Mostly Leaves: Page 2

Seasonal: Mostly Leaves!

Page 2

I know I've gotten carried away with taking pictures this fall, but it was so pretty and seemed to change almost every day. I apologize for repeating the same views so often! The picture at the top is a repeat from the garden tour page and was taken in the fall of 1992. That is our kitty, "Puff." I wish the years had been as good to me as they have her...she really doesn't look much different! Our flowering cherries along the drive didn't turn such nice colors this year. I think they could have used some colder temperatures and we had an unseasonably warm October.

Here's a long shot of the front corner of the house where the two Maples are doing their thing (both Acer palmatum species). The top leaves that dropped first were the really RED ones shown toward the top of the page. The rest had less sun exposure and turned beautiful shades of gold and rust.

See what I mean? I love this...too bad it's so fleeting!

I call this picture..."DON'T JUMP!" (Bottom leaf was hanging on by a thread of spider web and twirling in the breeze.)

This stump belongs to the other rhody I pruned that is not responding so well (a calculated risk). At the top of the branch on the left are two leafing shoots. We'll see if it puts out more in the spring. If it doesn't get any better than this, it will not be replaced by another shrub but I will fill in the area a bit more with some perennials or a low shrub...or just let the Ivy own this place. (I don't use much ivy but this was a Needlepoint type, as I recall...it takes longer to get greedy and it's about time I cut it back.

Japanese Maple/Acer palmatum leaves and just grass (okay...and a few weeds!).

In the area underneath the Japanese Maple are a few Primroses. These are not the happiest with me since they don't get as much moisture as they'd prefer, but they hang in there. In the fall, we usually get a preview of what will come in the spring. I liked the clashy effect of the pink with all those earthy colors. The other heart shaped green leaves belong to that ubiquitous violet I dug up at the neighbor's (with her warning..."Oh, THAT thing...that's a WEED!")

Our only pumpkin carver this year was Diane. Well...actually, Lynda carved one of the white ones at a friend's house on Halloween, but it never made it back to our front porch, so I didn't get to see it. Diane has a love affair going with the cat species and this shows in her Jack O' Lantern. Sorry about our ugly kitchen (some of the remodeling roughness shows around the edges)!

Back to the yard...I have taken this view several times while chronicling the growth of the poor rhodies I cut off in June. This will be the last photo until next Spring. It was so pretty with the changing colors. See all those bushy green leaves on Rhododendron 'Hurricane' in the middle foreground?

This is the Styrax japonica as the leaves are falling. They develop a light translucent quality, but still have a touch of green. There is never any orange in this tree that I know of in the Autumn. If you look closely, you will see some of the seed capsules that are hanging on. These are kind of interesting to look at during the winter because they will hold drops of water when it rains. Later they will each open to drop a single seed. The closest thing I can compare a Styrax seed to is a coffee bean. I pull up hundreds of seedlings in the spring while weeding. I guess I should offer baby plants through the plant exchange. It really is a lovely tree, if you have the patience to wait for it to establish. It is also nice to garden under...I don't have a problem with the root system...just the babies!

The path leading from the deck and past the Styrax ...transformed to GOLD!

If you were wondering when Goofy would show his face again, here he is! He came right after I took the other photo.

I couldn't quite catch the effect, but this was taken from the front porch looking toward the Oak tree (Gold foliage) in the back yard. The Lobelia will sparkle until we get real freezing weather and it was so bright next to the red of the changing Dogwood tree.

The look of the Cornus florida/Flowering Dogwood at this time of year is quite fascinating. The two-toned effect, not only of color but textural contrast of the undersides and tops of the leaves, is even more accentuated by the drooping habit. This is the tree that is seen to the left of the walk in the picture following...

As you walk to the front porch from the driveway, here's what it looked like around the first week of November. Sigh...

I love this hardy Cyclamen coum 'Pewter Leaf.' I only had one corm but noticed this fall that there are a couple of teeny baby plants near the parent and they have the pewter colored leaf. By next winter, I should lift and move them further away to make more of a little colony. Aren't their leaves even more beautiful with the colorful dogwood leaves to frame them?

This page last updated on November 14, 1998.