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/
This is a recycled picture that still annoys me. There was another that I did not want to use because it happens to be from a landscape that I sometimes work in.
Is this Armillaria mellea, the dreaded oak root rot fungus? I really do not know. All the elements are here. The stump is that of a coast live oak. Bellow the stump there are the remains of roots. Those necrotic roots are undoubtedly decomposing as a result of rot. That rot is undoubtedly associated with this fungus. Furthermore, it fits the description of oak root rot fungus. The toasted spots were probably caused by weathering as the mushrooms started to develop while the weather was still warm and dry.
It is certainly not my favorite small tree. Actually, in most situations, I rather dislike it, which is why I sometimes accidentally spell it without the first ‘e’. It is a cop out; a micro tree that too often ends up where a larger and more respectable tree would be more appropriate. They are not shade trees. They are not not big enough for freeway landscapes or to be street trees on wide boulevards. They are not immune to diseases and insect infestations; and they commonly drop honeydew from aphid or scale infestation, and lose their bloom to powdery mildew. They are not ‘low-maintenance’, and really should be pruned more than they are, but will get you in trouble with the neighbors if you prune them as aggressively as they should be pruned.
We do not get much frost here. This picture of the view through the windshield of one of the work vehicles was taken more than a week ago, while the humidity and the temperatures were still quite low. The sparse and angular pattern of the frost on the windshield is a result of the minimal humidity. There will be more frost later in winter, although there will not be nearly as much as most other climates get.
One never knows what strange artifacts might be found out in public landscapes. It is amusing enough to find items discarded or simply misplaced long ago by former occupants of a home out in a private home garden. Public landscapes are even more interesting, since they collect debris and artifacts from many more people. Some landscapes have been doing so for a long time.
Tony Tomeo 