Help me choose a tree?

I need a couple of trees to give my blank-slate some "bones". Can you help?
My growing conditions: zone 5, full sun, average moisture.

Wants: diciduous, fairly fast growing, ~ 20-30 ft., light shade, broad canopy
Flowering trees and/or great fall color is a bonus. Other attractive traits would be white bark, weeping forms, etc..

Do NOT want: Nut or fruiting trees (nothing to encourage squirrels!), very shallow roots, saplings, helicopters or anything that will seed all over.

With all of those requirements, anybody have suggestions?

I recently purchased a Yoshino cherry tree. It has beautiful flowers in spring, the foliage is pretty, no cherries and is deciduous. It has gone from 6' to 11' in 2 years so it appears to be fast growing. It gets 20'-30' and almost as wide. It's my favorite tree so far. If I remember right, it turns yellow/gold in the fall.

That's sounds pretty nice!

Here it is this past April.

Redbud? Dogwood?

Lovely choices, but already have those. I should have said that I need a tree that is at least 20-30 ft. tall. Taller is OK too. :)

How about Katsura (cercidiphyllum japonicium)? Comes in a weeping form also, there are several cultivars.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/cercidiphyllum_japonicium.html

You want a male Ginkgo biloba, one like 'Autumn Gold' or Windover Gold™.

Just green leaves that turn spectacularly golden come fall, and then drop all at once.

I'll have to do some more investigating ~ all sound good!

VV ~ yes, I know about wanting a male as I experienced the berries last year. Good lord, I wanted to cut my hand off! That is one nauseating smell.... Thanks for specific names.

Aside from japanese, are there any maples that are sterile or at least aren't as obnoxious as Silver Maples? Had one at the old house and dearly loved the massive amount of shade that the 60 y/o tree gave, but all those helicopters were maddening.

Most all of the canopy-sized maples are going to be prolific seedrers - Silver, Sugar, Red, and the obnoxious Norway.

Smaller scale maples are going to have samaras (seed) also, but I doubt you'd ever claim that to be a problem after you've enjoyed all their other seasons of beauty. They are not fast growers, but their steadfastness of character is worth waiting for them to mature.

A few examples to ponder:

Acer griseum
Acer henryi
Acer miyabei
Acer triflorum
Acer mandshuricum
Acer maximowiczianum
Acer pseudosieboldianum
Acer truncatum

You'll run out of space before running out of maples. Then, you can proselytize your neighborhood...

Well, 'steadfastness of character' is what I'm all about. This neighborhood is so loaded with old pin oaks and elm trees, and now all the ornamental trees that are readily available at every nursery and plant stand. I want something different!

I know someone that recently put in a tree with dark red leaves and very white bark. I believe they said is was a Maple, but he wasn't sure. Can't seem to find anything that fits that description.

Is there anything terribly annoying about birches ~ paper or river, etc.?

Info from dept of agriculture on birch.

Birch can be very difficult to maintain as a healthy, long-lived specimen. In many landscapes, birch trees begin to decline within a few years, and many trees die well before reaching maturity. it is not unusual for birch trees, especially the white-barked birches, to die well before reaching 20 years of age.

The white-barked birch trees are more susceptible to attacks by bronze birch borer

We had one at our old house and the roots became troublesome and we had to take it out.

Moby, there are a couple white-striped maples, if that's what you mean.
They're not solid white like the white-barked birches.
Acer davidii George Forrest, Acer tegmentosum White Tigress and a. tegmentosum Joe Witt are three that come to mind. They're beautiful.

Katsura is an interesting option also.
Comes in weeping forms, as well as dark-leaved cultivars.
Fairly fast growing. Nice fall color. No appreciable flowers.

Looks like I have plenty of homework to do ~ thank you all very much!

Seems as though there's been a relatively recent introduction of one of the exotic birch species that has reddish foliage, and maybe more of a "cutleaf" look. Not my cup of tea, so I can't (and don't wish to) help out with a name or source.

For others to contribute...

Fancy that - an email shows up in my Inbox today for a nursery with a glut of 'Crimson Frost' birch (Betula 'Crimson Frost').

White trunks, red leaves.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/78739/

Here's a pic...

LOL thanks for the info ~

I have a Crimson Frost Birch. It leafs out early in the year. It grew rapidly after I planted it. It is only about 5 feet wide, I have had it 10 years probably. The peeling white bark is very nice. I have not had any trouble with pests on the tree. As soon as the temps get hot in the summer though, by the first of July, the leaves turn orange and fall off. I have tried running the hose on it, and the past two years we have had an abundance of rain. There are no other trees close by to compete. So I decided it was the hot temps causing it to lose its leaves the first week of July every year. This spring, 1/3 of the lower part of the tree was dead. I had to trim off all of those branches. I don't know if the tree is dying or just those branches or what. The tree is very pretty, but doesn't take heat, and I am afraid may not live long. However since it doesn't get large, and grows fast, replacing it after 15 years may be worth it to the person that just really wants the tree and realizes they do not live long. Do not plant this for any shade as they are 'thin' trees. They would be pretty planted as a grouping, like 3 or 4 together. Now in a different zone, they may be somewhat different than what I have experienced.

Hmm... perhaps it would be happier as an understory tree, which is something I can't provide. Thank you for your input.

Even here in Minnesota, Crimson Frost seems especially susceptible to Bronze Birch borer.

A Kentucky coffee tree(Gymnocladus dioicus) would be nice, especially if you want to grow ephemeral flowers or bulbs beneath. The tree leafs out very late in the spring. There are males and females of this tree too.

Katsura and Ginkgo are both good choices too.

Thanks for your input, Lefty ~ always appreciated.