Don't forget oaks for late fall color

13 years ago

A little walk around the local park today reminded me oaks can have good fall color as well. Also showed me how much honeysuckle and mimosa have naturalized their invasive selves. Uck.

The first two are of the same small tree. Even my new cell looses just a little red from the color. Should have brought the real camera with me.

I believe it is a white oak thanks to the rounded yet well defined leaf "fingers"

.
{{gwi:481183}}

The second two may be a different kind of oak. My personal guess northern red oak or scarlet oak, who knows, maybe overcup oak. Identification is my weakness and my wife has a limited patience for my leaf pictures lol. None the less the general color was as good.

And still a couple small Cornus floridas hanging onto the last of their color under the eye of yet another good looking oak.

{{gwi:481187}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Even with a website I need help!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

poaky1
13 years ago
Nice pix.Maybe the new baby will grow up to be a tree nut too!I'm the only one in my family that notices trees too.And as far as identification, I have a tree from the local woods that I can't be totally sure it's a red oak or black oak, hell, maybe it's a hybrid of the 2.If I get a camera I will have to get some opinions on it.
Iris GW
13 years ago
The difference in the acorn caps on Quercus rubra (red) and Quercus velutina (black) is noticeable (to me anyway).

Nice pictures. Scarlet oaks are just now turning color here.
Related Discussions
Don't forget your nitrogen!
Q
Comments (31)
Hi Sherry, Have you ever tried adding native nitrogen-fixing plants to your rosebeds? I don't know much (like zip!) about Florida natives that fix nitrogen, but I found a few pretty quickly on a Google search--the small partridge pea (annual) and Elliott's milk pea (perennial). Both of these were on the website of the Florida Native Plant Society (link is below). Maybe this wouldn't do a lot, but it might give just a little boost to the soil so your roses could possibly benefit from mini snacks throughout the year. I use a variety of nitrogen-fixers in my garden. Many are California natives, with some non-natives that like the climate here. I have palo verdes (love this tree so I have 3 Parkinsonia 'Desert Museum'), Lotus scoparius (deerweed), Lotus crassifolius otayensis (Otay lotus), pink fairy duster (Calliandra eriophylla), Santa Catalina Island Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpis traskiae), lots of California lilac (Ceanothus cyaneus, spinosus, tomentosus, 'Snow Flurry', 'Zanzibar', 'Lemon Ice', 'Diamond Heights', 'All Gold'), as well as non natives like white Bauhinia, various clovers, Austrian winter peas, birdsfoot trefoil, etc. Guess I'm just a lazy gardener who would rather not have to add stuff to the garden if the plants can do my work for me.;) My plants are lucky to get a little fish emulsion--although a small number get a mild powdered organic fertilizer occasionally. Many plants I feed nothing. Don't know how successful this would be in a much different climate/soil. Here I have mostly sandy loam, with some strips of the garden being clay or sand. Both the soil and water are alkaline and rainfall is low. The only problem being that the city water is high in boron with varying effects on plants. Melissa Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Native Plant Society
...See More
Oaks don't have fall color?
Q
Comments (22)
As of now my Pin oaks and Nr Oaks are still reddish. The Sunday night winds Nov 17 th have made my Metasequoia and many Q. Bicolors lose leaves. I want to add that the local areas Q. Alba (white oaks) are Russet red, but I have 3 in my yard and the 2 that I gave powdered seaweed to in 2009 or 2010 have had ugly fall color. The trees grow fine in the growing season, but the one that I never gave seaweed powder to is Russet red. So I guess PH is an issue. I will be removing the red colored Q. Alba one if my Live oak "late drop" does good this winter though. I would keep, if the "late drop" live oak croaks. I would dig it up and put elsewhere, if the late drop stays alive, if not for the many shade plants that are in the root-zone of the Q. Alba. So if the Live oak "late drop" does okay this winter, I have to cull the Q. Alba. I can grow them anywhere in my zone, but if the live oaks are fine after winter #2, I must keep them where they are, so they will hopefully continue to do well. Of course the Beech is still red tannish.
...See More
Midwestern Neighbors, Don't Forget to Water - Its Dry 'round Here
Q
Comments (4)
gardningrandma, I should have stated these are newer plantings, last year's and this years. They aren't established yet. Well, the RMJ seedlings I planted last year may be getting close, but it is that dry here and I'd rather send them into winter moist. The wind here crisps things pretty quickly. Sorry I wasn't more clear. Barb
...See More
Energy Efficiency - Don't Forget This!
Q
Comments (18)
Hey Oberon!! can you drop me an email?? what I would like to see is homes designed with the ductwork in the conditioned space, then duct leakage would be to the interior of the house and not the exterior. there are so many real world problems with duct leakage/return leakage and so many oversized units to make up for the leakage. HO gets 5 tons on 2500 sq ft home..if house leakage were reduced and duct and return leakage reduced to 5% then unit is oversized... one of the biggest misnomers is that a bigger unit is better. what really happens is that unit short cycles costs more to use per month, doesn't run long enough to remove humdidty..and because of all the stops and starts has a shortened life. high efficient hvac is only as good as the install. in my latest training class they did a calculation that blew me away... I've seen a lot of home with R-38 attic insulation, with attic staircase in the conditioned space. so when uninsulated attic staircase is included with little to no R-value the overall attic insulation is reduced to R-25...now throw a bunch of IC rated recessed cans (not air tight ICAT) one equals one sq ft of uninsulated attic..what do you have now??? insulation that can't perform because of air movement through the insulation.. efficiency always costs more upfront, but it is the length of time it takes to pay back that cost that makes one option preferable to another. green is 80% energy efficiency and 20% everything else (joe lstriburek of buildingscience.com) I would like to see an energy efficiency forum here.
...See More
crcash2
13 years ago
I have two scarlet oaks that have yet to start turning. When do they normally begin to turn?? I'm in upstate South Carolina and it has been hot and dry!
poaky1
13 years ago
Esh ga the tree in question isn't old enough to have acorns yet. I have a Peterson feild guide , so when that happens I'll try to id.It is probably a red (rubra) the lack of good fall color throws me off, but I guess that can vary from tree to tree.The bark is different from my other reds too, it's more "barky" than smooth and it's only around 5-6 years old. Sorry OP for highjacking your thread a bit.
gardningrandma
13 years ago
I have a hard time identifying oaks.
NRO I can figure out by the large leaves and if they're old enough you can notice "ski trail" patterns in the bark.

