Seasonal: October

Seasonal: October's End

Page 3

Here are photos from the last two week s of October. Things really accelerate at this point and if you don't look each day, you'll surely miss something! I call the photo above an "explosion of leaves." It's actually a clump of Blue Oat Grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) with falling Birch leaves caught in its upright blades. The ones that look suspended in the foreground are tangled in a spider's web. It looked pretty wild! I have another shot that is more telling of the whole clump below, but I like this weird one better.

Now we are walking back to the yard (what I see every day when I return from the mailbox). These two photos are awfully contrasty and it looked better in person, but I'm including them anyway. The week these were taken we had the most glorious fall weather. You just wanted to be out in it all the time and it was around 65 to 70 degrees during the daytime. I just wish I'd gotten the rest of my bulbs planted! This row of flowering Cherries will turn color soon. On some years they are quite spectacular. Not sure what this year will bring. Stay tuned for November!

If you imagine sticking this picture next to the one above, you get a better idea of the driveway. That is Ron's preferred paper route delivery car parked up toward the carport, which you fortunately CANNOT see here! (What a mess!) The beautiful red color to the right is the row of Blueberries along the driveway and the tree just over the white car is the Ash tree in the back.

The planting of Polygonum affine 'Dimity' by the driveway is now beginning to color up for Fall. There are still lots of pink flower spikes present. The leaves will turn to a dark russet red and hold that color all winter. They are rather substantial and hard to clip off until the new growth comes in the spring. Even then, you can't just tug at them unless you want to bring up some small divisions with the leaf! This would probably spread faster in an area with a higher moisture level but has been restrained enough in this location to be appreciated. I don't want it to take up much more room than it has, however. Might be a good candidate for the plant exchange next season?

I'm sure you are sick of this view by now but I wanted you to see how much more the tree has changed in only one week. Since this was taken, it is completely gold with no green left (October 24th).

This would be greatly improved by having had animals graze this field during the summer and the blackberries cut and burned (look at how out of control they are...our pump house is under that mound in the middle and there is a whole row along the lower fence.) At the bottom of the hill we planted multiflora rose in the blackberries to make a natural barrier along the decaying fence. Surprisingly, the roses are winning out on the south end. This would be great if the plants didn't tip root in the field. When we had livestock, they kept them from coming in so far. Anyway...the mountains are pretty when framed with the leaves of the Birch. The other plants you notice in front of the fence are Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' (turning red) and the bright green shiny foliage of Choisya ternata - Mexican Orange.

This is looking toward the house and where the Alley Bed empties out into the back yard. The Red Oak is turning color (but not as pretty as it was two years ago). The red leaves between the buildings belong to the pink flowering Dogwood. It is really in its glory now and as of this writing (Oct. 27th) is dropping its multicolored leaves on the front walk. They are so pretty at first that I just sweep a path through them and let them lay there. In another week or so they will start to lose their appeal!

This is a good Fall representation of Schizostylis coccinea 'Oregon Sunset.' It was so pretty with back light that I had to take one more picture!

This poor unnamed pink Aster really needs to be reset, but is blooming despite neglect. It is especially pretty, in a clashy sort of way, with the turning leaves of Blueberry.

These deer were eating apples under one of the trees in the orchard. When we came outside they decided to reluctantly give us a wide berth. They appear to be quite young and are probably only about one year. I wish you could see the look on the face of my sister's cat when HE got a glimpse of them! They were awfully big for dogs and he has not lived in the country before this, so he was not going to challenge these trespassers!

This is the Witch Hazel (Hamamelis) growing in the Alley bed. It is totally different looking in the Fall than the one under the Oak tree that you saw on a previous page (near the Chrysanthemum 'Daisy Red'). This clear yellow is beautiful and especially nice next to the dark green of the Rhododendron leaves. It's nearly as bright as the flowers will be this coming late Winter.

It gets hard to keep from sagging when old age sets in! This flower cluster is on the Penstemon 'Red Trumpet' that was purchased this season from Heronswood Nursery in Kingston, WA. It is resting on a mat of succulents. If you couldn't guess already from the leaves, this is in the Oak Bed.

This is really a beautiful, delicate garden mum. I mail ordered it years ago and have now forgotten from which nursery (Canyon Creek?). The variety was a volunteer in the garden of Pamela Harper, garden writer and photographer. She named it 'Innocence.' I think the name is very fitting! Behind it is a Callicarpa 'Profusion' that still has some unsightly leaves hanging on. When they come off, it will be beautiful until the harsh weather ruins the bright lavender-purple berries.

Here's a close-up of the long lasting flowers of Chrysanthemum 'Innocence.' It always blooms late in the season ... when innocence is hard to come by! :-)

I'm amazed at how long this plant has bloomed this year. It is Anemone 'Prince Henry' and I think it started opening in late July and hasn't stopped since! It is just beyond the chrysanthemum as you walk toward the arbor in back.

My last shot of the Ampelopsis berries for this season. The stems and leaves are falling all over at this point and the berries don't hang on for too much longer once the fall season is in full force. Too bad...wouldn't they be pretty in the winter?

Here's Puff surveying the world from one of her favorite perches. Now that the Styrax japonica has gained this much stature, she has figured out that she can use it as an alternative route to the deck from the flowerbed. She will run up the trunk, out onto a branch and to the rail and vice-versa. I could have zoomed in more on the kitty, but wanted you to appreciate the beauty of this tree's Autumn color. I call it "lemon-lime."

Just below where Puff is sitting is a planter with these in it (and not much else!). The Dusty Miller has been in this box for several years and gets trimmed each Spring. The cut leaves surrounding it are from volunteers of Geranium maderense. I brought home two or three small "pull ups" from Western Hills Nursery in Occidentale, CA about five years ago and haven't been without it since! It will kill in a harsh winter here, but there seem to be ever present seedlings.The red color is quite pretty and even during the Summer, the stems have a reddish burgundy tint. The flowers are a bright pink.

This is a longer shot of the Blue Oat Grass with its leafy hairdo.

I can't resist sunsets and what made this so interesting was the light coming from behind and through the trees to the left. I don't think the picture really captured how glowing that was, but we tried!

There's still more...Mostly Leaves!

This page last updated on November 3, 1998.