Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

It's been a month since Pseudo broadcast some beautiful fall color. Not much was happening around here at the time, but now things are getting going. I presume Pseudo is already deep into hibernation. I thought it was time for another fall color assessment.

I'm always surprised by which tree will put on the best show each fall. Of course, one of the main factors is which days I'm able to be out observing them with both work schedules and weather considerations. This year it's my pistache which is looking mighty fine. I have 3 pistache trees, only one female and two males. The female is the one with the best color - don't know if it's just my female or if this is typical. The last picture shows a male (right) next to the female (left). My acer rubrum show was disappointing this year. Of course, still lots to come, as most of my Japanese maples and witch hazels haven't gotten very far yet. Who else has some fall beauties to show off?

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Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

Hi Wee,

I'm not deep into hibernation quite yet, but I have been putting on fat in preparation of an extremely difficult winter coming our way. Oh yes, they've been going on and on about el Niño, but why take chances?

The fall color show is quickly coming to an end here at the north pole. About the only plant still showing color is this raggedy Stewartia. Cotinus obovatus is just starting to turn, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

I came home from vacation to find a young stewartia monodelpha lying on the ground, snapped off about a foot above ground by a buck. It was a pretty scrawny thing, about 4ft tall, but just 1/2 inch caliper trunk. I had even put sturdy deer protector on it which successfully protected the bark from being stripped, but the trunk wasn't strong enough. First two pics (pretty terrible quality by lamplight on my porch) of the snapped stewartia sapling. The 3rd one shows a glimpse of it's fall color from last year, when it was an even younger lad. Looks like he might have had some potential. Sigh ...

My other stewartias are just getting started. I have always had high hopes for their fall color, but none of mine have been super spectacular yet. S pseudocamellia has individual leaves with outstanding coloration, but the whole tree doesn't glow like I had hoped. I have a small s. sinensis which is supposed to have spectacular fall color, but mine's too young to tell.

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Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

I suppose I could add a few.

Quercus michauxii Vivacious Valley™

Parrotia persica Valley Vixen™

Euonymus atropurpureus Valley Vibrance™

Viburnum dentatum Voluptuous Valley™

Ilex verticillata 'Winter Gold'

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Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

I can't put my finger on it, but your naming has a common theme...

Damn the bad luck! Do deer go into rut later in Missouri than Wisconsin? It seems like fall coloring and deer mating should roughly overlap, but maybe that's not the case. Sorry, I digress. The maples here were splendid (three Flower in the first and Red in the last two).

BTW, your Pistacia chinensis is exquisite. That tree is a complete unknown to me, but I sure like it. Does it have a downside?

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

As I've probably mentioned before, I'm totally jealous of your acer triflorum. I planted two of them about the same time as my pistachia trees. The pistachias are now 30ft tall - my triflorums are alive, but just. Not an inch taller than when I planted them. I've tried a few others w/ equally pitiful result. I know they can grow well around here, because MoBot has the most spectacular triflorums. If you get a chance to visit, they have several full-sized trees in the back of the Japanese garden - the bark character is unbelievable.

I like my pistachia trees. Berries in the fall are a bonus. Handsome pinnate foliage. Tolerates drought. Only downsides I know of - no significant floral display in spring. And I've heard rumors of pestiferous colonization in some areas of the west/south. Here's my pistachia in splendid frutiferosity.

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

And I forgot to mention about your parrotia, VV - it's interesting to me that yours has some leaves of brilliant red while mine is a uniform butter yellow. I actually like the yellow color of mine, a nice clean bright yellow, rather than the ragged brownish yellow of many others. Wondrous things must happen down there in the Valley!

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Lake Stevens, WA(Zone 8a)

#1, #2 Witchhazel (Hamamelis 'pallida') You have heard my whining about this tree over the years, but this year a lovely fall show for about 3 weeks.
#3, #4 Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) I also whine about these but I am growing them also from seed and meanwhile I LOVE the wine-red leaves in the fall, and there are still some blooms too!

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Your witch hazel looks nice, Pistil. Mine are still green, which seems weird.
And of course you're torturing me with the sourwoods again... I'm not biting.
On my 'never again' list. Which is always open to revision depending on my mood.

Lake Stevens, WA(Zone 8a)

Well with the Sourwood I am having good growth with my special soil collected from under a mature Sourwood by a wonderful DGer who overnighted it to me (I traded a bunch of Iris).
If you want to try again I could send you the seeds I have left over from last year, they had good germination.

Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

Quercus ellipsoidalis. It's not the most stately of oaks, but the fall color is second to none.

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Wow, Pseudo - I agree with you. I have a few oaks long on 'stately' but a little deficient on the fall color scale. Is that a current picture? Does it hold it's leaves all winter? which is an annoying feature of my oaks.

And Pistil, thanks for the offer, but I've planted so many sourwoods over the years,
I'm sure the ground they're planted in is the composted remains of their many predecessors.
Like the old 'Mr. Bill' cartoons on SNL, I can still hear them crying out 'Oh, No-o-o-o--o !!!'
as they see me tenderly placing them in the ground.

Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

The picture was taken last week. Yes, they do tend to hang onto their leaves longer than I'd like. I've heard it said this creates winter interest, but I can do without that kind of interest.

Here's Fothergilla with cutest dog on earth in background (taken yesterday)

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Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

That little fothergilla looks like deer candy sitting there. Here's some pics from tonight right before dark.

Aronia arbutifolia
Viburnum nudum 'Brandywine'
Rhododendron 'Weston's Lollipop'
Acer rubra 'Red Sunset'
Cercidiphyllum japonica with Lindera benzoin below

This message was edited Oct 27, 2015 9:40 PM

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Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

This is the bigger of the two Hamamelis intermedia x Arnold's Promise.

