FALL COLOR THREAD - 2023
eta: 9-22-2023: post date.
Changing from green has been asynchronous this season with many trees turning colors starting at the top and by the time the lower sections turn, the top is getting brown already.
With some of the maples turning well already here's my early bird Fraxinus nigra (black ash).
Along the bike trail, north of Brainerd the sumac was glowing.
Some of the red maples were almost past peak but coloring to rival the sugars.
The Virginia creepers were bright red but I was too lazy to stop for that one. :-\
New one for me this season is the deciduous holly (winterberry). :-))
My Celtis occidentalis turning lime green against the dark background of the elms.
That's all I have for now.
Anything in your area ready to post? Let's see them! :^)
Comments (176)
djacob Z6a SE WI
5 months agoHere’s a pic of my King Crimson Red Maple. I don’t think I have ever seen it this color before. It’s leaves are a deep burgundy color. In fall the leaves turn a deep purple, almost black. I don’t know why it’s golden this year…… several years of drought? Extremely high tempurtures??? 🤷🏼♀️
debraBillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked djacob Z6a SE WI
Mike Hisey
5 months agoQuercus nigra, usually doesn't color up till around Thanksgiving to December 1st.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked Mike HiseyRelated Discussions
Show Us Your Landscape and Gardens-A Photo Thread - JUNE 2023
Comments (23)Wow I've been completely missing these threads! I have such limited time and I don't usually come to NE forum much because unfortunately it's so quiet, and this didn't pop up in the "new threads" listing. Glad I checked! I'll have to go back to May too. And yes, I definitely check the links to past threads too! As usual I don't have much to post - not great about taking pictures. Or at least not good about getting them from my phone to my computer. A few unknown irises, just about finishing up I have some unknown yellow irises that are totally wowing me this year. They have been in bloom for WEEKS!! I do have pictures on my phone lol. Wish I knew what they were. I transferred them two seasons ago from a neglected bed, and they have multiplied nicely and are just non-stop! Rose - either Amelia or Ashley Some reseeded campanula. I love the way this pops up around my yard. This is peeking out of a hydrangea (ignore the bittersweet - I'm getting to it!) My Zephrine Drouin (and therefore the Rooguchi that was in with it) got knocked off my arbor by strong wind earlier this season. No time to get to it and then saw buds forming all along the topside of the fallen rose, so left it until after bloom. Here are a couple of photos of the mess lol Such lovely photos everyone! MG George once gave me a styrax japonica that was very similar to your halesia. Actually, it was kinda funny - he gave me one, quite a good size, and it just didn't make it through winter. Next swap he asked about it and I had to tell him the sad news. "Dee, no problem. I give you another" and he did! Another good sized one. So generous! Well wouldn't you know a tree fell the next year or two, a huge oak, and totally smashed the styrax. I didn't have the heart to tell George - and knowing him he would have given me a third one! And that was more than I could take lol. I think of George every time I see a styrax (which isn't often, at least not in the wild, only in articles and catalogs) and your tree reminded me again! :) Dee...See MoreShow Us Your Landscape and Gardens - A Photo Thread - August 2023
Comments (13)Deanna, The Berms. The last two winters I have been focused on figuring out more ways to address drought in the garden. My full sun bed in the front of the house, slopes away from the house , of course, as everyone’s does. So the rain runs off into the street to some extent. I already capture the rain coming down from the downspout into the rain barrel, but I thought, maybe if I built a Berm along the low street side of the bed, it would keep the rain on the property and keep that bed moist. It has really been successful in that regard. Of course, it’s not a great year to judge it because we have had so much rain. Next time we have a drought will be more instructive. Aside from that purpose, I am seeing the added benefit of building up the soil. I chose the location by where it would capture the most water and fit in with the design of the bed. It allowed me to still grow the plants that don’t like wet feet on the other side of the Berm, at the top of my steepest slope, if I want to - like Salvias. All the plants directly behind the berm really benefited this year. Not only water, but fertility from the Berm breaking down. The volunteer squash was such a delightful surprise. The foliage is so attractive and the plants have remained healthy all season. It has just taken off all along the top of the berm, and I’ve had to “arrange” it around the Sedum AJs and Grasses. It climbed into a Sedum and deposited another squash, which was a fun surprise this week. I had a half dozen seedlings and I thinned out to two of the strongest. That squash has grown 100% better out front in full sun on that berm than it ever did in the back where I get 5hrs tops and tree roots to contend with. And I don’t think it looks out of place with the rest of the perennials and shrubs. I want to do it again next year. I also had volunteer borage come up. I discovered a few years ago that Cardinals have some kind of interest in the Borage plant, that I still don’t know what it is, but I grow that for them now. I think I can grow the squash and borage together in the Berm next year. But there are so many possibilities for what you can grow there. And you could grow nothing in it too. I wouldn’t plant perennials or shrubs in it, because it does break down and needs to keep being replenished. I have grown them right up next to it though. To build it - well, depends on whether you compost or not. I have two passive compost bins that I bought from the town years ago when they were