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Fall Color Thread 2021

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Comments (115)

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    davidrt, not sure about the sourwood. Too late now, and it doesn't seem to be growth-limited, just reluctant to put out a leader. It's been suggested to cut it to the ground and allow to sprout, but I'm not gonna do that.....

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Rough coloring, but not bad for a northern catalpa, as frost often just blackens the leaves and they fall off in a day or two.



    Hahahahahaha. Here's the very next day after the first frost of the autumn.



  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Maackia, I'm stumped. It is not maple, not service berry, not squawbush (rhus), not currant, not mountain mahogany. It is really nice, though!

    Edit: If I HAD to answer this question on a test I would say rhus trilobata with weird leaves

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Rhus trilobata var. simplicifolia (Single-leaf Skunkbrush Sumac).


    It is pretty nice fall colors. ;-)

  • 4 years ago

    Excellent! Thanks for the help. I wonder why Skunkbrush?

  • 4 years ago

    Skunk bush, stinking sumac, and ill-scented sumac are among numerous common names.

    Apparently referring to a strong scent emitted when foliage is crushed.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    lovemycorgi, classic open-grown sugar maple form. Almost all the local forest sugar maples in my area have been bare here for 2 weeks after dull yellow-brown (mostly brown) color. Some planted sugar maple selections in yards are coloring well. Seed-grown baldcypresses below. They are actually growing knees in the floodplain.



    Umbrella magnolia seeds.



  • 4 years ago

    Nice bald cypress. Does anyone remember the super bright red Metasequoia seedling someone posted years ago!? Too bad that plant was never cloned, probably. "Lost plants of Houzz". Along with the Octa-spruce. Oh well.

    Here is a striking red oak I saw in a Lowe's parking lot recently. This is everything on auto, no adjustments.



  • 4 years ago

    davidrt, wonder if that's a northern red oak, shumard or scarlet oak.... Might be hard to tell.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Yeah well clearly it's some kind of mass produced plant, nothing from a 'specialist' nursery I'm sure, so those seem like the likely suspect. I remember from driving around that some years everything is just right for a certain red oak and it goes crazy. I think there is a fair amount of year over year variability. Like in the case of this one, being in a hell strip might normally not be a good thing, but it was a very wet year with each month of the growing season, May-Oct, getting more rain than normal. So the hell strip might have been just right!

    Most of the other trees in the parking islands seemed to be something else, maybe maples.

  • 4 years ago

    A couple of Green Mountain Sugars (both photos yesterday 11/3/21), coloring a bit later in the season than typical (I assume due to a mild, rainy October).



  • 4 years ago

    Wow, @arbordave (SE MI) , that is so much more beautiful than my Green Mountain sugar maple, which turns yellow with no hint of red or orange.


    I purchased it and had it planted it a few years ago from a local nursery, which had it tagged as a Green Mountain.


    It is in full sun…is it supposed to turn orange? It has chlorosis, not sure if that would affect the fall color in that way.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    lovemycorgi, GM's fall color does seem to vary a bit depending on weather and site conditions. Both of the GMs above are growing in decent soil with good drainage. Some of the other GMs in the area had already lost most of their leaves the day I took the photos. Normally if they are healthy and in full sun they will be orange at peak color (on the outer foliage at least). I haven't noticed a problem with chlorosis on GM in our area (except perhaps in very unfavorable soil conditions).

    Today's photo (11/5/21) is a Lane Roberts Sweetgum. Haven't seen this variety available anywhere for a number of years.


  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Couple of uncommon trees in my area along a nearby stream. Swamp white oak first -- uncommon here but I have seen some typically on nearby floodplains near streams/rivers. Can be spotted in winter holding some of their leaves.



    Below is one of 6 or so shingle oaks on this same stream area -- never seen one in the wild before, only at arboretums. Of course I haven't traveled all that much. These keep all their tan-brown leaves until spring. Very distinctive trees with fine-textured, dense foliage.



  • 4 years ago

    It took a while, but my serviceberry finally lit up.



    tj

  • 4 years ago

    Tj that serviceberry looks great. People always talk about the fall color but around here most have dropped most of their leaves by late August. One at the building I work at kept some leaves and is shaded by a big oak for a good part of the day. I am tempted to plant one but haven’t seen one that looks like that around me in Philadelphia

  • 4 years ago

    Thanks. It is an x grandiflora and has had reliable fall color.

    tj

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    11-8-21

    Quercus bicolor:

    Second year in the ground, was started from an acorn a year ago last spring. New leaves in the spring are orange before turning green. This may not be its final established Fall color but I thought it was noteworthy. :^)


  • 4 years ago

    Bill,

    Somehow I'm always fascinated watching trees growing from seed (or acorn in this case). Even if we won't be around by the time such a tree reaches maturity it's a fun little project to see the annual growth knowing that it's there thanks to our help. My window sill is full of Sequoia seedlings that only germinated a few days ago. Don't ask me where I'm gonna plant them all though, as always, I have no clue. :)

  • 4 years ago

    Norbert,

    Thanks!

