Tag Archives: fall foliage

Almost November garden

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We had a day of life-giving rain yesterday. That’s the good news. But days of wind, followed by yesterday’s day of rain brought most of our New England fall colors to an end around us. The mighty oaks are attempting to hang on to their russet colored leaves but the bright yellows and butterscotch leaves of maples have fallen.

However I’ve planned for that. I can still be a leaf peeper in our own backyard with our three enkianthus (Enkianthus campanulatus) shrubs. One is ablaze of crimson shades, one a luminescent amber, and the third is a lovely mix of both shades. What a showstopper they are for us as we gaze from our window.

Enkianthus redvein 2019

Enkianthus redvein 2019

Enkianthus redvein 2019

During the summer, the plants sport blue-green foliage and blend into the landscape, but in the spring we are rewarded with pendants of delicate bell-shaped blooms with red veins as shown in this photo from last spring. If the blooms remind you of andromeda (Pieris), it is in the same family.

Enkianthus campanulatus 2018

These shrubs are young and slow growing. At full growth, they can reach the height of a small understory tree. I have read that they don’t like pruning but I’m hoping to be judicious in training the shrubs as they grow. It’s then they can join our other understory trees, the serviceberry trees (Amelanchier), below, that are giving us lovely orange-red fall color now and offer a profusion of spring blooms, as well.

Serviceberry Tree 2019

A Wicked Awesome Day

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Foliage is slowly changing on the seacoast of New Hampshire. There are rich yellows and reds scattered around Exeter. If we drove an hour or so inland to the higher elevations we would be greeted by a kaleidoscope of color.

We decided not to join the train of leaf peepers heading for magic in the hills this year. All we wanted this Columbus Day weekend was a simple day adventure and that quest took us to Mt. Agamenticus in Southern Maine for a first visit. Most locals call it Mt. A. Just try to say Mt. Agamenticus three times fast.

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Maine has 17 million acres of fall foliage to discover however there was little to be found on Mt. A, a conservation region of more than 10,000 acres located inside 30,000 acres of conservation land. We soon discovered it was mostly about hiking. Cars galore parked below the mountain, along the approach, and atop with few people to be seen. They were all hiking or biking on the abundant trails.

decked out for a day on the trails

 

Hiking

Couple with twins on their back!

At the summit (that we drove up 😏)  views were spectacular. The ocean to the east and the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the west where leaves in the distance showed telltale signs of color to come.

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On the ocean side, we could see all the way to Kennebunkport… hazy but made a little closer with my telephoto lens. We thought about lunching there but it’s about a 45 minute drive from Mt. A by auto, so we chose a closer destination for a walk and dinner.

kennebunkport

On our way out, mister gardener pointed out numerous birds in a section roped off as Regrowth Area. Happy song sparrows dining on seeds entertained us with antics in the hips of rugosa roses.

Mt. Agamenthus song sparrows 2018

And how about those native New England asters (Symphyothichum novae-angliae) that dotted the summit? Those bold colors certainly got our attention… beautiful and filled with bumblebees.

New England Aster 2018

There were plenty of monarch butterflies fluttering and feeding in the Regrowth Area.

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We followed up with a trip to seaside town of Ogunquit where we found an abundance of fall color. Mums, pumpkins, scarecrows and a village packed with colorful tourists took center stage.

Ogunquit 2018

After a walk along Marginal Way and strolling Ogunquit village and enjoying a cup of homemade cider, we finished up the day with a taste of Maine seafood before heading home to New Hampshire. These little neck clams stuffed with chorizo and buttered bread crumbs and a cup of soup were a satisfying ending to our day adventure. It was a Wicked Awsome Day!

Five littlenecks stuffed with chorizo and buttered breadcrumbs

 

The Midas Touch

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The peak of color has passed in our neck of the woods and life is inching closer to the dreaded leaf raking season.  For the first time since moving to New Hampshire, we did not follow the thousands of foliage watchers in the jammed motorcade to the mountains. Instead we traveled the seacoast area of New Hampshire and found the colors were magic right here. The only drawback locally is dealing with telephone poles, wires, billboards, fences, and especially a plethora of POLITICAL SIGNS that obstructed or took away from the full views.

Although our first hard rain has done a job on the leaves, it’s still common to spot a tree like this one that we passed by on our walk this week.

fall colors

The fading maples are giving way to later and less dramatic oak tree leaves that have already shed their acorns en masse like marbles across the landscape… causing one to be very cautious while treading on sidewalks, parking lots, etc. over which they spread their canopy.

The view from our living room faces a woodland where one of my favorite native small trees grows along the edge. It’s the native Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) that turns an attractive apricot-yellow before dropping its leaves to reveal blossoms of pale yellow that hang like tassles from stems. I cut a few branches of tassels for a flower arranging workshop that I chaired last week and the effect in one arrangement was outstanding… adding height and texture and the right color for a pale yellow container.

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witch hazel

 

 

 

 

The Yellows Have It!

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After days of warm, dry weather, a cold front moved into Virginia over the weekend, dropping temperatures to the 50’s and bringing us a trace of rain.  We woke this morning to a landscape filled with attention grabbing golds and yellows. Here’s what I saw on my walk today:

It won't be long before the ginkgos leaves drop

It won’t be long before the ginkgo leaves turn lemon yellow, then all fall in a day’s time to cover the ground like melted butter.

Crepe Myrtles frame mr. gardener's fence in yellows and golds

Crape myrtles frame mr. gardener’s winter vegetable garden in yellows and golds.

Yellows from maples, poplars, and hickories greet you on the lane.

Yellows from maples, poplars, and hickories greet us on the lane.

Old maples carpet the lawn.

Old maples carpet the lawn.

Young maples vie for space

Young maples vie for space

A young sassafras gets in on the act.

A young sassafras gets in on the act.

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Netted chain fern (woodwardia areolata) yellows beneath evergreen holly.

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester