One year there was a Sierra Club engagement calendar with a photograph of a bright red-leaved aspen in the midst of many stems of the usual yellow color. Now that was unusual! If a horticulturist had seen that plant and cloned it successfully, it would have made a pretty dramatic ornamental.

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It's the only picture I could find anywhere in my computer showing the fall color. I wonder if I could produce seedlings from that tree with red fall color whenever it has acorns? Time will tell I suppose...

In my experience young trees can vary quite a bit from the mature trees of its own kind.
I used to think this seedling was really pretty, but that color don't last long.
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I've got a mature Chinkapin Oak that dominates our small back yard. It's probably 60' tall and about 50' wide. It's one of a large group of similarly-sized white oaks in the neighborhood, but this one apparently had little competition from other trees during it's lifetime.

The color is a rich golden-brown. Not bad, but not as nice as the white oaks in the neighbors' yards. However, this tree is the best looking oak in the area. The shape and branching are fantastic. Sure, I'd love to have the fall color, too, but I can live with what we've got.

I've spent over 30 years trying to get Chinkapin seedlings started elsewhere in the yard. Although a handful grew into decent saplings, they weren't going to be good specimens. Then, finally, about five years ago, I got one! It's now 13-14' tall and looking very nice. However, it too has the golden brown color of the parent.

I've had just a few 2-year-old Chinkapin seedlings with fantastic red fall color. I'm still trying to get a transplant of one of those to grow into a nice sapling and still retain the red fall color. Maybe next year.

We've been here 34 years and this is the heaviest acorn production I've ever seen from our Chinkapin Oak. It's been unbelievable for the past ten days or so, but we're nearing the end of the acorn-fall. Hopefully, given the volume of acorns this year, I'll have more seedlings to choose from next year for transplanting.

The young oak's color in lou's photo happens to mine more often than not. The only problem is that abscission is complete a week or ten days from first color and not a leaf remains. Pretty, but a flash in the pan. Should this be a color year I'll recall this thread and snap a couple of pix.
hortster

I'll try to take photos, too. I transplanted two 2' Chinkapins last fall. I was only going to move one and did so. Then, when the color showed up, I realized that I'd chosen the wrong one. So I found a spot for the second one with beautiful red color. I got all of the tap root on one and most on the other, but the first transplant died back after a lot of flooding rains in late spring. It and the second are both doing well now and I'm looking forward to seeing how the fall color evolves as they grow.

I'm curious to see how it does this fall. Still tall and skinny though but I noticed that there are acorns on them so i'm going to collect them when time is right. Last fall didn't seem to be a good one. It rained a ton plus it got cold suddenly in the fall. The conditions didn't seem to be that great to have a nice fall color.

Last year was a color dud for ol' chinkapin. This year's color is orange and red. I have gotten the purples in the past, but this year's 53 days over 100 degrees probably had an effect on color. As stated before, this tree defoliates in 10 days or less after the color starts.
hortster

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How old is the tree lou? Really nice color.
Looks almost like the color on two of my Bur Oaks for a couple of years. Last year was year 3 and the red fall color did not reappear.

I can't compete with the nice looking foliage in horster's photo!!! I've been trying to get a good red Chinkapin for 30 years. The parent tree is ancient and has no red whatsoever. I've transplanted a few red-leaved seedlings over the years, but none has retained the red color for more than a few years. My latest effort is this one that's about 4 feet tall. The photo was taken at the end of October. The leaves didn't look good up close, but from a distance it seems to have promise. We'll see in a few years how it progresses.

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Can't really comment on the Chinkapin, but regarding bboy's comment about Aspen... there's a fair number of aspens that turn orange or red out here in Nevada. Check out these pictures I took a couple of autumns ago...

Here is a link that might be useful: Lamoille Canyon, Nevada in Fall 2008

My newly planted Chinkapin oak is red too. This is my first pic posting attempt( or link to ) http://11084.photobucket.com I got help uploading them from the camera, but I'm on my own on garden web, so I probably did something wtong.

I messed up it was http://i1084.photobucket/albums

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Nothing going on mine yet. For sure, it is much taller yet skinny.