    It's a never ending job and it's a good thing we have people like you that like to do that. How many people take for granted the air we breath without a thought of how big a part trees play in replenishing the oxygen in our atmosphere and how our global tree population has been dwindling at astonishing rates over time.

    Keep up the good work! :-)


  • 4 years ago

    Though it’s not a tree, my burning Bush has nice red color this year:
    debra

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    djacob - yes, burning bushes are in their prime right now, but you're probably already aware that they are considered an invasive species: Burning Bush Wisconsin DNR (I won't mention the one in my yard, planted by the previous owner).

    Couple photos from yesterday (11/8/21) of trees that should be planted more often: Yellowwood


    and Korean Mountainash (typically more yellow/orange than the one below)


  • 4 years ago

    Oh wow. yellowwood is beautiful

  • 4 years ago

    Baldcypresses I grew from local seed and planted along border stream -- 13 in all. They do an important job of holding my side of the stream stable (the other side is eroding).



    They're even producing knees.





  • 4 years ago

    Cotinus 'Ancot'/'Golden Spirit' - it used to get some sunburn/scorch on the foliage by fall in the all-day sun location I had it in, but after moving it to a part shade location last fall, it's holding up a lot better than in previous years and showing some nice fall color for the first time:


    Nyssa 'Green Gable" coloring up extremely late. In the last two years, it reached "peak color" around the last week of September or the first week of October, but here we are on 11/10 and it's still 30-40% green.


    Fothergilla 'Mt Airy" reliable and stunning as always (with some Clethra in the background)


  • 4 years ago

    Yes, arbordave, I am aware of there invasive status which is why you cannot buy them in tree form, only as a bush. Though that is permitted I don’t know why. My neighbors have an actual tree form. Must have been planted when the house was built in the 30’s. The arborist that has done trimming for me said, “ That’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen.” It usually has great color, but it’s lost quite a few leaves.
    debra

  • 4 years ago

    Bengz,I guess I take shingle oak for granted here, it's almost a weed. I've just recently learned to appreciate them, after all if you squint your eyes they become Laurel oak lol.

    Saturday in my yard.

    And today 11 - 10 on my hedge row with Osage orange.


  • 4 years ago

    Osage orange from a better angle.

    I didn't know burning bush is considered invasive, then I found this and others on my hedge row today.

    I know these honeysuckle are.



  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    A few somewhat unusual ones.



    This Toona 'Flamingo' didn't have a very pink spring display for some reason, but it's making up for it by being brighter in fall than it usually is. Maybe because it had a very 'Chinese monsoon' growing season, with > 6" of rain each month! FWIW, this plant, all summer long, emits a curious odor that is a cross between beef and onion soup and burnt rubber!



    Blueberries are not only one of the healthiest and easiest to grow fruits - if you have acid soil - but they have nice fall color. Although I've never seen one as red as this 'Blue Ray' so I think there is some variation among cultivars. This was a tiny plant from a PNW mail order house in spring but grew really fast, again, because of the rainy summer.



    Sticking with Ericaceae, we certainly don't think of broad leaved evergreens as providing fall color, but this very rare hybrid of "BVT X mac", of all the roughly 100 cultivars I've grown, has a peculiarly showy dropping of its old leaves each year. This is one of the best so far of the attempts to breed a 'hardy big leaf' Rhododendron. The cross is trying to capture the look of the zn 8/9 SW Asian highland subtropical species in something more growable outside of maritime climates. In the background is the dark green foliage and white flowers of the Camellia pictured here. More recent scenes from my garden here.

  • 4 years ago

    Neighbors Callery or Bradford pears or whatever they're called.

    Just right for an ice storm...if you know what I mean.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Norwegian Sunset maples hold their leaves late and we often get a hard freeze before their color develops, but they were looking good today (11/16/21)


    A lot of the ginkgos have already dropped their leaves, but a few haven't given up yet


  • 4 years ago

    Japanese Maple 'Bloodgood'.

    Leaves will change more vivid, pure red as the season progresses.



  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    norwegian sunset is a stunner

  • 4 years ago



  • 4 years ago

    You have a way with the camera Frank.

    Nice with the clouds and the lighting is just excellent! :-)

  • 4 years ago

    FWIW:

    The bicolor oak finally got a nice golden brown color (about a week ago) before browning.

    Hope it's just a sign of things to come. :-)



  • 4 years ago

    deltaohioz5 - can you identify some of the plants in your photo for us?

