Autumn foliar color, fall color, autumn leaves or whatever you know it as; there was too much of it to fit into just six pictures. That is why I submitted two ‘Six on Saturday’ posts last week, and why this one is number ‘III’, and why there will be a number ‘IV’ right afterward. Only one reader expressed concern that submitting two posts to ‘Six on Saturday’ on the same Saturday is a violation of the rules, but I got the impression that even he did not mind. These pictures, as well as the next six, were actually taken more than a week ago, which might violate another rule. If you are seeing them now, I have not yet been prosecuted, and compelled to delete them. Much of the foliage was knocked to the ground by rain since the pictures were taken. The apple tree #4 was pruned back severely, and is now completely defoliate. The title ‘Cherries, Berries, Plums, Apples, . . . & Ginkgo’ implies that all but one are fruit trees; but they aren’t. Well, you can see what I mean.

1. Yoshino flowering cherry, which I know as ‘Akebono’, just might be the most traditional of the Japanese flowering cherries in America. It is the classic cherry blossom tree around Washington D. C.. As flashy as the bloom is, it is sterile; so the trees are fruitless. You can not see it, but the home in the background is of classic Early American architecture. It is a family home, so is too big for my taste. It would otherwise be my favorite home in the neighborhood.

2. Kwanzan flowering cherry is the second most popular flowering cherry in our region. The big pink double flowers are a bit too garish for my taste, but they really are flashy! Like the Yoshino cherry, the Kwanzan cherry is fruitless.

3. American plum is not native here, but naturalized. It was and probably still is a common understock for quite a few of the stone fruits. It often grows from the roots of a stone fruit tree that got cut down to the ground. It makes small tart plums that are not much bigger than fat cherries, but not many of us use them for anything. Garden varieties of plum and cherry are naturally more desirable. I Intend to use American plum for jam, but I always get out to pick them after they have fallen to the ground and gone bad. You may have noticed that the first three subjects are of the same genus, Prunus.

4. Apple happens to do very well in our region. The old apple trees on the farm are remnants of an old orchard. Others in the neighborhood are from old farms. This one is on the edge of a sidewalk where it was not likely planted intentionally. It likely grew from a seed from a discarded apple core. It does happen to make apples, but they are no good. I just cut this tree back severely. If the apples are still no good next year, the tree might get cut down.

5. Ginkgo is an ornamental tree here. Because those of us who do not want the fruit find the stinky aroma and mess to be objectionable, garden varieties are all male, and therefore fruitless. However, in some cultures, ginkgo is grown both for fruit, and for the nuts within the fruit. There are a few female trees in older neighborhoods here. They were grown from seed before all male garden varieties were developed. Back then, there was no way to determine the gender of a ginkgo tree until it started to develop fruit . . . or hopefully didn’t.

6. Barberry is strictly ornamental. I have never actually seen a bar’berry’ fruit. This particular unknown cultivar happens to be bronzed, with very dark foliage that turns bright yellow and orange for autumn. It is very thorny!

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/