Mary Samios-Russell, owner, Contrary Mary’s Plants & Designs, Minnoka.

Mike Geimer, president, Geimer Greenhouses, Long Grove.

“An oakleaf hydrangea, the cultivar ‘Sikes Dwarf’. It has beautiful red color…Any larch, which is a deciduous conifer. The needles turn a brilliant yellow. ‘Tor’, a birchleaf spirea, turns an orangey-red. There’s a plant that could still be blooming at the beginning of fall, Caryopteris ‘Sunshine Blue’. It has brilliant gold-colored foliage and sky-blue flowers.”

“Sweetgum (Liquidamber ‘Moraine’) has brilliant scarlet color and a star-shaped leaf that makes it stand out. Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) has very elegant fall color. The Amur maple—there’s no better scarlet. Sassafras—it’s a native. And Viburnum dentatum ‘Autumn Jazz’.”

Kris Bachtell, director of collections and grounds, The Morton Arboretum.

Brian Borkowicz, district manager, The Davey Tree Expert Co.

“Trees: I would say ginkgo, sugar maple, white ash (particularly ‘Autumn Purple’) and blackgum. Shrubs: fothergilla, oakleaf hydrangea, compact Korean spice viburnum, and ‘Autumn Embers’ vernal witch hazel…They’ve got great fall color.”

“My overall favorite is ‘Autumn Brilliance’ serviceberry. The combination of the smooth bark and orange-red-yellow fall color  with the berries is just a really nice look. For a shrub, the fothergilla— it just has an orange-red color which is outstanding. Something that’s a little bit alternative, but that is really spectacular is actually a bald cypress.”