Flowering pear should become exceptionally colorful.
Some of the most reliable autumn foliar color is that of flowering pear, Pyrus calleryana. Some may know it as Callery pear. It develops foliar color as soon as the weather cools. Such color ranges from brilliant yellow to deep burgundy red, but is mostly fiery orange. This colorful foliage lasts for two or three weeks, but can be dislodged by rain and wind.
After winter, many trees bloom with billowy white flowers. Bloom is more abundant after exceptionally cool winters. Vigorous young trees may not bloom as much as established trees. Unfortunately, some may find the floral fragrance of some cultivars objectionable. Some mature trees produce tiny but potentially somewhat messy fruits during summer.
Flowering pear can grow about twenty feet tall or a bit taller. Its branch structure can be quite dense and compact. Consequently, crowded limbs can break away from otherwise symmetrical mature trees. Leaves are somewhat rounded and about two or three inches long. They develop as spring bloom finishes. Fireblight sometimes becomes a problem.
Autumn is known as fall for a reason. It is when foliage falls from deciduous plants. It is, of course, more interesting than that. Some deciduous foliage first provides spectacular autumn foliar color. Formerly green foliage turns bright yellow, orange, red or even dark purply red. Even some shades of brown are visually appealing as the weather changes.
All sorts of deciduous plants develop autumn foliar color. They can be shrubbery, vines, groundcovers or even perennials. The biggest and best are deciduous trees. Deciduous plants may seem to be messy, but that is only because they shed all at once. Many are tidy after autumn. Evergreen plants shed also but do so slower through longer seasons.
Sweetgum, or liquidambar, is likely the most familiar tree to produce autumn foliar color. It is also one of the messier deciduous trees. That is only because it does not shed all at once. Instead, it retains much of its color through autumn and perhaps into winter. Spiky seed capsules can become a nuisance among mature trees. Roots can be aggressive.
Chinese pistache is as colorful, with bright yellow, orange and red autumn foliar color. It seems to be a bit less messy because it sheds more efficiently. This means that it does not retain its color as late into autumn or winter. Its pinnately compound leaves fall apart into individual leaflets. These smaller leaflets take more effort to rake than larger leaves.
Ginkgo lacks orange and red autumn foliar color but excels at vividly bright yellow. It is a stately tree with tall and slender form. Modern cultivars are exclusively male, so can not generate messy and stinky fruit. While young, their roots are reasonably docile, which is why they are popular street trees. Ginkgo can defoliate prematurely, particularly in rain.
Although some deciduous plants do not develop autumn foliar color, several do. Quite a few options are available. Flowering pear and crape myrtle provide both foliar color and showy bloom. Flowering pear blooms white for spring. Crape myrtle blooms with various bright colors for summer. Boston ivy is a clinging vine that provides autumn foliar color. Smokebush is a big deciduous shrub that develops splendid color for autumn.
After a week of summerish temperatures in the nineties, autumn is beginning to express itself, although some plants still believe that it is summer.
1. Weeds are going to seed now more than the rest of the year. While most disperse seed almost continually through their growing season, some disperse more prior to autumn.
2. Cotinus coggygria, smoke tree retains is purplish foliar color rather well until the end of summer. Pollarding enhances such foliar color, although it also compromises bloom.
3. Cornus X ‘Eddies White Wonder’ dogwood is already beginning to show a slight bit of autumn foliar color. Only a few leaves are like this while all the rest remain bright green.
4. The same dogwood is also blooming with a few flowers. I do not know if these are late from last spring or early for next spring. It does this annually and still blooms for spring.
5. Feijoa sellowiana, pineapple guava supposedly ripens about now, but actually ripens for late autumn or even early winter. These fruit are abundant but still need to plumpen.
6. Leycesteria formosa, Himalayan honeysuckle is producing its first two berries here! I realize that each of several trusses should produce several berries, but these are the first!
European white birch, Betula pendula, is a team player. It usually inhabits landscapes in groups rather than singly. Some trees have two, three or more trunks. After all, its primary allure is its strikingly white trunks. Because its foliar canopies are not overly broad, a few can fit into limited space. It is an informal and relaxed tree with nicely pendulous growth.