White oak I can tell from the rounded lobes.

The other that don't have distinctive leaves, I'd need a field guide.

I think the best coloration is on the nro, but that's just me.
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
Original Author
13 years ago
No problem Poaky.

White oak is having a good year for fall color in st louis. In a way the oaks are like the cool black Grand National and the oddly bright maples and sweetgums other hot rods.
Iris GW
13 years ago
And just to make it confusing, oaks can hybridize in the wild. In one area of my neighborhood we have southern red oak (Q. falcata), white oak (Q. alba), water oak (Q. nigra), red oak (Q. rubra), post oak (Q. stellata) and black oak (Q. velutina) all within a quarter mile of each other. Now those won't all hybridize with each other, but I wouldn't rule out a couple of them having a good time .... Some of the leaf variations on these guys are really amazing!

Even when identifying by leaves (and some identification may require a 10x hand lens to compare presence of hairs on the back), be sure to get leaves from mature trees (not juveniles or root sprouts) if possible and also get leaves from several branches.
gardener365
13 years ago
They look like Quercus bicolor and Quercus rubra. Possibly a promiscuous bicolor.

Dax
poaky1
13 years ago
Gardening grama are the ski trails sort of bubbled under the bark if so my tree in question must be a NRO.I noticed on the areas that are still unbarked and have the thin skin marks it has raised lines. I thought it was from a parasite but the tree looks healthy still or did all summer.

Don't forget oaks for late fall color

Comments (9)

poaky1

Iris GW

Related Discussions

crcash2

poaky1

gardningrandma

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
Original Author

Iris GW

gardener365

poaky1

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Don't forget oaks for late fall color

Comments (9)

Related Discussions

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St LouisOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
Original Author