End of season color - sort of...!

5 years ago

The summer season is definitely over now, with a few last things still in bloom in the front garden. Fall color in the backyard is a combination of non-existent and rather drab on the things that have changed color!

In the front garden the mums in the north driveway border are always the last thing to bloom, blooming into mid-November. The white flowers fade to pink as the blooms age. The Queen Elizabeth rose is still producing a few last flowers - this rose was almost killed by last winter's yo-yo temperature extremes. A few growth buds survived at the base.... The rose has been only about half its normal height! In the 'moat bed' along the ditch by the road, pink anemones are just finishing blooming. The green 'tree' on the top right side of the picture is the Chinese wisteria. (Pardon the garden-waste container and bucket on the driveway - I couldn't eliminate them from the picture :-)

In the backyard it's just green and messy yellow-brown. The young fringetree in the patio hosta bed usually turns a nice buttery yellow but it is still completely green. The dogwood(s) are showing little signs of the expected red color. The serviceberry and a Japanese maple that are usually a nice orange are just a wimpy yellow-brown. So all that is a bit disappointing.

are you getting good color in your fall garden?

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GardenHo_MI_Z5

5 years ago

I’ve got color but not like the previous years. I’m sure it’s due to the drought this summer. Getting quite a bit of rain now, with several frosty mornings making things ugly...

Fav fall bed

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Comments (17)

StevePA6a
5 years ago
Two disappointing falls in a row, for two very different reasons. Last year was so hot, dry, and sunny, with very few cloudy days. The trees were just shedding dried up, brown leaves, and even maples hanging onto them like oaks.

This year, very saturated soil starting halfway through July, with not enough sunny days. We went from very humid, warm conditions, right to 40's, 50's and 60's F a couple weeks ago. Still no frost, so everything is kinda just "preserved" in fading green. Definitely not complaining about the abundant moisture (we NEEDED it!), just didn't make for a very nice gardening experience.
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada thanked StevePA6a
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woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
5 years ago
That’s a lot more color than we have! Red, and bright/strong orange seems particularly absent here this year.
skibby (zone 4 Vermont)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
All beautiful pics. GardenHo - your garden is far from ugly! Season-appropriate. :)
GardenHo_MI_Z5
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Skibby thank you. There is plenty of ugly out there, I just didn’t take an pics of those lol.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Beautiful, GH. Do you remember the name of your gold arborvitae? It adds some gorgeous contrast that makes the reds look richer.

We have had quite a bit of heavy rain, wind, and even some hail this fall, so it seems as though as soon as the trees or shrubs develop color, the leaves get snatched off by yet another storm, so it hasn’t been a particularly colorful fall here. We have had some frosts and a couple of nights down into the mid 20s, and are now nearing the end of our autumn foliage color, with just a few birches and maples retaining color along with oaks and beeches, the last woodland trees to turn color. I have Viburnums, Kousa dogwoods, and Fothergilla that have yet to get color, and I am hoping we get a patch of Indian summer weather to show them off to good effect. In blooms there are still are monkshood/Aconitum, fall blooming Crocus, hardy mums, and some remarkably resilient self-seeded annual candytuft. I also still have a few clematis blossoms scattered around the garden, especially some of the little bells like Princess Red.
GardenHo_MI_Z5
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Thank you Babs The arborvitae is ‘forever goldie’. I found them a few years ago on clearance at Walmart...of all places. They had all their trees and shrubs sectioned off in-the Parking lot and they caught my eye...
mxk3 z5b_MI
5 years ago
WoodyOak: I love QE rose! Lucky you to have blooms of hers to enjoy this time of year.

GardenHo: Terrific autumnal color! Especially tied in with the color of your barn (pics of which I previously saved for ideas)
katob Z6ish, NE Pa
5 years ago
haha, my 'forever goldy' is from a walmart clearance lot as well. It must have been a good year for clearances!

First frost came and went but it wasn't too bad, there's still some color.

I must have gotten distracted before the wheelbarrow made it to the compost...
Here's some more autumn color, but I'm not sure it's the color people want to see ;)
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada thanked katob Z6ish, NE Pa
GardenHo_MI_Z5
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

That’s too funny Katob!!

The leaves are falling fast here...and so are the temps :(

The burning bushes have colored up now, so I took my last pics....

This one I took just for Babs..

Brrr it’s cold out there...I’m sure dreading winter!!
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada thanked GardenHo_MI_Z5
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
5 years ago
For the first time, we have some noticeable pink-red calyxes on the heptacodium tree - nowhere near the show I've seen in pictures of them from warmer areas but it's the first time for any noticeable color here. I don't know whether the color this year is due to the hot summer, the maturity of the tree, or how much pollination did - or did not - happen this year. Picture from yesterday:

katob - what does the color on yours look like now? Anyone else have one of these with good color now....?
User
5 years ago
GH what is the beautifully colored plant in this pic?
peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
5 years ago

Just gorgeous pics everyone. We had fall (winter) arrive early and we went down hard, fast and ugly for the most part. The trees started to get fall colour and then just dropped their leaves. Most perennials went to mush after 4" of snow last weekend. It has since melted.

Emily when GardenHo posts she will be able to be more specific but it is a Geranium. Many G. take on fabulous fall coloration.
GardenHo_MI_Z5
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Snow? You poor thing....I’m hoping it holds off for awhile out this way.

Emily it’s a ‘Johnson blue’ geranium. (Not as big as it appears as it’s a close up) I agree it’s a beauty. And to think I once considered shovel pruning it! Sure glad I waited....

l believe I have 6 different varieties of geranium, and it’s by far the best one for fall color.
katob Z6ish, NE Pa
5 years ago
Woody- my heptacodium is looking as dull as usual this autumn. Few red calyxes and the leaves are still mostly green as they fall off. I just recently saw that there's a proven winners selection which is supposed to have more of a red color to the calyx, maybe a second tree here wouldn't be out of the question... I could probably shoehorn it in somewhere!
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada thanked katob Z6ish, NE Pa
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
5 years ago
katob - a neighbour across the street bought one a couple of years ago that has more color - maybe that is a Proven Winners one....? Hers is in the backyard and the tree's not big enough yet to be visible from outside the fence - but she says it-s looking very good this year. Ours seems to have got a bit more of the red-pink color as it has gotten older. DH took a nice close-up of the 'flower'heads - I'll have to get a copy of the picture to post here.... I'd love to have another one but I can't think where I'd put it...!
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
5 years ago
The picture DH took of a 'flower' cluster of calyxes:

So, the color is there.... Hopefully it will continue to get stronger as the tree ages....!