that's due to a pathogen, not an intrinsic factor of the tree species itself.

Toronado, I like the generic red maple. and Norway maple is not an invasive in my area.