My turn... with Ark's blessing I'm going to post some fall pics taken in Fort Smith yesterday. Unfortunately, the trees peaked 2-3 days before I could get the camera out and most trees lost a LOT of color, especially the sugar maples. Some pics were taken at my house, some on the side of the road and some just off the road in town. Let's start with sugar maple pics: Acer saccharum By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 Liriodendron tulipifera By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 Prunus spp By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 The camera really did not do justice to the last two pics above. Beautiful oranges... Carya spp By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 More coming...

Thanks tj, Cher, Dave, Fotis, Edwin, and severnside. Fotis, you remember correctly, these plants will go in a bed with northern exposure. The house shades much of the bed for most of the day but all of it gets at least 1-2 hours of direct sun most of the year, and the point receives sun all day. There's less sun in the winter, one reason I am hoping Chief Joseph will do well. I am opting to leave the firs in pots over the winter since it'll be easier to keep them on the dry side. I think this consideration should override winter root growth and make spring a better time to plant them. I have always been very happy with plants from Bloom River Gardens. Though they are a bit pricier than most, this is definitely a case of get what you pay for. Plants I've received from them have always been in right-sized containers with good root/shoot proportions. Root systems have always been in great condition and never root-bound. I think the perception of being expensive may be in part due to the fact that they list plant size in height, not pot size. For example, the balsam fir was described as "9-12 inches", which in my opinion downplays the actual size as it's a quite full 2 gallon plant. This was my first plant order with 'Dan's Dwarf Conifers'. Obviously, I am pleased with my order. I will note that you do not get the plant pictured on the website (I think it was stated previously by someone here that you do), but that misconception aside I was very happy with what I got.

Those red bald cypresses are crazy cool looking. As for larch, on my land I have some large native tamarack in full golden glory right now. But those marschlinsii have the most amazing fall coloration. They go through a sort of sequence-reds, purples and golds all mixed up on the same tree. One thing about larch....just when it seems the fall color show is pretty much over, these things color up so nicely. It also helps that they very often tower over all the surrounding trees. +oM

Dave, I have heard of storing them bare root but I've never been brave enough to risk it! The g/h won't be heated again this winter just bubble wrapped (should have done it before I bought the plants in shouldn't I? duh!) so I think they will be less prone to frost damage if potted, despite taking up more room. I cut them hard back and they sprout a new sets of leaves then try their best to flower all winter but I usually snip those off to conserve their energy, that way they're real strong and healthy come spring. I have a few plants to offload on some unsuspecting folks so will have a bit more shelf space in a few days! Howard, yes, there are more and more palms planted in U.K. gardens than ever before as in general our winters are no where near as cold/long as a few decades ago. Trachycarpus are hardy enough to grow outdoors as are Butias, Canary Island dates and Chamaerops palms, and they can get to huge proportions. Most of mine you see above I've grown from seed I've collected on holidays:-) Gill