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Boy, you forget about how nice the fall color can be in rhodies.

My best fall coloring hamamelis is Jelena. (Actually it was labelled Diane when I got it, but the blooms are more Jelena shade, so I decided mine must be Jelena, though there are a gazillion other orangey hamamelis's, so who knows).
At any rate, my theory had been that the best fall color was with the plants with the more orange/red flowers. It sure holds true in my yard. But I've seen catalog descriptions of yellow-flowering cultivars which are supposed to have deep red/orange fall color, so my theory may be hogwash.

I've got to get out there this weekend - been on vacation, so haven't done much of a survey.

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Yeah the deciduous azaleas can be pretty nice looking. A couple of mine look dumpy right now as they didn't grow that many leaves this season. I'm not sure what's up with that. My Fire Charm witchazel isn't putting out that great a color right now. That one is hit or miss but the AP is definitely a solid performer. My Jelena and Diane were installed this season so I'm not sure they will do much for color this year. I'm looking forward to our Sweetgum changing. It has only changed a handful of inner leaves and with the weather we've been having, it might be another several weeks before it does much. We still haven't had a killing freeze, just a light one.

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

This is a pic of an Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliantissima' from last night. None of the others look quite as stunning as this particular plant.

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Wow, you caught that color just right!
I sometimes have a plant with great fall color, but never seems as nice in a photo.

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Yeah I hear you for sure. If this pic would have been on a retailer's website I would swear it was photoshopped.

Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

So inspired by your aronia picture, when I got home from work I walked around and took a few pictures of some really striking fall color. Unfortunately, you'll have to take my word for it. I don't know why the reds/oranges don't jump out of the pictures.

Oops... I see I messed up and hit the send button before I was done!
The rest of the post follows...

This message was edited Oct 30, 2015 3:22 PM

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

So inspired by your aronia picture, when I got home from work I walked around and took a few pictures of some really striking fall color. Unfortunately, you'll have to take my word for it. I don't know why the reds/oranges don't jump out of the pictures. It's too bad, because these guys are really showing off today.
#1 is fothergilla major - I purposely post a rather distant shot, since the glowing orange really lights up the area. But from the picture, looks like a dud.
#2 is fothergilla gardenia.
#3 is stewartia pseudocamellia
#4 is acer shirasawarum Palmatifolium
#5 is an evergreen azalea.

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Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Very nice! What is that evergreen looking thing underneath your first plant? Amazing how great an evergreen azalea looks when shedding leaves. I have a rhodie with a few bright orange leaves here and there. I hope this winter will be kind to you, unlike the other two.

Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

The evergreen shrub is Aucuba japonica Rozannie (sometimes listed as Rozanne).
It's marginally hardy here but thrived for 15yrs.
But it got hit bad by the rough winter 2yrs ago.
The central trunk was killed outright, but it has survived on a bunch of peripheral suckers.
Frankly I should yank it but I'm too tender-hearted.
It has never fruited - just a spash of evergreen.
The reason I got this cultivar was because it was supposed to be self-fruitful.
Anyway, it has been a bit of a dud.

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Well from the pic it looks like a really nice evergreen ground cover. I like it.

Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Totally off topic, but this dude was helping me plant bulbs today ... but I didn't find him very helpful.

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Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

Is that a dude? He's a fine looking fellow who no doubt admires your garden. Here's a display of Maackia amurensis fall color to match his good looks. Stunning!

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Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

...and here's the photos...

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Lovely indeed!

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Is that a turkey Wee? There's a lady not to far from me who gardens with a pet goose following her around. I always thought that would be cool.

Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

My back porch is visited by turkeys frequently, usually a group of 4-5. They cock their heads every which way to look in the house. They're pretty comical. They often jump up onto the top of patio furniture craning to get a better view. I was standing in the kitchen just a few feet away from this guy. They're not very sociable, they'll scatter if you go outside.

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Wow, that's funny, I never heard of that before. Do you have any cats? I bet they'd go nuts.

Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

We have a bunch of feral cats. I've never seen them together.
This guy was about the biggest turkey I've ever seen.

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Feral cats might be good for any rodent infestation. That would be cool to see those turkeys on the porch furniture. When they get up there do they light up cigars and play Texas Hold'em? LOL

Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Took a survey of fall's development today. My witch hazels are in full swing, seems later than most everyone else. #1 is Jelena, I think. #2 is acer japonicum - not sure which cultivar. #3&4 are an add thread-leaf acer palmatum, Koto Ito Komachi. It has dissected (thread-leaf) leaves but doesn't have the weeping habit of typical A.p.palmatum dissectum cultivars. Mine is 10+ ft tall. Amazing that a plant with such dissected foliage would be this vigorous. #5 is for Sequoia, another visit today from my garden helpers.

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Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

Did they request Wild Turkey?

Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

Ooh a turkey! Nice acer japonicum too. Are the turkeys ever hanging out with you in the yard?

Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a)

This is the last of fall color here -- now it is time to hibernate. The Cotinus has peaked and pretty much everything else is bare. Thank god for conifers!

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Lititz, PA(Zone 6b)

That's very nice Pseudo. I never knew those had such pretty fall colors.

Here's my Larix laricina from yesterday.

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Saint Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Still looking good, Pseudo.
My cotinus is still pretty green. Hope it colors as nicely as yours.
And Seq, I have killed a bunch of larix's. So I'm completely jealous.

I spent the day trying to string up a bird feeder, which was pretty hilarious.
Took about 10 tries to lasso the proper branch at risk to life & limb.
But then couldn't overcome further technical difficulties, despite 9 trips to the hardware store.
Will soldier on again next weekend...

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