trying to encourage people to compost. I fill them up with any kind of plant material - deadheaded hibiscus blooms at the moment, weeds that are not going to seed, grass clippings, leaves. Then we collect kitchen scraps - egg shells, coffee grinds, banana peels, vegetables, orange rinds, paper towels sometimes, tea bags…etc. Nothing diseased. I leave the tops off the containers to allow the rain to keep it moist and if it doesn’t rain I have to water it. That’s all I do until it’s full. In the fall, last year and this year, we have a pile of branches from pruning in the spring that I haven’t used yet. We have grass clippings. By the time I am building the berms, I’ll probably have brown leaves. I will take it all….the branches on the bottom, and then layered on top the contents of the compost bins, the leaves, the grass clippings. I make them a couple of feet wide and a couple of feet high. Maybe 18”? Depends, I don’t want to shade the plants behind them. I shape them like a long wide sausage…lol. I do curl the end sides to keep the rain from running around the side of them. Then I top them off with a good thick layer of bark mulch. I’m not sure I would always do this if it was in an out of the way area, but right in front of the house along my best bed, I wanted it mulched. This year, I plan to replenish by pulling back the bark mulch and adding to it then adding another thick layer of bark mulch again. I want to add more branches this year to slow down the break down. If I could get away with not having to replenish it every season, that would work out best. I’m also adding new locations where I plan to grow vegetables next year, for the fertility. I found the beautiful soil in July and I constructed the Berm last Fall. So, not that long really....See MoreShow Us Your Landscape and Gardens - A Photo Thread - September 2023
Comments (18)About the Tithonia, I KNOW! I check every day. Not even a bee on it, and there are NO chemicals or anything nearby. I forgot about the root beer smell on some Agastache. Going to crush some leaves and see if I can get a whiff! This is a GREAT blog post from Hayefield about Japanese Burnet and what to plant it with. It’s the one that got me started. Now I notice all the smaller ones and I am ready to go down the burnet rabbithole! Hayefield Japanese Burnet post Some more first-year bloomers: I thought all of these seedlings had died and mistook them for a type of carnation, but I am SO pleased to see I was wrong! These are Heleniums, which have FINALLY survived the slugs and become plants. My wintersowing germination is excellent, but I swear I love over 50% of what germinates before it can get established, mostly from slugs. I’m very happy to finally have Helenium survive. I may have to move it from this location, but I’m very happy to cater to its needs! Sterntaler coreopsis is now blooming. I must admit, the burgundy center is not my favorite since I am not a fan or bronze and burgundy in the garden, either in flower or foliage. (The burnet above leans more towards purple, so it’s OK.). But, I’m glad to have them anyway. It seems one of my Heliopsis is neither Summer Nights or Burning Hearts, but is the standard. Another very welcome surprise! Here’s a good shot of my secondary growth from the seed pods with their own buds. It’s just so weird and Intersting! And this lungwort and brunerra area has LOVED the moisture. I lost many brunerra when it was first being established, but for the past three years it has finally settled in and even reseeding all over with both brunerras and lungwort. It’s so nice to see the variegated/frosty brunneras reseed. I think it helped when I put a HUGE rock up at the driveway edge so the plowman would stop destorying it. Every plowman should be required to tend gardens by hand in the summer, in my dream world. And three spring/early summer bloomers are reblooming, both viola, nepeta, and dianthus. And, lastly, I love River Oats seedheads. They are still green now, and are beautiful in the morning moisture....See MoreWhat’s for Dinner #408 Late Fall 2023
Comments (97)No interesting cooking for people over here, but I’ve been cooking tasty food for dogs :-) We’re in Berkeley taking care of our friends’ very elderly and reportedly on his last legs little dog. I am, of course, determined that he will not expire on my watch, and when he eats enthusiastically I feel better. So, what to feed him? The base is a tasty homemade chicken stock, made from a roasted chicken, carrots, celery, onion - just like you’d make a chicken stock for yourself. We cook a batch of rice with that stock. Other chicken is browned then simmered, and minced up. His kibble is soaked in more stock. Then some more cooked chicken and carrots get pureed with stock into a sort of gravy-paste. Rice, kibble, and gravy are mixed, then briefly warmed in the microwave. Finally, crisp bacon is crumbled on top. I am pleased to say that Elderly Dog positively gobbles his food, cleaning his bowl reliably enough that I can give him his pills crushed in the food. I’d happily eat it myself, actually, except that there’s no salt or spice. Well, I don’t really like kibble. All the fixings are in stored in Tupperware so feeding doesn’t take long....See More- BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked Mike Hisey
floraluk2
5 months agoMy favourite Liriodendron tulipifera
Boston Ivy
And not forgetting berries...
Variegated Ilex aquifolium
Pyracantha
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked floraluk2- BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked pennlake
forever_a_newbie_VA8
5 months agoJapanese maple shows the best color this year
Crape myrtle also turn red
Loquat trees are blooming and the fragrance intoxicates the whole yard
Fall blooming camellia
Happy golden fall 🍂
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked forever_a_newbie_VA8BillMN-z-2-3-4
5 months agofloraluk2
5 months agolast modified: 5 months agoMy favourite tulip tree again. Seen over the roof tops from my bathroom window.
