Tulip poplars are much, much, much faster growing.

Just FYI, if you are shopping for maples, consider red maple varieties instead if they grow in your area as they grow faster and are better trees overall.

got to disagree with you iforg.... at least in my area Autumn Blaze grows faster that any red maple by a good deal, native or cultivar. Red maples about 18-20"/year, while AB is 24-36"/year. Also the local AB had relatively little damage in the worst ice storm on record locally. I know some won't believe it, but I can see it with my own eyes.

Patann you might also consider Autumn Fantasy. Also a red/silver hybrid. Darker red, and probable a little faster growing, and are reputed to ice storm resistant. Look up the patent The parent tree had endured many ice storms, and had little damage. There is one across the street from me that grew about 3-3.5 feet last year. It's a little tougher to find, but very worthwhile.

Now as for the Tulip Tree, can be very fast, but don't know how they would compare.

Arktrees

I am much more familiar with the growth rate of A.B. maple than tulip tree. This maple is very fast-growing in my area. So if T. tree is much, much, much faster growing, then it must almost knock you over if you don't get out of the way after planting it;^)

Anyway, both are rapid growers, and decent trees. Avoid straight rubrum red maples if your soil pH is on the higher side, ie. above 7.0. They won't like that.

+oM

"Too soon old, too late smart." Great wisdon in that. In any case, there is realy no issue here. Choose the tree you like best. The growth rates, at least for the first 20 years or so will not make any difference. The tuliptree will, eventually grow significantly larger, and after the first 30 or 50 years or so grow faster, but in the short or intermediate term, the differences should not be important. Either one will make a nice tree rather quickly.

--Spruce

ABM is superior fall color, mature size smaller than tulip tree.

Otherwise what spruceman said.

I have a buddy with a ~70 YO tulip tree in back yard, outstanding canopy spread in his deep soil, excellent structure. But no fall color. Another thread has extolled the fall color virtues of tulip tree but I personally have not seen it (westerner).

Dan

While they're in parks all over Tulip trees are just uncommon enough in yardscapes around here I really notice when I see one flowering. I give them many points for just being different than the usual.

They do get mighty big and impressive also.

I have close to two dozen autumn blaze maples here in my community including one in my yard. I also have several tulip poplars and acer rubrums growing in my yard or right next to it so I can speak for how they do in my climate only. Supposedly the autumn blaze silver maple hybrids are the only maples that will grow out west like in Utah so if that is the case then so be it but unless you are in that situation, why on earth would anyone want a silver-red hybrid?

That is a downgrade! The autumn blaze maples don't even have showy red flowers and aren't as densely foliated. Their bark cracks and warps even down south. They are just now leafing out here whereas red maple leafed out a month ago. Their surface roots are 10 times worse than red maple and their branch structure in nursery liners / garden center trees is absolutely whack.

Avoid autumn blaze maples. They really are a poor introduction.

Dan:

No fall color with tuliptree in your area? Here in Northern VA the color is very nice. It is a golden yellow, and often reaches its peak after many other trees have lost their leaves. Groves of tuliptrees on the slopes of the mountains here show up in spectacular fashion, adding a beautiful variety and "definition" to the landscape. But, the color is not the same every year, depending on the weather.

Tuliptrees from a strain--seed source--different from the local tuliptrees may not produce color. I bought two from a local nursery, I believe from a much more southern origin, and they held their leaves very late, and produced no color at all. Ultimately these trees were not properly hardy here and I removed them. I then dug up some from the local woods, and they are very nice.

--Spruce

Spruce:

perhaps it is because I am a westerner & the climates out here affect the tulip tree fall color. I like them both, for different reasons.

Dan

Liriodendron tulipifera turns a pretty good yellow in cool and dry summer western Washington. It is one of the largest-growing eastern native tree species. Some serious breakage is not unknown - I would not locate it near structures. Becoming a mammoth tree in time it will also eventually dwarf anything less than a mansion or warehouse visually.

There are multiple Freeman maple cultivars on the market. It's not unusual for some of these to be sold as pure red maples. If one has not been that great on a particular site it does not mean another would not be more rewarding.

The greater drought and alkalinity tolerance comes from the silver maple part of the cross.

Since Autumn Blaze ('Jeffersred') (R) was selected only about 40 years ago and introduced around 1980 it is too soon to know how big it gets.

For well-targeted hits search the web using the cultivar name 'Jeffersred' instead of the selling name (registered trademark) Autumn Blaze.

Why Autumn Blaze Maple/Autumn Fantasy Maple, well they grow FASTER than red maple (at least here and other places reported in this thread), are TOUGH, have great long lasting fall COLOR, have a good SHAPE, have EXCELLENT shade, have relatively FEW pests, NO bark problems here, NO major root problems (the 40+ foot tree outside my office doesn't anyway) as long as they are in reasonable soil with enough room (exception landscape islands, poor soil etc; same for local red maples), shade is more than adequately dense, some don't want as dense black shade, and there are no seeds to clean up, and so seedling to be constantly remove. Oh and they do not displace native species. I very much like Red Sunset red maple, but if I need something a little drought tougher, or certainly faster growing, then Autumn Blaze and Autumn Fantasy it is, and exactly what I did. ABM and AFM are great trees for the roles they fill. Not your choice fine, but many make claims that simply are not true simply because they don't like them for whatever reason. Oh, and these hybrids occur naturally. The local silver & red maple populations both show hints of the other.