    Bill_minn - Can't say I've ever been very impressed with the fall color on Swamp White Oak. We've planted some American Dream Swamp Whites recently which are supposed to have reasonably good yellow fall color, but ours are still pretty young so it's too early to say how consistent the color will be at maturity. Hoping that yours turns out to be a keeper.

    Most of our Shumard Oaks don't color very well , but so far this one has been pretty consistent each fall (photo today 11/19/21)


  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Well dave, I in one way agree. Some trees don't make good when put out there for stand alone colors but put them in combination with nearby trees of various colors as in a residential yard scenario, they can make for some of the most beautiful Fall scenes I can remember. :)

    You see this a lot in a mixed forest setting.

  • 4 years ago

    arbordave, The shrubs are Callicarpa dichotoma f. albifructa, Orixa japonica and Neviusia alabamensis .


    Frank

  • 4 years ago

    Bill_minn - I agree, the combination/contrast of colors in a stand of different species can be very memorable.

    Thanks Frank. Is the Callicarpa fully hardy for you? I've thought about planting Orixa for its attractive foliage, it also seems to be quite hardy and adaptable - is yours the variety Aurea? Does the Neviusia color nicely like that every fall?

    Another photo from today (11/19/21). Actually 2 trees. I believe they are Shantung Maples (or possibly hybrids). I'll post more photos of them in Name that Plant


  • 4 years ago

    Dave, yes it is very hardy I have been growing Callicarpa for twenty years. The white berry variety gets much larger than the purple varieties. I grow Orixa japonica and Aurea. Can't see a difference between them. Also grow a variegated variety of Orixa japonica. The main reason I keep Neviusia is for the long lasting fall color. It does sucker but is easy to control.


    Frank

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    With temps dipping into the low to mid 20's the last few days, there isn't much fall color left around here. This Hamamelis was one of the few things still brightening the landscape today (11/24/21)


    And I'll throw in one more Norwegian Sunset from 2 days ago (11/22/21)


  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    People will know of my aversion to large maples planted on small suburban lots. Unless really pruned correctly from an early age, they don't seem to be terrible long lasting trees. Especially silver maples - I have had at least 2 of those split themselves. And Norway maples are a weedy scourge.

    But I gotta admit in appropriate settings they can really deliver on the fall color. I spotted this scene last weekend waiting on a red light in Newark, Delaware.




  • 4 years ago

    Some pics I took today.


    Happy Thanksgiving!






  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    davidrt, a bright-yellow maple that late would almost certainly be a Norway maple -- there are a few even here that still have some lingering yellow. In late Oct 1976 a cold wave that never let up "froze" the leaves on Norway maples and they browned and most never fell off the whole winter (the notorious 76-77 winter).

  • 4 years ago

    This was on Facebook -- ginkgo in Tottori, Japan.



  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    One last one from my garden. This is a 'tree tops' view taken from the highest point of my gently sloping property, looking down with a telephoto lens.

    In the foreground is my Cornus florida urbiana X C. florida hybrid I mentioned on another post. In some years, it will have an incredibly delayed fall color change. Unless we have snow, ice or a very heavy freeze, in will stay reddish for all of December. It's been to about 26F so far, but we eased into that kind of cold, it didn't come suddenly. If that happens, it seems to make it more likely to just suddenly drop the leaves after turning gray. This will be a good year: almost all Japanese maples have totally dropped, and this thing is just maybe 1/2 way there. It's still had good color around the New Years in some years. Then, it will always get cold enough to knock the leaves off.

    In the far distance is the top of my Metasequoia 'Ogon', over 40' now from a plant that was a 30" twig in 2010. It seems that, as the Ogon gets above the canopy of those maples and dying ashes (which are actually beyond it although there's an illusion one is ahead of it) it both stays more yellow in the summer, and has better fall color.



    The intermediate conifer is a Cryptomeria 'Sekkan', which is also getting a little more yellow as it gets above the 'shade line' in its area, but not to the degree of the 'Ogon' and IIRC I think Embo once mentioned there is a known issue with variegated conifers losing their yellowness as they mature, especially ones in the Cypress family. (of course the 'Ogon' is also in that family...but wasn't it produced by seed irradiation though, and not just a random mutation, or that story apocryphal? Super maybe it's 'super variegated' bwahaha) The funny thing is one of my Abies firmas is also in this picture, in sense, but it is perfectly hidden behind the Sugi tree.

    Sorry about the picture being slightly blurry, it was taken with a really old lens from the 80s that I put on my fuji mirrorless camera with an adapter.


  • 4 years ago

    It's been fairly dry here since late June so fall colors have been somewhat drab. My Compton oak had little color but still holding on to some green today 12-2.


    Darlington oak has a mix of green and brown leaves that are drought stressed.


  • 4 years ago

    Water oak hanging on to some multi colored leaves.


    72 degrees today.