Swamp Cypress spotted on my walk home today.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked floraluk2
arbordave (SE MI)
5 months agofloral, that's an impressive tuliptree, certainly makes for a great view from your window.
A planting of Kerria japonica I drove past on Friday (11/17/23)
A late coloring red maple in town, not sure on the cultivar (11/19/23)
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked arbordave (SE MI)floraluk2
5 months agoA pair of Ginkgos in a local park. They're the only fruit bearing ones I've seen in this country.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked floraluk2
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked 41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
5 months agofloraluk2
5 months agolast modified: 5 months agoMixed Pyracantha hedge.
Merging seasons. Summer into autumn. Hebe and fallen leaves.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked floraluk2BillMN-z-2-3-4
5 months agoThanks floral!
Nice to see things there that are still growing. ;-)
I just put out the winter holiday pots today. It's been a thing around here for several years now.
:^)
John
5 months agoHere are some pics I took around the yard in west central Arkansas this fall. The colors were shaping up to be spectacular by our standards but a hard freeze just after Halloween killed it. Our peak is usually around the end of the first week of November. All except the big sugarberry are trees I have grown from seed =)
I have a lot more photos but these are some of the best this year.
Blackgum
Swamp white oak
Willow oak
Sugarberry
Seedling red maple
Seedling northern red oak
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked John
ViburnumValley central KY Bluegrass z6
5 months agoBillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked ViburnumValley central KY Bluegrass z6ViburnumValley central KY Bluegrass z6
5 months agolast modified: 5 months ago@#$$#&$$@#$€¥¢£§∆√π$&#!!!
Oops again; continued from previous post...
Seen at a gas station two hours ago (11/21/2023) in Louisville KY...
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked ViburnumValley central KY Bluegrass z6
bengz6westmd
5 months ago
davidrt28 (zone 7)
5 months agoI generally avoid these threads that become huge but this one is hard to resist! One more from my garden, again a distant compressed view showing
The left edge of a Sekken Sugi,
the mostly shaded outline of a Cryptomeria 'Rasen'
Abies firma of course
behind both of them the behemoth 'Ogon', which was a 30" twig in 2009
Poliothyrsis sinensis, which like a lot of Asian endemic genus, is late in turning
My other Larix kaempferi and/or × marschlinsii, which is always later turning and more of a yellow than the gold of the one above
The very tippy top of my Abies pindrow, which is now about 12' tall but I pointed the camera up in this case to show the scale of the 'Ogon'!
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked davidrt28 (zone 7)John
5 months agoIt very well might be Shumard, Beng. I collected the acorn from a native stand of oaks at a local park. Lots of q. alba and classic northern red. There are some planted shumard nearby. Maybe the swapped some genes. Red oaks can be a pain in the butt to ID for sure. Wish I took a pic of the acorn before I put it in the ground!
Here is a 'shumard' as tagged but it looks more like nuttal oak to me. It hasn't started making acorns yet but I'll be sure to post some pics for an ID when it does.
Just saw some blood red leaves on my swamp chestnut oak a few minutes ago. Might be the reddest leaves I've ever seen on an oak.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked John
KW PNW Z8
5 months agoFall color in my town is having it’s last hurrah. Most trees are leafless now. But, here are two that look spectacular on their own & not because there’s so little competition! In my front side yard is this Peve Minaret Bald Cypress. Each year at least one neighbor will ask if it’s dying since there aren’t many deciduous conifers around here.
This purple leafed weeping beech is in my neighbor’s back yard
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked KW PNW Z8bengz6westmd
5 months agoJohn, you must be an oak aficionado. I can't resist since my Shumard x unknown oak is even better, still keeping a ruby-red look on Thanksgiving Day. Beginning to think it might have scarlet oak in its genes as that species colors very late & similar color. Leaf below looks fairly-much like Shumard, but leaf-forms on it vary alot.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked bengz6westmdbengz6westmd
5 months agoJohn, swamp chestnut oak should be planted more. Rarely seen one in my area, but the nearby Rocky Gap state park (Maryland) fortunately planted some. The leaves for an oak are quite thick and leathery.
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked bengz6westmd41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
5 months agolast modified: 5 months ago
Metasequoia (Dawn Redwood)
Bloodgood Japanese Maple this afternoonBillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked 41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)floraluk2
5 months ago
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked alley_cat_gw_7bViburnumValley central KY Bluegrass z6
5 months agoLot of water and a big old boat behind the Bell Tower; what are we looking at there?
This afternoon in downtown Louisville...
Handsome unknown Acer palmatum and Betula nigra; I'm hoping to find out who designed this welcoming space.BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked ViburnumValley central KY Bluegrass z6forever_a_newbie_VA8
4 months agoThe camellia seedling is blooming after maybe 10 years in ground. Background is Japanese maple
BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked forever_a_newbie_VA8- BillMN-z-2-3-4 thanked floraluk2
floraluk2