Planting DesignDiscover the right plants for your garden.
Of all the season , autumn has always been my favorite . It is a prison term of assembly . squash and pumpkins are stack in our buttery , package of garlic and onions hang up to dry , and , in our nautical clime , expanse of light-green tomatoes expect the ripening process atop yesterday ’s word report . Before their journeys in the south , raspberry flesh out from seeds and fruits offered from a landscape in decrescendo .
The coloring of autumn leaves has always seemed a gripping truncated action replay of the prior calendar month of sunshine or deficiency thereof . More rays and warmth match more ample clams , flavonoid , and carotenoids in foliage . And as the mask green chloroplasts disintegrate , these other pigment are revealed . Some plants are more consistent in this advantage than others .
Cercidiphyllum japonicum’Heronswood Globe ' ( katsura Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ) . photograph by : Richard Bloom .
For restrained to large gardens in evenly moist soils , Cercidiphyllum japonicum(katsura tree ) , slays any contest in compliments to autumn effect . Its oval foliage of greenish - suffused rose throughout the summer transmutes to coral and icteric - orange in mid - autumn — earlier if the class is particularly wry . It is not colour alone that is brought forth by its annual good turn of foliage , but a tantalizing scent some describe as Cinnamomum zeylanicum , others as cotton candy . I suggest the more caloric crème caramel brown . A globular , more compact cultivar , ‘ Heronswood Globe ’ , is a good choice for the low garden .
unique for its oblation of ornament throughout the yr , Clethra barbinervis(Japanese summersweet)remains , in my opinion , one of the most solid shrubby deciduous Tree that can be grown . Adaptive to most of North America , its dappled barque in wintertime rivals that of the finestStewartia . Dark green , boldly textured leafage in summer is a undecomposed foil for its racemes of extremely zest white flowers in July and August . In autumn , even in tint , the leaves reverse to glowing shade of orangeness - red before falling .
Though lack the effects of dappled bark , Lindera obtusilobaandLindera triloba(spicebush)—both from easterly Asia — offer classifiable textural qualities and telling fall attire . The former , with three - lobed farewell similar to the American sassafras tree , and a late - winter haze of lily-livered flowers akin toCornus mas(cornelian cherry tree ) , this 15 - foot modest tree becomes radiant in flavour of clear white-livered in October . The latter , Lindera triloba , is smaller in all regard , also with three - finger leaves but coloring in autumn to tones of tangerine and melon vine .
Vitis vinifera‘Purpurea ’ ( purpleleaf grape ) . Photo by : Marianne Majerus .
Hardy deciduous vines with splendid autumn notes are far from common , outdoors of the inarguably brilliant fall performance ofToxicodendron radicans(poison ivy ) . Several cultivars ofVitis(grape ) , develop on a modest spindle or fence do threefold duty , providing fruit for the board or glass and a visual feast of claret purpleness long into fall . Vitis vinifera‘Purpurea ’ is especially effective , have a royal cast throughout summer and sensational fall tints of scarlet , though its fruit is notoriously unpalatable .
Vitis coignetiae(crimson halo vine ) . Photo by : Richard Bloom .
Vitis coignetiae , from the mountains of Japan , represent another grapevine grown for its decoration rather than fruit . Its broad , glossy - green leafage transmutes to dazzling shades of orangish , scarlet , and yellow in autumn . It is a vigorous vine that must be give an adequately sized Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or treillage on which to climb .
Viburnum setigerum’Aurantiacum ' ( teatime genus Viburnum ) . Photo by : Rob Cardillo .
Callicarpa bodinieri var . giraldii‘Profusion ’ ( beautyberry ) ca n’t aid but thread aid with clustering of glossy majestic ornamental berry on 6 - pes stems . Photo by : Rob Cardillo .
The effects of autumn on yield are evenly dazzling . Viburnum setigerum’Aurantiacum ' ( tea genus Viburnum ) systematically produces enormous crops of bright orangish - red berry that remain effective until they ’re consumed by birds in early winter . It ’s beautiful in compounding withCallicarpa bodinierivar.giraldii‘Profusion ’ ( beautyberry)with plenty of beguiling purple yield clustered along stem to 6 feet in tiptop . It ’s a color infrequently offered to temperate gardeners by way of yield or blossom . If adequate elbow room live in the garden , consider a pair ofIdesia polycarpa(Igiri tree diagram ) . This fast - growing tree possess bold , heart - shape leave that ripen to a handsome icteric , while , on female specimens , startlingly large pendent clusters of orange berries hang on through much of winter . Both male and distaff trees must be present to set fruit .
Osmanthus heterophyllus(false holly ) . Photo by : Richard Bloom .
Elaeagnus pungens‘Maculata ’ ( variegated silverthorn ) . Photo by : Marianne Majerus .
fall is not just about the end of the cycle . Many plant are just beginning to awaken and gear up themselves for the generative outgrowth . Osmanthus heterophyllus(false holly ) presents sweet odoriferous blanched bloom in September , nestled amongst its dark evergreen foliage . Elaeagnus pungens‘Maculata ’ ( variegated silverthorn ) , is another autumn efflorescence , evergreen shrub that I would not be without in my garden . immediate to found , in October potently fragrant white flowers are produced , each coated with an overlay of silvern scale .
Cyclamen hederifolium(ivy - leaved cyclamen ) . Photo by : Richard Bloom .
It was not until I arrived in western Washington that I made my conversancy withCyclamen hederifolium(ivy - leave behind cyclamen ) , with delicate , reflexed pink or white efflorescence bob up from the flat coat when the days cut and the first autumn rains arrive . by and by , its handsome silver - mottled leaves appear and will gestate the garden throughout the winter . It is one of the fine gifts to the fall landscape and one of many that will take in the gardener into a season of hidden charms . Read to turn cyclamen .
