I love Liquidambars for all sorts of reasons. They are tough and have not only done remarkably well through the long years of drought but also came up with flying colours (quite literally!) after the very wet summer we had a couple of years back when Cherries and Smoke bushes drowned.
They will colour in all sorts of climates including tropical one and they hold their foliage better than any other tree I can think of.
Having said all this many people are scared of the roots and the size that the tree can get to (if you are over 40 don’t worry about it, it will be someone else’s problem!)
It is however important to select a grafted form of known qualities and one I have recently fallen in love with is ‘Golden Sun’. It is a smaller growing tree to perhaps 10metres with the usual upright habit. The autumn colour is a rich flaming red and a unique feature for this Genus bright yellow twigs in winter.
I have lovely plants of this and several other desirable cultivars in 10″ pots for $49.50looking stunning as I do this post.
