By Jim Midcap
University of Georgia

If you've lost trees to the recent storms, you have room for new ones. And fall is the best time to plant trees. Our nurseries and garden centers are stocked up with a range of trees.

If you can spare the space, here are some that offer outstanding fall color. Some are readily available. Others will be harder to find.

Chinese pistache is a handsome, tough tree with an oval, rounded shape. Its leaves are pest-free, lustrous dark green with small leaflets. The foliage changes in fall to a rich orange-red. The bark is gray, with exfoliating flakes.

These plants withstand drought and infertile soils. Chinese pistache makes a fine choice for a medium shade tree, reaching 30 to 40 feet tall. It's hardy throughout the state.

Red maple is a swamp native reaching 40 to 60 feet tall. Young trees are pyramidal, becoming rounded to irregular at maturity. The reddish flowers of spring are followed by bright red fruit. The smooth gray bark is very attractive.

Fall leaves develop into glorious yellows and reds. Named selections are widely available. "October Glory" and "Autumn Blaze" offer reliable color.

Persian parrotia is a rather rare, small tree. The clean summer foliage changes to a kaleidoscope of purple, orange and yellow in the fall. The bark exfoliates, revealing dark and light patches of color on the twisting, multiple trunks.

The small, maroon flowers appear in late winter. Mature trees are often wider than they are tall. The foliage is insect- and disease-free. Plants do better in the upper half of Georgia on well-drained soils.

The elegant katsura tree is pyramidal in youth and becomes an upright, oval form with age. The leaves mature to blue-green and turn a rich yellow to apricot in fall. The falling leaves give off a spicy fragrance. The brown, shaggy bark provides year-round interest.

It has no serious insect or disease problems. However, it has to be watered during droughts to prevent early leaf drop. This a great tree if you have enough space. It grows 40 to 60 feet tall and is hardy statewide.

American yellowwood is an uncommon native tree that's not widely sold. Trees are low-branching with broad, rounded crowns. The white spring flowers produce a spectacular show but may bloom only in alternate years.

The butter-yellow fall color is great. The larger branches and trunk are smooth and gray. Yellowwood makes an excellent medium specimen tree at 30 to 50 feet tall. The trees are hardy throughout the state.

Sourwood is one of our best native trees for fall color. It's delicately pyramidal, with drooping branches. Young leaves mature to a lustrous, dark green and turn red to maroon in the fall.

The white flowers come in 4- to 10-inch panicles in June and July. Sourwood is a great choice for naturalizing native sites in sun or partial shade. The trees reach 25 to 35 feet and do best in northern Georgia.

Ginkgo is old. Its unique, fan-shaped leaves are embedded in the fossil record. It's very slow to become established. Young plants are gaunt and open but become full and dense with age.

It becomes a beautiful, mature specimen when the bright green leaves turn a brilliant, clear yellow in the fall. The leaves will suddenly cascade to the ground in a single day.

But buy male trees if you can. Female trees produce fruits that develop a rancid odor as they mature.

Fall is the perfect time to plant young trees, even as you enjoy the spectacular fall color. New plantings develop strong roots in the cooler, moist fall soils. Be sure to select trees adapted to your site to ensure the success of your planting project.

(Jim Midcap is an Extension Service horticulturist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)