Mature European white birches are not much more than fifty feet tall here. They can grow taller where winters are cooler. Their slender trunks are mostly less than a foot and a half wide. They generally lean with prevailing winds and away from shade. Their smooth and white bark develops rough and black furrows with age. Their little leaves are deciduous.
European white birch appreciates regular irrigation, so should perform well within lawns. It produces only moderate shade. ‘Laciniata’ has intricately lobed foliage and a narrower form. ‘Youngii’ is so pendulous that it needs staking to stand upright. It can not grow very tall. ‘Purpurea’ has bronzed foliage and somewhat tan trunks, but has become very rare. European white birch might self sow.
It is looking a bit more like autumn as a few more species respond to cooling weather by discoloring or deteriorating before defoliation.
1. Hosta plantaginea, hosta is really looking shabby now. Actually though, it never really looked all that good. The difference is that this shabbiness is because of cooling weather.
2. Plectranthus scutellarioides, coleus, which looked so splendid for Six on Saturday two weeks ago, is beginning to succumb to cooling weather, as is typical for this time of year.
3. Acer palmatum, Japanese maple, which was still green for Six on Saturday two weeks ago, is now beginning to yellow in response to cooling weather, as it should for autumn.
4. Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple was already bronzy red, but is beginning to turn a bit brighter red because of the cooling weather. Its color may linger for a while.
5. Metasequoia glyptostroboides, dawn redwood is likewise beginning to yellow because of cooling weather. It eventually turns brown while all the other redwoods remain green.
6. Rosa, carpet rose is the only one of these six that is not responding to cooling weather as it produces a few rose hips. I did not expect this. Rose hips are rare in our landscapes.
It lacks the spectacular spring bloom of the other deciduous fruit trees, but compensates. Persimmon, Diospyros kaki, performs double duty with fall color. Its autumn foliar color is impressively fiery orange. Then, it defoliates to reveal plump, abundant and comparably fiery orange fruit. So, it is spectacular with both autumn foliar color and autumn fruit color.
Persimmon trees are tempting. Some cultivars can grow twenty feet tall to become small or even mid sized shade trees. However, if they do so, much of their overly abundant fruit is unreachable. Aggressive and strategic pruning limits their production with most of their fruit in reach. Although undemanding otherwise, this major dormant pruning is important.
Persimmons are self fruitful without a pollinator. However, they supposedly provide more fruit of better quality with another cultivar. Fruit is unfortunately inedible before thoroughly ripe, but then all ripens simultaneously. That is an incentive to share with neighbors and friends. With a bit of effort, fruit is conducive to drying and freezing, although not canning. Ripe fruit is very perishable.
Autumn foliar color gets messy. It is spectacular while suspended in deciduous trees and even on the ground. The problem is that it mixes with wind and rain as it deteriorates and gets sloppy. It necessitates raking from lawns, ground covers and hardscapes. It requires removal from gutters, or eavestroughs, and where it accumulates on roofs. It gets messy.
The timing could not be worse. The wind and rain that cause it to be so messy are no fun to work in. Using ladders to clean gutters and roofs is more dangerous in wet conditions. Fallen leaves are messier and heavier while wet. Yet, they are not too heavy for winds to blow green waste piles about after raking. Autumn weather will get progressively worse.
Unfortunately, gutters that accumulate fallen foliage require cleaning to function properly. Otherwise, foliar debris clogs them and their downspouts when they are most necessary. Rain water then flows over their edges and onto the ground below. It can be more than a minor annoyance. Splattering water can cause rot within adjacent walls that it dampens.
That is why old historic houses originally had ‘foundation plantings’ of dense vegetation. Some lacked gutters because gutters were very expensive. Instead, rain was allowed to flow from eaves and directly onto the ground. Dense vegetation between the dripline and the foundation contained the splattering. Almost all modern homes, though, have gutters.
Gutters may need cleaning more than once before deciduous trees defoliate completely. Evergreen trees necessitate cleaning as well, but do not shed so profusely for autumn. A few, such as redwoods and pines, are exceptionally messy. Because their mess may not coincide with autumn, cleaning it can be a bit earlier. It is easier during pleasant weather.
