Foliage Follow-up: November 2016 and Wednesday Vignette

I'm linking today with Pam at Digging for Foliage Follow-Up and with Anna at Flutter&Hum for Wednesday Vignette. Be sure to follow the links to see more posts for both memes. I was going to split them up but, to be honest, I wanted to use one of these foliage shots and couldn't pick! So here's the whole lot of them. They actually span the last couple weeks, with some taken yesterday and today, and others taken near the beginning of the month. Things change so rapidly this time of year, and I've been so busy, I feel like I've missed a lot out in the garden.

Stachyurus praecox 'Sterling Silver' continues to keep its leaves in pristine condition while the Clethra barbinervis flashes through a brief display of fall color. This photo was taken a week or two ago and the Clethra is now all bare stems and dangling seed pods, but the Stachyurus still looks the same. Interestingly, my other Clethra barbinervis still has most of its leaves, which are mostly green with blushes of red and orange and falling gradually. It's been in the ground longer, but it's a younger plant.

This is what the leaves on the Clethra barbinervis shown above look like now. Brown against the silver Carex comans below, with a stem of Rubus lineatus fallen over it, broken off at the base by the wind.

I've actually gone a few foliage follow-ups without posting one of my silver mahonias. Here's my first one, on the left. The purple color is fairly normal for it as the weather cools. The more orange shades are stress-related from growing in a spot it didn't like. It's now in a new location, so hopefully I'll be seeing less orange. Not that it isn't pretty, but I want it to be healthy. On the right is Diervillea rivularis 'SMNDRSF' (Kodiak®  Black), blazing against the silver Carex comans.

I love the apricot yellow of Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'. It's beautiful when backlit during the day, and it glows as the sun lowers into evening.

Cotinus 'Grace' has had all of its leaves blown off by now, but it had amazing color this year while it lasted. On the right you can see it in the mid-ground, with a 'Midwinter Fire' dogwood in the foreground and Acer rubrum just peaking over the cotinus in the background.

Acer rubrum isn't really the best tree for the PNW. This one has looked a bit tired in the summer drought the last two years, and I just don't think that trees should need supplemental irrigation. But boy, does it earn its place in the fall.

It's just about bare now. These photos were taken at peak color.

Below, left, Cotinus coggygria 'Golden Spirit' with a Euphorbia characias in the background. On the right is a celebration of browns, with bronze Carex comans, the dark brown leaves of dormant Bletilla striata, and the semi-dormant leaves of Iris 'Black Gamecock' contrasting in chartreuse.

I love the way Comptonia peregrina turns, with brown leaves gradually shading into green at the stem ends. On the right, an Achillea millefolium with amazing fall color. I didn't know yarrow turned these colors. I though it went straight to brown. 

I got out today for a couple more pictures just before it grew too dark. I've really been enjoying this Epilobium 'Catalina' along the dry creek bed. I'm really looking forward to next year when all the cuttings I planted are this size, too, and really put on a show. 

I'll leave you with this photo of Cornus sericea 'Hedgerow's Gold' taking on dark pink and wine-red tones now and glowing against the Carex comans below. It's going to be amazing when this shrub fills in.


Comments

  1. All your foliage is beautiful but I'm in love with that Cornus.

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    1. Thank you! I was lucky to get it from a friend.

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  2. I would have had a hard time to pick just one vignette too, Evan. I didn't know Stachyrus praecox is variegated. I guess I just assumed it was similar to the S. salicifolius, but the leaf form is quite a bit different, too. Live and learn... The colors in that last shot are just fabulous!

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    1. Oops. I forgot to put in the cultivar name for that Stachyurus. It's 'Sterling Silver'. There's another variegated Stachyurus praecox called 'Magpie', too.

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  3. Lots to love here! I moved my silver Mahonia in early spring and it's much happier, plus I can see it now. No color yet, but it really just started getting cold.

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    1. I have two silver mahonias now. The first one turns color in winter, but I don't recall the second one changing, so it's not something they all do.

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  4. Wow...that Acer! This is a time of year where it's hard to choose where to point the camera, for sure ;-)

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    1. I've found there are a lot of times of year I have that problem. ;-)

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  5. I've been on the look out for a silver mahonia but I never see it in nurseries. I expect I'll have to special order it. I suppose you should make "summer watering" exception for your beautiful maple: its worth keeping alive for the amazing fall show!

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    1. Go to the next open house at Windcliff and ask Dan Hinkley if he has any he's willing to sell. When I went, he had a bunch of seedlings that weren't technically for sale, but he let me pick one out for a friend. I think the maple will manage in most years, especially as it grows and becomes more established. It's tough enough not to die without summer water. It just droops a bit.

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  6. Shazam, what a show! It's looking like a beautiful autumn in your garden, Evan. I'm smitten by the cletha foliage and the silver mahonia, in particular.

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    1. Thanks, Pam! Most of the deciduous leaves are fallen now. The evergreens are carrying the show now.

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  7. It would be nice to have a look at the beautiful plants.Colors of the leaves looks wonderful:)

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