Acer platanoides ‘Dawnflare’ is a distinctive cultivar best known for its intense yellow autumn colour. The foliage changes progressively from the bottom of the tree upward, creating a striking fading effect. This remarkable colour display makes ‘Dawnflare’ a true eye-catcher in the autumn landscape.
During the rest of the year, ‘Dawnflare’ also displays a high degree of ornamental value. In spring, the yellow to pink buds and red leaf stalks provide a subtle yet striking colour accent, while the one-year-old branches stand out with a warm red-orange glow during the winter.
‘Dawnflare’ develops a rather egg-shaped crown, showing similarities to Acer platanoides ‘Columnare’. Compared to this cultivar, ‘Dawnflare’ has a better branching structure, although it can occasionally exhibit short internodes.
Thanks to its growth habit, this cultivar is widely applicable. It is suitable for wide streets and avenues, yet can also be used in narrower streets. ‘Dawnflare’ also performs well as a park tree.
This promising cultivar was discovered in 2017 by Martin van de Bijl on a field owned by tree nursery H&B Plant in Randwijk, the Netherlands. Since then, ‘Dawnflare’ has been cultivated exclusively by us, both at our own nursery and at a closely cooperating partner nursery. In 2025, we acquired the breeding rights to this cultivar. The first batch of ‘Dawnflare’ will become available in smaller sizes from 2027.