Cleaning gutters is a gardening task that may be best to leave for professionals. After all, it may involve climbing to unsafe heights on ladders and roofs. Installation of screen like devices over gutters can mitigate the need for future cleaning. Of course, gutters that are not below messy trees might never need cleaning. There are many variables to consider.
Chinese pistache, Pistacia chinensis, does not need too much chill to begin to turn color. In some climates, it is already yellowing. With cooler weather, it will develop fiery orange and red foliar color. Not only does it color reliably with mild weather, but it actually retains its color better. It could defoliate more efficiently within frostier, windier or rainier weather.
Chinese pistache grows about thirty feet tall and broad. Old trees can eventually grow to about forty feet tall. Some old trees are female, so can produce annoyingly abundant red berries. Modern trees should be fruitless male cultivars. Pinnately compound leaves are about nine inches long, with a dozen or so leaflets. Leaflets are two or three inches long.
Because of its resiliency, Chinese pistache is among the more popular shade trees here. Established trees do not need much irrigation and can likely survive with none. Frequent irrigation can promote shallow root dispersion, which can damage pavement. Otherwise, Chinese pistache is a good street tree. It merely needs pruning for clearance over roads, sidewalks and driveways.
Cool season annuals are not the only options for home garden color for autumn. Even in mild climates, deciduous foliage eventually notices increasing autumn chill. While some merely sheds, some first develops spectacular autumn foliar color. Such foliage is not as conducive to instant addition to gardens as annuals are. Yet some may already be there.
A few deciduous shade trees and street trees provide the best autumn foliar color. Some are less popular with those who prefer evergreen trees. However, they are quite practical for some situations. Some are less messy than evergreen trees. They only seem messier because they defoliate so much at once. Most evergreen trees shed throughout the year.
Sweetgum, or liquidambar, probably provides the most colorful autumn foliar color. It also happens to be among the messier deciduous trees. That is because it retains its colorful foliage later into autumn and winter. While prolonged mess is a disadvantage, prolonged foliar display is an advantage. It is an unwieldy large tree, though, with aggressive roots.
Chinese pistache is as colorful, with dazzling yellow, orange and red autumn foliar color. It seems a bit less messy because it defoliates a bit sooner. Also, it does not produce the spiky seed capsules that sweetgum trees produce. However, its smaller leaves require a bit more effort to rake than larger leaves. Chinese pistache is a rather popular street tree.
Flowering pear, or callery pear, produces similar autumn foliar color, with more deep red. It also provides billowy white spring bloom. Crepe myrtle is a smaller tree with both vivid autumn foliar color and summer bloom. Ginkgo is a tall and slender tree with exclusively brilliant yellow color. Boston ivy is a clinging vine that is as colorful as Chinese pistache.
Not all deciduous trees produce impressive autumn foliar color. Sycamore might already be defoliating with just a bit of pale yellow color. Valley oak does the same later. Both are quite messy as they defoliate slowly through much of autumn. However, both are notably sculptural while bare later through winter. There are other advantages to deciduousness.
Both work and home gardening were relatively mundane this week. Consequently, these six lack a theme. Irrigation is at that awkward phase when less is necessary, but it is still very necessary. No more rain came after the first storm of the season, but the weather is cooler, and the days are shorter. Autumn is arriving . . . slowly. Maybe I will get pictures of autumn foliar color for next Saturday.
1. Robinia pseudoacacia, black locust is much more out of focus than I was aware of as I took this picture to show how blue the sky is without any rain in the foreseeable forecast.
2. Begonia X semperflorens–cultorum, wax begonia succumbed to a major infestation of fungus gnat larvae. These fresh cuttings were made from their unaffected upper growth.
3. Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady seedlings grew from seed from white flowers. They will not bloom for several more years. I am curious to see if they might also bloom white.
4. Saccharum officinarum, sugarcane probably should not have been bothered until the end of winter, but I separated five clumps. This is the traditional Purple Ribbon cultivar.
5. Acer rubrum, red maple is redundant to a picture of the same two Saturdays ago, but is too pretty to not get a last picture of before the end of its season. It is mostly bare now.
6. Rhody was busy with relaxation while I was at work on Thursday. He is commendably proficient with such tasks, while not being late for petting sessions and treats afterward.
