Another Self-Decorating Tree

This one has "ornaments" it almost looks like you could eat too.

Free Deciduous Conifer Mulch and other Rusty Glimpses this Fall

I passed a garden bed of rusty needles at Hofstra not long ago which looked beautiful and also as if it had been deliberately mulched, though it hadn't been. Free deciduous conifer mulch, I thought, how awesome. I'm pretty sure the mulch had fallen from a Dawn Redwood as there was one nearby. (Not the Dawn Redwood pictured below which I passed another recent morning and which hadn't shed all its needles yet.)

In keeping with this afternoon's theme of things you might mostly think of as just being green like a conifer, some little blue stem grass I passed was looking pretty fine wearing its fall and winter hue.

What's Happening Outside Now?

As usual when it comes to plants, much more than you might think is possible.

At November's End

The Stewartia still has leaves,  the weather is mild and the moon is waxing.

Leaf of the Day

A Japanese Maple wins the Leaf of the Day award this Tuesday near November's end.

Fall Colors Still

It's been more than two months now with the colors of fall in New York. I guess if the daylight hours have to be short, the trade off is fair enough. 

Fothergilla This Fall on a Sunny Afternoon

And a throwback below to Fothergilla in bloom this spring on an overcast day.

Is the Year Flying Fast or is Time Crawling?

It's still autumn in New York according to my calendar. Soon enough most of the tree canopy will be bare branches and buds, but for now leaves are still in the picture. 

Some People Read Tea Leaves

But I'm going with what the Redbuds seem to be whispering to me this morning.

After the First Frost

After the first frost it's still autumn in New York and today's weather is a little more inviting.

Whose Got Great Fall Color This Week?

It's been a warm fall in New York with leaf color coming on slow. But this week the temperature will fall below freezing for the first time and there is a lot more vibrant color, it seems to me. One tree with some great color right now is the crepe myrtle, a standout in all seasons.

Some Muted Fall Color

The hue doesn't need to be vibrant to catch your eye.  The browns and tans and hints of pink contribute to the appeal of this season too. 

💛 + 🌟's: ID'ing Leaves Shaped Like Lucky Charms Underfoot Today

If you find stars on the ground at your feet this autumn, an American sweetgum tree likely isn't too far away. And if you come upon a perfect heart-shaped leaf, one possibility is that it has dropped from another native, the Eastern Redbud.

Sourwood: A North American Native With Perfect Red Color This Week

This young Sourwood tree planted near a parking lot at Hofstra had the most perfect red, red leaves this week. It's definitely a plant worth seeing this season.

Ikebana on My Mind

I've never taken a class or workshop in Ikebana, but someday I'd like to. Perhaps it's because another Asian art involving plants, Bonsai, came up in conversation last night or maybe it was simply seeing the beauty of the grass inflorescence and tree branch on this beautiful fall morning, but the result is I now have Ikebana on my mind.

Red Petioled Maple

The petioles on the maple leaves are red even if the leaves themselves are not.  Most trees I have seen recently still are green, except for some red maples, dogwoods and honey locusts, which are turning now in this last week of summer. 

Thanks

Here's to the Camellias blooming now at Brooklyn Botanic in the cold and especially to a year with the opportunity to wonder and wander among trees, some nearly a century old, on a daily basis.

















And to my brother's roses, still blooming and almost as enchanting as my nieces in their various dresses today, and his very tasty thanksgiving bird. It's been a good year.

Weeping Beech

Friday morning, while on the south side garbage patrol with Susan. This grand tree was late to leaf out in the spring, and just started to change color this week.

Back to the Present

Japanese Maple, Brooklyn Museum

Edward Sibley Barnard calls the Japanese Maple the aristocrat of trees in his New York City Trees book and I'd have to agree. Everything about them is so refined. The one above has to be one of my favorite neighborhood trees, and just last week I found out from Dan that this Japanese Maple growing on the slope near the Brooklyn Museum used to be on Brooklyn Botanic's grounds. It still has an accession label hanging off a branch. All throughout the year, I've enjoyed walking past this tree on my way into the garden and right now it is this incredibly bright color that lights up the block. The Red Bistort below isn't nearly as an exalted plant, but still it looks pretty nice hanging on to its blooms in the Perennial Border when everything else is mostly finished.

It's not fall yet

We have another two days of summer, but at least one tree at Brooklyn Botanic doesn't care. The Tupelo tree (Nyssa) near the children's garden is known around the garden as the harbinger of fall. It's the first tree to turn. Here it is red and yellow and amazing last week on the 15th of September.