Acer rubrum Red Sunset® – Red Maple

We think this is the best cultivar of Red Maple for the Catskills. The tree develops excellent orange to red fall color and does so early in the season. The form is pyramidal to rounded with strong branch angles. It’s quite cold hardy – it will come through valley winters unscathed and can probably handle the somewhat colder winters of Catskill or Shawangunk mountaintops. Finally, it’s one of the most flood tolerant of the Red Maple cultivars. As for all Red Maples, the red flowers in spring are quite showy but are often overlooked as an ornamental feature.