I've seen 'Tupelo Tower' (in smaller sizes) available at a couple nurseries around here. TT was introduced by Klyn Nursery (east of Cleveland) and should be a relatively hardy selection (Tupelo Tower patent). It has an upright habit similar to 'Forum'. I've observed Forum for several years, and it appears to be bud hardy in Z5 but has been somewhat susceptible to bark splitting (frost cracks). Like you've already observed, Red Rage seems to have good hardiness, but I have noticed a couple RR with bark splits like I've seen on Forum. A few of the RR also had unusual swellings at the bud union, indicating a possible compatibility issue. I'd agree with your assessment of Wildfire - it doesn't appear to be completely hardy here. I've only seen Green Gable (in small sizes) at 1 nursery in the area; I have no experience with GG but the patent (Green Gable patent) claims it is hardy to zone 4.

Also, Schmidt released the newer cultivars Afterburner, Firestarter, and Gum Drop. The first two have a symmetrical upright habit with nice fall color. The third, Gum Drop, is a medium to slower grower that has a really neat habit. Go to J. Frank Schmidt's website and click on Introductions to get to pictures of them. You can also call them to get a local garden center that has recently purchased them or you can see if there is a local garden center near you that regularly receives stock from Schmidt.

From a production standpoint (at least from what I understand) Nyssas are hard to produce in containers and the only ones I regularly see are B&B trees. This may limit your ability to get them (specific varieties, anyway) right now.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Interesting stuff. I really hope Nyssas catch on in the mainstream because I like them a lot and they do pretty well in our swampy, NE Ohio clay. There are a lot of influential plantsmen like Mike Dirr who are evangelistic about Nyssas, so maybe it will happen. But as you point out, perhaps production difficulties (and slower growth rate compared to maples/pears) are affecting availability.

I had not heard of the Tupelo Tower variety, but that may be one I have a good shot of finding locally since it was developed in the area. I'll shake the trees at some local garden centers, maybe give Klyn and Schmidt's a call. My preference is always to buy small (i.e., mail-order), especially with a finicky species like this. But I will take what I can get in this case.

I just planted a Tupelo tower, ordered it from a nursery in New York. buds are starting to emerge. looks good so far, just 4.5 feet tall.

From Madison, WI and was looking for a black tupelo for my front yard and found a nice b&b "Wildfire" cultivar at K&W Greenery in Janesville, WI. It has really nice form with newer red leaves. I was told it is hardy to zone 4 but I'm concerned as I continue to see it listed as zone 6. Will it survive in Madison?

Continued from above: I originally wanted to purchase "Red Rage" as it is said to be more resistant to leaf spot and other fungal diseases. Does anyone know where I could find one? I'm replacing a 12 year old Green Ash.

I have not seen red rage recently. There seems to be a bunch of new activity in nyssa development - seeing lots of new names in literature (still sparse in retail though).

Davidsans Japanese Maples has mail order Tupelo Towers and Carolyns in stock (3 & 5 gallon). Carolyn was bred in Wisconsin for cold hardiness, apparently. I actually just ordered a 3 gallon Tupelo Tower from there a few weeks ago.

There is also a weeping/cascading cutlivar around with outstanding red color.

Does anyone know if there are any cultivars that don't produce the berries? We have a young (6 ft) wildfire in our front lawn that is doing well. I want to put another black gum in a bed closer to the house (~15 feet from the garage (1 story) and ~8 feet from our sidewalk). I think the spacing should be okay but am a little worried about the fruit dropping on the sidewalk.

This tree is dioecious. The males do not have berries. However, the berries are tiny and do not produce any kind of discernible litter, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Gum Drop is a male variety that is compact and would probably fit the space well https://www.jfschmidt.com/introductions/gumdrop/index.html

AFAIK, this is how the different varieties break down:

Male clones: Firestarter, Green Gable, Gum Drop, Red Rage, Zydeco Twist

Female clones: Afterburner(?), Forum, Tupelo Tower, Wildfire

Okay. Last year in early May I spent over $300 on a "Wildfire" black gum B&B tree and now it does not look like it made it through the winter. I am in zone 5 and the coldest day this past winter was 13 degrees below zero. While the tree scratches green throughout, the buds look brown and likely cold damaged. This tree did great last year putting on much new growth, thus I was looking forward to seeing it leaf out this spring------but sadly, nothing.

My Wildfire has been in the ground 4 years in Zone 6 and it is gorgeous! I love everything about it. The incredible red new growth, which is brightest in Spring and early Summer but persists a bit subtler into at least Late July. The shiny leaves. The fabulous Fall color. The pretty form of the tree in Winter. My Wildfire was ca. 2.5“ caliper when planted into my very well draining, acidic soil. The Spring buds are brown right up to when they open, so I wonder if Tigertoo1’s tree was actually fine?

my Tupelo Tower is doing well here in Central new jersey. Planted it 3 years ago when it was 4 1/2 feet...ls over 8 feet today