Plant what you like as long as your what to expect, and know strengths and weaknesses, and will not displace some native local species. I'll take my ABM/AFM, along with ginkgo, sugar maples, shantung maple, paperbark maple, tulip tree, and others.

Arktrees

Wow. Their performance in Georgia is drastically different. Must need ultra alkaline soils for them. I will point out that I have seen some silver maples used in a landscape that don't seem to have been especially fast growing either. Ain't that strange.

Pat - I'm in SE Michigan also. In our area, Autumn Blaze Maple will definitely outgrow Tuliptree. ABM also tolerates poor (clay) soil, while Tuliptree grows best in well-drained soil with adequate moisture. ABM does have consistent red fall color, but drawbacks in our area include (some of these have already been mentioned): bark-splitting (fairly common), surface roots, leaf galls (not a health issue, but unsightly), and seeds (ABM will produce seeds). Other Freeman Maples (incl Autumn Fantasy) will probably be hard to find.

If you decide to go with Tuliptree, what spruce said is true - many (perhaps most) Tuliptrees available (even here in the North) are actually from southern seed sources, and may not perform as well here as northern seed source trees. But most sellers do not know the provenance of their trees.

Another option for fast growth would be elms. Not much for fall color, but some of the newer hybrids (Accolade, Triumph) are good looking trees and quite fast-growing.

Thank you so much to everyone who responded so far. The seedling Tuliptrees already growing in my yard were received from a giant mother Tuliptree down the street, the owner of which has been kind enough to share with me. So, I will certainly not buy a large one from a local nursery, not knowing from where it came. Thank you so much for this info.
Now my concern for rapid growth is between Autumn Blaze and a red maple like October Glory. At least I've narrowed it down somewhat, thanks to you.
Pat

Pat,
Here in front of my office there are the ABM previously mentioned, and an October Glory Red Maple. I can't say with certainty that they were planted at the same time, but they look like it. From a size standpoint the ABM hands down, but about 15' and 2.5-3X the overall total volume. However the early spring bright red flowers are like having another autumn where the tree is red, followed by red (not as bright though) seeds. Fall color is nice, but much later, and one of the latest (along with the Tulip tree) tree to turn, which may or may not be an asset. Fall color is also shorter in duration than the ABM or Red Sunset maple. ABM fall color is much longer and is earlier. All this on the native acidic clay soil. As for Autumn Fantasy Maple, they can be easily had online if no where else, and some nurseries (where mine came from) carry them, but you probable won't find them as a big box store. Another Red Maple option would be Burgundy Bell. Here it grows a little faster than the other two (something like 20-24"/year), and has very early dense red fall color, and is not nearly as common as AB, OG, or RS maples. Then there is the Autumn Flame Red Maple, that is also nice (one across the street where I live) which has early color, and grows at a similar rate to OG and RS.

Not trying to tell you what tree is right for you, only conveying local experience with the above. In short here locally on acidic clay soil ABM/AFM>Burgundy Bell>OG/RS fastest to slowest growth rate, with other considerations for each.

Let us know what you do,
Arktrees

Ark, you are a generous gem! I will be back soon.
Pat
SE Mich

Yup, here I am back just over one year later and I still can't make up my mind over the fastest growing tree for me in SE Mich. Most all of my Tulip Tree seedlings have not come through this last Winter for some reason. I had them mulched, fenced off from the cute little "bunnies," and they just quit.
The mother of these seedlings lives just down the street, maybe 10 feet lower in elevation, so maybe my soil just sucks up here on my little hill. The Red Sunset I put in front about 15 years ago is just fine. The two Sugar Maples I planted 20 years ago are just fine. All our Oaks are about 200 years old and dropping huge limbs with every storm. I cannot afford to have very large maples installed. I have a Red Maple (brown leaves, uh!) seedling that is growing like a weed right now so maybe I'll put it where I can breathe on it and fertilize it to grow very fast. Heck, when we bot this house 20 years ago we had no idea these oaks were so old and were on their way out. Please give me back my 20 years!!!!
Thanks to all of you once again for such kind replies last year.
Pat

Perhaps a Scarlet Oak? Supposed to grow fairly quickly. Plant a small container plant, and step back.

Arktrees

Here is a link that might be useful: Scarlet Oak

It all depends on where you plant the tree and the growing conditions it will be under. A tulip poplar can grow up to 6 feet per year, but that is very rare and then only under optimal conditions. I have done extensive research on tulip poplar trees as I am considering on planting one. I have found that they average between 2.5 - 4.2 feet per year.
The Autumn Blaze Maple averages 3 - 3.5 feet per year.
If you are interested primarily in fast growth, then I agree with iforgotitsonevermind. You need an American Sycamore tree. They are the fastest growing native trees in America. They really do grow up to 6 feet per year.