DEL.ICIO.USERICA GLASENER
These are a few of my favorite (fall) things …
For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Fall is one of my favorite times of year, and a few weeks ago when I was in Youngstown, Ohio, to speak at the Fellows Riverside Gardens it was a near perfect autumn day with cold crisp air and brilliant colors everywhere I looked. And, I was lucky enough to experience the wonderful fragrance (similar to cotton candy or burning sugar) that Katsura leaves give off when they change colors and fall off the tree. As I toured the garden I couldn’t help noticing how many of the same plants grow in our Georgia gardens.
In the distance a large Serviceberry, Amelanchier species, stood out against blue skies with its tangerine orange leaves. The bright yellow leaves of the Sweet pepperbush, Clethra alnifolia, and red berried viburnums seemed to say, “Notice me!” I was drawn to the Oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Sikes Dwarf,’ for its intense red leaves and its small habit. Another favorite of mine, Bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflor, gave off a golden glow that was matched by the leaves of Lindera obtusiloba, the Japanese spicebush. A plant that I know for its white summer blooms and ornamental bark, Heptacodium miconiodes, the Seven Sons Flower tree, also displays handsome red bracts in autumn.
While colorful foliage and fruits light up the landscape, there are also treats like the hardy cyclamen, Cyclamen hederifolium that carpet the woodland. Tiny pink flowers, with a purple-magenta V-shaped blotch at the base of each petal, put on a show for months and the evergreen foliage persists through the winter. Once established, this cyclamen, which grows from a tuber or corm, will seed itself around. Other shade lovers include perennials like Toad lilies, Tricyrtis formosana, which produces masses of miniature orchidlike flowers .
A berried beauty that wowed me recently at the Smith-Gilbert Arboretum in Kennesaw with its abundant orange to golden yellow fruits is the Scarlet Firethorn Pyracantha coccinea ‘Teton.’ This National Arboretum selection noted for its resistance to fireblight and scab is a large, mostly upright shrub, growing to 12 feet high or taller. An unusual holly, Ilex cornuta ‘O Spring’ looks great in combination with Camellia sasanqua ‘Snow Flurry’ and its pure white flowers. Deciduous hollies, Japanese maples, dogwoods and beautyberries were all competing with one another for best in show.
In my own young garden, my favorite combination this October (you know how fickle we gardeners are) is Chrysanthemum ‘Single Apricot’ ( may also be known as ‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’), Aster oblongifolius ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ and Geranium ‘Rozanne.’ The pastel apricot mums with the lavender asters and the violet-blue hardy geraniums all add up to a pleasing autumn scene. I like this chrysanthemum because it is tall and billowy and comes back reliably year after year.
In talking with garden designer David McMullin about fall flowers, he says that two of his favorites are Aster laevis ‘Baby Blues’ with nice foliage, sky blue flowers and for early autumn Aster ericoides ‘Pink Star’ with pale shell pink flowers and rigid stems.
The show continues into November when we can look forward to Ginkgo biloba when it turns golden yellow and then almost overnight, or so it seems, it drops all its leaves at once.
These are just a few of the stars that shine in the autumn landscape.
Ornamental grasses, selections of Heuchera and fall blooming bulbs are also worth noting. Add some color to your garden this fall!
Erica’s pick
Seven Sons flower
- Botanical name: Heptacodium miconiodes
- About the plant: This deciduous small tree grows 15 feet to 20 feet tall and produces beautiful white fragrant flowers in late summer to early fall that are followed by showy burgundy-colored bracts in October. The tan exfoliating bark
- adds to the beauty of this unusual tree.
- Use in the garden: Use this tree as a specimen or part of a mixed border.
- Planting and care: Full sun or part shade and a well-drained soil is best.
- Source: Scottsdale Farms, 15639 Birmingham Highway (Ga. 372); Alpharetta, GA 30004, 770-777-5875
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