Connect with us

Lifestyle

Some uncommon trees and shrubs have lots to offer in fall

Published

on

Say “fall colour” and many minds turn to sugar maple. Aspen, hickory, and tupelo are among other well-known trees that fuel autumn's figurative flames. Ask about attractive bark, and many gardeners will think of white birch.

Say “fall colour” and many minds turn to sugar maple. Aspen, hickory, and tupelo are among other well-known trees that fuel autumn’s figurative flames. Ask about attractive bark, and many gardeners will think of white birch.

Say “fall colour” and many minds turn to sugar maple. Aspen, hickory, and tupelo are among other well-known trees that fuel autumn’s figurative flames.

Ask about attractive bark, and many gardeners will think of white birch.

But a number of lesser-known trees and shrubs can also contribute to the outdoor show, and — unlike sugar maple and white birch—are adept at doing so in the face of adversity. That is, they grow well in spite of soil that is too wet or too dry, or weather that’s uncommonly hot, and they’re unbothered by pests.

A COUPLE OF RESILIENT HYDRANGEAS

Two hydrangeas are in this category. The first, oakleaf hydrangea, is usually planted because of its summer transformation into a giant candelabra holding 10-inch, pyramidal clusters of white flowers upright at the ends of its stems. This hydrangea is native to the Southeast, and northern gardeners — myself included — have shied away from this shrub because its flower buds often winterkill, even though the rest of the plant is quite hardy.

But oakleaf hydrangea would be well worth planting just for its foliage: The lobed leaves are dark green through summer, and then ignite to a striking burgundy come fall. This fast-growing shrub does well even in dry soil. And the flower heads, when they do develop, persist well into autumn, adding to the show.

The other noteworthy hydrangea is called Praecox, and it’s another variety of the species that gives us the more commonly planted PeeGee hydrangea. Like PeeGee, Praecox is a hardy shrub growing about 10 feet high, blooming in midsummer, and livening fall with its persistent, dried, papery brown flower heads. But while PeeGee’s ice cream cone shape and full flower heads give it a rather formal air, Praecox is less stiff in overall form and in the fullness of its flower heads.

LEAVES AREN’T FALL’S ONLY SHOW

Then there are plants that colour fall with something besides their leaves. Seven-son flower, which first arrived here from China in 1980, graces this season with its rose magenta seeds.

buy trazodone online visualhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/png/trazodone.html no prescription pharmacy

It grows as a large shrub or small tree up to about 20 feet high.

Another plant, goldenrain tree, has been grown on this side of the Pacific for longer, and is generally most flamboyant in summer, when it’s covered with small yellow flowers. However, the variety Rose Lantern flowers late, in September, and then goes on to an encore performance by dangling pink seed capsules, like Chinese lanterns, from its branches.

EXOTIC MAPLES

Sugar maple isn’t the only maple with flamboyant autumn colour. Japanese maples are valued as much in fall as in other seasons, except that Japanese maples are not generally tough plants. Enter Korean maple, also called purplebloom maple. This maple is similar in appearance to Japanese maple, but is more cosmopolitan and a bit more upright. In fall, the leaves of Korean maple turn a mix of orange and scarlet.

Twisted-bark maple, also called threeflower maple, is another Asian maple. Like Korean maple, it grows to about 30 feet high. Fall colour varies from bright red to orange to yellow, from plant to plant.

Another Asian maple, paperbark maple, gets some red in its leaves. The real show, though, is in its bark, which looks like polished copper and naturally curls back in paper-thin sheets.

buy zithromax online visualhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/png/zithromax.html no prescription pharmacy

So go ahead and be the first on your block to plant oakleaf hydrangea, threeflower maple, seven-son flower or any of the other plants mentioned. You’ll be delighted — and not just in fall. Each plant also earns its keep in the other seasons. The bark of twisted-bark maple, for instance, peels off in decorative ash grey strips, most evident in winter. Seven-son flower bears panicles of small white flowers in spring. Enjoy the bark of paperbark maple every day of the year.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maria in Vancouver

Lifestyle3 days ago

Family Estrangement: Why It’s Okay

Family estrangement is the absence of a previously long-standing relationship between family members via emotional or physical distancing to the...

Lifestyle2 months ago

Becoming Your Best Version

By Matter Laurel-Zalko As a woman, I’m constantly evolving. I’m constantly changing towards my better version each year. Actually, I’m...

Lifestyle2 months ago

The True Power of Manifestation

I truly believe in the power of our imagination and that what we believe in our lives is an actual...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

DECORATE YOUR HOME 101

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Our home interiors are an insight into our brains and our hearts. It is our own collaboration...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

Guide to Planning a Wedding in 2 Months

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Are you recently engaged and find yourself in a bit of a pickle because you and your...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Staying Cool and Stylish this Summer

By Matte Laurel-Zalko I couldn’t agree more when the great late Ella Fitzgerald sang “Summertime and the livin’ is easy.”...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Ageing Gratefully and Joyfully

My 56th trip around the sun is just around the corner! Whew. Wow. Admittedly, I used to be afraid of...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

My Love Affair With Pearls

On March 18, 2023, my article, The Power of Pearls was published. In that article, I wrote about the history...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

7 Creative Ways to Propose!

Sometime in April 2022, my significant other gave me a heads up: he will be proposing to me on May...

Maria in Vancouver6 months ago

Why Eating Healthy Matters

We are what we eat, so don’t be fast, cheap, easy, or fake — we should take these words to...