The Santa Ana winds are blowing again and the leaves of the deciduous trees are quickly falling so I thought it'd be a good idea to share what passes for autumn color here while it lasts. We don't get cold enough to experience the kind of foliage color that the northeastern parts of the country are famous for, although the nights feel cold to us!
My largest Japanese maple, an Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku', colored up earlier in the season and is now a mass of dry brown leaves. I completely missed the colorful leaves of the peach tree on our back slope so I haven't included either in this post but here are the rest:
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The smoke tree, Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple', had lost most of its leaves too by the time I got around to photographing it
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This persimmon tree, Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu', offers the most rewarding color in my garden this time of year. I harvested a bumper crop of the fruit this year, giving most of it away to friends and neighbors.
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Not a plant known for its fall color but the foliage of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' is darker at this time of year
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This isn't foliage at all but rather the seedpods of Magnolia grandiflora, which drop in substantial numbers this time of year. The birds and squirrels seem to have a taste for the bright red seeds embedded in the pods.
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I love the bright colored leaves on this ornamental pear, Pyrus calleryana, although I could do without the small fruits that fall with them. I've never even seen the birds eat the fruit.
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My blueberry bushes are in need of pruning but this Vaccinium corymbosum 'Bountiful Blue' develops pretty pink foliage in cooler weather
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I've been trying to get rid of this noID Wisteria ever since we moved in. I haven't yet succeeded but the plant does provide a little fall color.
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The Ginkgo tree we planted last year has been a disappointment. Two late heatwaves, arriving back-to-back, burned the tree's leaves a dismal brown and caused them to drop prematurely. Later the onset of a little rain and cooler temperatures brought out a small amount of spring-like green leaves that have continued to hang on.
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The fresh leaves of Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' haven't turned gold nor fallen yet. I hope this flush doesn't prevent the tree from leafing out more fully come spring.
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By comparison, my neighbor's front garden provides a lot of color.
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My neighbor referred to these trees as sugar maples once. While they have maple-like leaves, I'm pretty sure the majority are Liquidambars with a couple of Ginkgos in the mix.
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There's another group of them on the other side of the driveway
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Closeups of the leaves and, more specifically the spiky seedpods, make it clear this isn't a maple as maple seedpods, called samaras, have more delicate helicopter shapes
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The only tree in the section behind the hedge I can identify is the fig tree, with its glowing yellow leaves
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This noID tree has redder foliage than the rest. I haven't seen it up close so I don't know if it has the seedpods that characterize Liquidambers. It's possible it could be a silver maple (Acer saccharinum), which, unlike a sugar maple, is suitable to our climate, at least according to my Sunset Western Garden Book.
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That's it for me this week. The rain that was in the forecast for early next week sadly appears to have evaporated, although there's a chance of some later that week. Fingers crossed.
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material © 2012-2022
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
It's nice to enjoy the neighbor's fall colors, without having to manage the massive leaf clutter below. Looking at the seed pods, I think you are correct; those trees are Sweetgum (Liquidambar).
ReplyDeleteThe abundance of Magnolia seedpods and Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' branches would spur me on to make a wreath.
chavli
Well, we don't entirely avoid the neighbor's massive leaf litter, Chavli - a surprising amount travels across the street into my garden but I'm shredding leaves for my compost bin so I try to see that as a positive ;) I've wondered if I could use some of the mountain of Magnolia seedpods I've collected in a wreath. They're a little unwieldy, or maybe I'm just clumsy...
DeleteBeautiful! I love colorful foliage, no matter what or where. Your garden is lovely in all seasons, even though you don't have quite the dramatic changes that we have.
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth. I don't think we get anything near the autumn foliage color you do.
DeleteVery passable foliage color! Be glad you can enjoy the sweetgum foliage from afar... those seed pods are super annoying underfoot! Hope you get some rain soon. Eliza
ReplyDeleteThe rain prospects seem to shift day-to-day. Weather Underground is currently showing a 40%-ish chance of rain next week from late Thursday night through the weekend but earlier forecasts have come to nothing.
DeleteI would guess that last tree is another Liquidambar. Most silver maples would be a pale yellow, not bright orange or red, unless they had been crossed with red maple (Acer rubrum). Those are some pretty nice fall colors you've got out there!
ReplyDeleteYou may well be right about the last tree also being a Liquidambar, Jerry. It's nice that we can join the party, even if we don't bring much to it.
DeleteLove the liquidambars - they hold their autumn colours for such a long time in our climate- is that true where you live too? Those magnolia seed pods are beautiful- I can see them painted and used as natural Christmas tree baubles.
ReplyDeleteThe Liquidambars color up slowly and change a lot over the course of the fall season, Horticat. Whether they last a long time is hard for me to judge as I don't have much else to compare them to :)
DeleteYour neighbour has a whole lot of trees for such an urban lot but how nice to be able to share in their Fall colour. I would think in your year round growing climate that Fall colour isn't too big a deal. So many other things to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteDeciduous trees and shrubs are relatively uncommon in general here, Elaine, and in line with your reasoning, I also believe that's attributable to the year-round growing season. The feeling seems to be: why stare at bare stems when you can have color all year?
DeleteI think of Aloe flowers as "fall color" now. :) Though I get a bit (some years) from Crape Myrtles, Magnolia stellata, and possibly Acer palmatums, depending on the weather. The Parthenocissus tricuspidata will get some gold and red, and the table Grape leaves turn a nice gold, too.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' loses its summertime tan, grey, and tangerine and turns lavender and aqua for the winter!
Your Ginkgo is just a baby. Give it time.
I've wondered if the Ginkgo would be better with a little shade and/or wind protection but I've no plan to move it. I hope it'll toughen up as it ages. I noticed that the neighbor's Ginkgos, partially shaded by their Liquidambars and watered on the same schedule as their lawn (i.e. a lot), also lost their leaves earlier this year so perhaps the biggest issue was simply the timing of the late summer/early fall heat waves.
DeleteWhat a lovely selection! We've had a protracted, piecemeal Fall this year due to the summer dryness, so it is nice to see your show of colour. I especially liked the photos of your persimmon tree, as I've not seen one before. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was dry here too but I was pleased to see we still got a bit of foliage color, even if most of it was across the street at my neighbor's house ;) That particular persimmon tree, the 'Fuyu' variety, reliably produces attractive fall foliage, unlike the 'Hachiya' variety only a few yards away.
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