Fall Foliage - Weeks 3 & 4

Between home and work, life has been a little crazy lately.  The good part is I feel like I'm finally starting to catch up with things (projects, social obligations, laundry).  The downside is, I'm not spending as much time online, so I'm not posting as much.

I took these photos last Sunday, so this should really be week 3.5.

The oakleaf hydrangea (above) is starting to turn a really deep, rich, red.  Right next to it, the viburnum (below) is a deep, brownish red.
 

The tree I mentioned two weeks ago, with delicate yellow leaves, turned out to be a beech (above, left).  Between the yellow buckeye, the tulip poplars, and the three beech trees I found in the woods, we have yellow covered. 

The really big oak tree out front (above) still has a bunch of leaves, but they're starting to turn.  Our Japanese Maple (below, left) is starting to turn bright red and the kousa dogwood (below, right) is mostly green, but some leaves are turning almost purple.

I'll try to post more over the next few weeks as we finish up our garden prep for winter.  I'm especially looking forward to Friday -- I get the day off, my daughter is going to daycare, and I have about 250 bulbs to plant.  It will be fun.

Fall Foliage - Week 2

The days are getting shorter and it's usually dark by the time I get home from work.  I didn't think I'd be able to get foliage pictures this week, but I was able to snap a few pictures from my deck this morning.

On the left, you can see a yellow buckeye just starting to turn yellow.  On the right, the native dogwoods are still the highlight of my fall garden.  They seem to get even more red every day.

Most of the "filler" trees in the backyard are tulip poplar.  On the left, you can see they're starting to turn yellow.  The white pines are also losing a lot of their needles.

While I was snapping a close-up of the dogwoods, I noticed a smallish tree with delicate yellow leaves (see left).  It would have been hidden behind the juniper bushes in the spring...I'm planning on going out this weekend to try and identify it.  On the right, you can see the oaks in the backyard are still fairly green, but do have some clusters of leaves that changed.

I will try to get better pictures next week.  I think the next few weeks will be really colorful.

Fall Foliage - Week 1

Today marks the six month "anniversary" of this blog.  I realize I essentially missed two of those months, but it is still pretty amazing that I have stuck with something for so long.  Hopefully, I'll be able to come up with enough garden-related stuff to talk about over the next six months.  When I started the blog, I didn't really consider what to talk about over winter!

Until winter gets here, and all of the deciduous leaves are gone, I'm going to try to document the fall foliage in my garden on a weekly basis.  This should help future garden planning.

The big oak tree out front was the first to start dropping leaves.  It seems like the leaves turn and fall in giant clumps.  The bright yellow clusters look nice on the tree, but not so nice on the lawn.





  

The native dogwoods (left) and the Kousa dogwood (right) are both starting to change color, although the natives are a little farther along.



The leaves on the viburnum (left) are changing to a rich, chocolaty brown.  An azalea out front (right) has a handful of bright red leaves.

Coleus

The coleus I bought back in May is downright enormous.  Although I don't have a lot flowering right now, the coleus and potato vines provide a lot of interest.  Let's hear it for foliage!

I've been so happy with the annuals in containers all summer, I'm looking for a cheap way to have more next year.  This will involve a combination of cuttings, tubers, and overwintering.  It's all very exciting.

Of course, not everything has done well.  This pot didn't have a drainage hole and the coleus ended up essentially drowning.  I'll have to take a drill to the bottom of it before next year or just start using it for houseplants indoors.

Our first frost is usually at the end of October, so I've been really busy over the past few weekends taking cuttings, re-potting houseplants that are moving back indoors, and generally cleaning up.  Over the next few weeks, I'll also be planting hundreds of bulbs and raking.  Who knew that a garden in the fall is almost as much work as a garden in the spring?