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October color in the garden
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| October starts as left-over summer and ends in autumn at its peak. The foggy mornings gradually give way to light frosts, kissing a cold goodbye to summer annuals and tender perennials. Compared to September there are fewer flowers, but more color, because although many summer fruits are totally depleted, new fall fruits such as persimmons and grapes don their colorful garb of ripeness, not to mention the bright leaves of many trees and shrubs. The long, dry, golden grass of summer now begins to give way to refreshing greenery at the soil line, and rainfall means mushrooms are among us: lots of fairy rings, puffballs, coral fungi and shaggy manes. |
| Gardeners who had it easy in August and September now have work to do. They must cut down finished perennials and annuals, gather mountains of leaves for the compost heap, lift Dahlia tubers or similar tender perennials for winter storage, plant or transplant bulbs and fruit trees or the like, sow cover crops of winter ryegrass, vetch, etc. While doing this sort of autumnal work, it is always a pleasure to find a few unusually resilient plants that continue green and blooming well beyond the time of most of their peers. Try seeing how long tomatoes can be eaten fresh off the vine, for example, and when will the very last Impatiens open fresh blossoms? Sooner or later, frost's icy grip makes Impatiens and Nasturtiums gooey mush --memories until next summer. |
| We know that Seattle springtimes gleam with colorful flowers and fresh greenery; the air is sweet with floral perfume. Truly, even weeds are inoffensive if not lovely until about June. But in contrast, Seattle's fall color is spotty, ranging from wonderful to drab. So let's consider a few plants whose October presence is outstanding. You may want to admire them or plant them, now that they are showy and this is the best time of year for garden renovations. |
| Above all, fall color is associated with trees. Crab-apples (Malus spp.) were bounteous in bloom during April or May, wreathed in white, pink or red flowers. However, some kinds can be equally or more showy when laden with fruit, especially 'Evereste' (red, cherry-sized), 'Golden Hornet' (yellow-gold, cherry-sized), 'Donald Wyman' (red, pea-sized), and 'Professor Sprenger' (orange-red, marble-sized). The famous Franklin tree (Franklinia alatamaha) is valued for simultaneously supplying glorious in fall color and blossom, its glistening long leaves orange and scarlet, studded with plump white flowers releasing rich fragrance. It is a large shrub or small gawky tree. For purity and consistency of yellow fall color, prehistoric Ginkgo is superb, with malodorous orange fruit borne by the females (who turn yellow later in fall). Eventually gigantic, Ginkgo grows slowly in our area. Our distinctive native madrona (Arbutus Menziesii) berries are bright red against the shiny evergreen foliage. Another native, bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) colors the local parks and greenbelts tawny, while releasing millions of seeds; although an abundant and grand tree, it is not advisable to plant one in your yard. Far superior in color and ease of maintenance, and not to be missed are the sugar maples (Acer saccharum) imported from eastern North America; their fiery orange color is unsurpassed and dear in a region whose fall is too heavy with yellows, reds and purples. In November the Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) offer amazing variety of size, form and color; they are excellent small garden trees. The classy, elegant sorrel tree or sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) is an eastern U.S. native of modest size, its glossy leaves reliably scarlet. The black gum or tupelo tree (Nyssa sylvatica) sports the most dependable and electrifying red fall color on a first-rate shade tree. |
| What are shrubs but miniature trees? They have been jokingly called developmentally disabled trees. In any case, shrubs require less space than trees but can be just as good for fall color. Berberis Thunbergii is brilliantly colorful, orange to molten red. It is also easily pleased and capable of difficult conditions; you can shear it into a hedge. But avoid it if you hate spiny plants. Harder to please and provided with larger leaves are some shrubs of the witch-hazel family: Disanthus cercidifolius and Fothergilla (several kinds), coloring intensely late in the month, and growing best in woodland or shade gardens. Of broadleaved evergreens, the shrubby, holly-like Osmanthus heterophyllus and Osmanthus x Fortunei bloom, with tiny, sweetly fragrant white flowers. Pyracantha berries are bright red or orange against spiny evergreen foliage. Often old houses have this planted against chimneys. It can be a small tree and is tough as nails. Smoke trees (Cotinus obovatus, C. Coggygria) are sumach cousins becoming a riot of color late in the month; their crushed leaves release a citrus smell. Sumach (Rhus typhina, R. glabra) is a small, fast-growing but short-lived tree or large suckering shrub, its fall color screaming red, orange or yellow; an excellent choice for dry, sunny sites. Winged spindletree (Euonymus alatus) is shockingly bright in neon pink color, its branching strikingly horizontal, its twigs edged with corky flanges or wings. The quaint tea shrub (Thea or Camellia sinensis) is primarily a conversation piece, as it blooms little white camellia flowers on an evergreen bush. Making good tea from its leaves is difficult, but possessing one confers more status on the grower than does an ordinary old rhodie. |
| Of vines, Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) ignites walls with a spectacular deep red. Valued around the world, no brick wall should be without it. Its little blue berries are neither edible or very noticeable. |
| Bulbs such as tulips and daffodils are planted now for spring blooming. Did you know some bulbs normally bloom in fall? They are usually in bright pink. Check out Amaryllis Belladonna, Colchicum autumnale, Crinum, Cyclamen, and Nerine Bowdenii. Many of these are from South Africa. Well sited in our gardens, they provide a sumptuous visual feast. |
| Food for the stomach as well as for the eyes is always paramount. Therefore, don't neglect some edible berries, fruits or nuts. Some of the finest are as lovely as edible. Blueberry bushes (Vaccinium spp.) are fruitless by now but do offer glowing red color. If you have a moist, sunny spot, they'll thrive, pleasing bees in spring with flowers, berry-lovers in August, and your eyes in fall. Wine-drinkers know that now is the time for ripe grapes (Vitis spp.). They grow on vines, so need a tree, fence or other structure to drape. Some, such as my 'Interlaken' (a seedless green dessert grape) can yield attractive carmine fall leaf color. Deserving but little known locally, are persimmons (Diospyros spp.), ripening orange and soft in the latter part of the month and well into November, looking like tomatoes on a tree. |
(originally published in The Seattle Weekly, October 23 1996)
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