Hoarding color
November 7th, 2007 by Kristin GreenI have this unreasonable – not dread exactly – worry maybe about the approach of winter. I have to keep reminding myself that there are still colors in the winter. I will find them… I know I will! But I keep thinking “the monochrome is coming the monochrome is coming!” and I run around madly trying to glue all of the fall color – every leaf – to my mind’s eye for safe keeping. Good thing I have a camera.
This morning I startled a deer and he hightailed it (Hey! so that’s where that expression comes from!) across the great lawn before I could unholster my camera. Quick Draw McGraw I’m not. 
The Maidenhair tree (Gingko biloba) was looking especially gorgeous today so I went in for a close up forgetting the vomit smelling fruit underfoot… Oh well. To me, the picture’s worth a 1000 stinks.
The Franklinia is exhibiting a delicate range of colors – it’s hard to believe this beauty is extinct in the wild – Thank goodness it’s not gone forever from our gardens too. (Plant one!) 
The Tupelo is almost done.
But the maples still have a ways to go…
And I bid a fond farewell today to my favorite cutting garden plant (Asclepias physocarpa ‘Oscar’) and some Salvia vanhoutiis (carted off in a red hat lady color combo) from the Idea Beds. Our killing frost is forecast for tonight… 
November 7th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Pat yourself on the shoulder everytime you step on your female Ginkgo’s vomit-fruit. Gingko is currently on the threatened plant list as landscapers only plant the male trees to avoid stinky fruit, thereby limiting the gene-pool, threatening the genetic diversity of the species. You know, the whole evolutionary bottleneck problem; kind of like pure-bred dalmations with hip-dysplasia.
November 9th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
You’re right, Susan. It would be better to describe the fruit as having the scent of ripe papaya – that’s more attractive! There are streets in Newport, RI heavily planted with female Gingkos and heady with their fragrance – it’s good that there are still some venerable oldies out there if not many newbies…
November 10th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Great fall colors! I’ve never seen a Franklinia, I think its not reliably hardy here in the Midwest. You’re lucky the deer run from you; too many gardeners have to chase the deer away.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Mr. McG’s Daughter, You may be right about growing Franklinias in the Midwest – they’re a Georgia native hardy to zone 6. Ours is in a protected (from winter wind) spot on the mansion’s front lawn. We’ve had deer on the property more and more recently – it’s probably not long before they hold a pose for pictures!