Fall Foliage - Southern California Style

Temperatures have gone up and down this fall but, despite periodic blasts of summer-like heat, we have some touches of fall foliage color.  It's nothing like what the northeastern part of the country has to offer but we appreciate what we get nonetheless.  Evergreen plants are more common in my climate than deciduous ones but we also don't get cold enough to allow the deciduous plants we do have to color up.  Freezes are a freak occurrence here - I haven't experienced one in the 10+ years we've been in our current home.  Just for fun, I ran an online search to see if I could find evidence of any freezes in my general area in the recent past.  I found an article (complete with photos) pointing to snowfall in 1949, which you can find here. 

Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' reliably delivers fall color.  In contrast, my dwarf Japanese maple 'Mikawa Yatsubusa' (not shown) goes from green to a gray brown.  I was shocked when I saw a photo of the red color it delivers in other situations.

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' colored up rather well this year, although I need to do a better job of pruning it to encourage it to develop a bushier shape

This persimmon tree, Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu', also puts on a good display

However, the 'Hachiya' persimmon, just feet away, develops very little color before all the leaves drop

This is the first year in the garden for Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold'.  It didn't develop the warm yellow foliage the cultivar is known for, which may be at least partly my fault.  It started dropping leaves mid-summer.  I increased the water and the leaf drop stopped but perhaps that early stress affected its ability to handle peak summer heat.  It's now dropping toasted brown leaves.

The leaves of the ornamental pear, Pyrus calleryana, develop vivid color before they fall but this happens so gradually the tree itself never looks as stunning as it does in colder climates.  Many of the leaves hang on and remain green until spring when the tree begins to flower and new leaves develop.

Oddly, some but not all of the star jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, develop red foliage

This potted blueberry, Vaccinium x 'Sunshine Blue', turns redder than the 'Bountiful Blue' varieties sitting alongside it

The neighbors across the street get more color than we do but their trees are off to a late start this year.

Most of these are maples of some kind but there are a couple of Ginkgos in the mix, one of which is still mostly green

I may have little in the way of the golden yellows, oranges and reds that signal fall for most people but many of the drought tolerant plants in my garden glow in a different way.  I'll close by offering a few examples.

Agave 'Blue Glow' surrounded by Aeonium 'Sunburst', Euphorbia rigida, and Dasylirion longissimum

My oldest Agave ovatifolia, planted in 2012

Celadon green Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie', planted in 2015 (shown from two angles)

My favorite Echium, E. webbii, with its silvery leaves

Enjoy a colorful weekend!

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party