Maples. Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) is the showstopper of the maple family, but even if you don't live where it does well (though it's surprisingly durable), pretty much every maple you encounter will provide incredible fall color. And you're in luck — there are maples from as small as 3 feet to as tall as 100 feet that do well in a range of climate conditions, from the colder zones 3 and 4 to the warmer zones 8 and 9. In addition to Japanese maple, favorites include bigleaf maple (A. macrophyllum), paperback maple (A. griseum), Rocky Mountain maple (A. glabrum), red maple (A. rubrum) and sugar maple (A. saccharum).
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Ginkgo. Most people these days know the supplement, but the maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba) is a longtime landscape favorite. It's versatile: tall enough, at up to 50 feet in height, to serve as a street tree but equally good as a patio tree. Even better, it's very long lived and relatively drought tolerant, has almost no pests or problems, and can handle pollution and other environmental issues. Most of all, it's a beautiful tree with lovely fan-shaped leaves that turn bright yellow-gold in fall. Ginkgo grows well in zones 3 through 8 in both full sun and partial shade. It needs well-drained soil and regular water until it's established.
Q