Best Trees to Grow in the Pacific Northwest for Fall Color, Flowers, and Shape
The Pacific Northwest (PNW) offers a diverse climate that can support a wide variety of trees, from those with stunning fall foliage to those that bloom with beautiful flowers or offer striking shapes year-round. Whether you’re looking to add seasonal color or a unique form to your landscape, here’s a list of some of the best trees for the PNW that deliver on all fronts: fall color, beautiful blooms, and distinctive shapes.
1. Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
- Fall Color: Japanese maples are renowned for their stunning fall foliage, ranging from bright reds and oranges to deep purples and golds. They add a brilliant splash of color to any garden during the autumn months.
- Flowers: While the flowers are small and subtle, they add a delicate touch in the spring, often in shades of red or purple.
- Shape: Known for their graceful, delicate branches and rounded, compact shape, Japanese maples are perfect for smaller spaces or as specimen trees. Their elegant, weeping or upright forms create a striking visual impact year-round.
Best For: Adding a touch of elegance and color to smaller gardens or as a focal point.
2. Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
- Fall Color: The red maple is famous for its brilliant crimson to scarlet-red foliage in the fall, which lights up any garden or landscape.
- Flowers: This tree produces small, red flowers in early spring that attract pollinators.
- Shape: With a pyramidal shape and dense foliage, the red maple is an excellent choice for larger spaces where you want a tree that offers a bit of shade. Its growth habit is upright and relatively fast.
Best For: Large gardens or landscapes needing a tree with striking fall color and shade.
3. Dogwood (Cornus kousa)
- Fall Color: Dogwoods provide beautiful red to purple foliage in the fall, enhancing any garden with rich, warm colors.
- Flowers: In spring, dogwoods are covered in large, showy white, and pink blooms. Their flowers are iconic and often a highlight in spring gardens.
- Shape: Known for their graceful, spreading branches, dogwoods create a beautiful layered canopy and are excellent for adding both vertical and horizontal interest. Their multi-season appeal makes them a garden favorite.
Best For: Small to medium-sized gardens, adding interest in spring, fall, and year-round.
4. Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
- Fall Color: Sweetgums are famous for their incredible fall display, with leaves turning vibrant shades of red, purple, orange, and yellow. The color show is one of the best of any tree in the fall.
- Flowers: Sweetgum trees produce small, inconspicuous flowers in spring, but their main appeal is their foliage.
- Shape: This tree has a unique, star-shaped leaf and a pyramidal or conical shape. It can grow fairly tall and is ideal for larger properties, offering both shade and spectacular autumn color.
Best For: Large landscapes, where you want both dramatic fall color and a tall, striking form.
5. Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)
- Fall Color: Serviceberries offer beautiful fall color in shades of gold, orange, and red.
- Flowers: In spring, serviceberries are covered with clusters of white flowers, which attract bees and other pollinators. The flowers are an early sign of spring in the PNW.
- Shape: Serviceberries are multi-stemmed, small trees or large shrubs, with a rounded form that provides great structure. They often grow in clusters, creating a naturalistic look that’s great for woodland or wild gardens.
Best For: Smaller spaces or gardens that benefit from both spring flowers and fall color, with added wildlife appeal.
6. Autumn Blaze Maple (Acer × freemanii)
- Fall Color: As the name suggests, this hybrid maple is best known for its brilliant, fiery red to orange fall foliage, offering one of the most dramatic autumn color displays.
- Flowers: Small, yellow-green flowers appear in spring, but they are often overshadowed by the striking fall color.
- Shape: The Autumn Blaze Maple has a rounded, symmetrical canopy and grows to a medium-to-large size, making it perfect for adding both height and seasonal color to larger gardens or lawns.
Best For: Landscapes needing a large, fast-growing tree with outstanding fall color.
7. Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’)
- Fall Color: Copper beech trees start the season with deep purple leaves that turn rich bronze, gold, or coppery brown in the fall. This change is subtle but beautiful and provides an excellent backdrop for other plants.
- Flowers: The small, inconspicuous flowers appear in spring, but the tree is more prized for its foliage and shape.
- Shape: The copper beech has a large, rounded, dense canopy with smooth, elegant branches. It’s a majestic tree that offers excellent shade and adds a timeless, formal aesthetic to your garden.
Best For: Larger gardens or landscapes where a stately, large tree with deep-colored foliage is desired.
8. Magnolia (Magnolia spp.)
- Fall Color: While magnolias aren’t known for their fall color, certain varieties, like the “Star Magnolia,” can produce lovely yellow and bronze leaves as they age.
- Flowers: Magnolias are most famous for their stunning spring flowers, which are often large, fragrant, and in shades of white, pink, purple, or yellow.
- Shape: Magnolias have a distinctive, pyramidal or rounded shape, often with wide, spreading branches. Their large, glossy leaves and dramatic flowers make them a standout specimen tree in the landscape.
Best For: Adding early spring interest and year-round visual appeal in small to medium-sized spaces.
9. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
- Fall Color: Ginkgo trees provide some of the most spectacular fall color, turning bright golden yellow before dropping their leaves in a short, dramatic burst. This creates a golden carpet beneath the tree.
- Flowers: The small, inconspicuous flowers appear in early spring, but ginkgo trees are primarily admired for their shape and fall foliage.
- Shape: Ginkgo trees have an iconic fan-shaped leaf and a unique, upright, conical form. They grow relatively tall and wide, making them a great choice for larger landscapes or as a specimen tree.
Best For: Large gardens or urban areas where you want a tree with both unique shape and fall color.
10. Weeping Cherry (Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’)
- Fall Color: While weeping cherries aren’t known for spectacular fall color, they can provide lovely yellow and orange tones in autumn, complementing their spring display.
- Flowers: The real show comes in spring when weeping cherries are covered with masses of pale pink or white flowers, making them one of the most beautiful flowering trees in the PNW.
- Shape: With a distinctive weeping habit, this tree creates a cascading effect that’s both elegant and dramatic. It’s perfect for smaller gardens or as a focal point.
Best For: Small gardens or places where you want a graceful, flowering tree with a unique weeping form.