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A Closer Look at Winter Damage

But first, take a look at this gorgeous rainbow that we had on Friday! The five-day stretch of warm temperatures last week really jump-started the garden. Now that plants are putting out new growth, it is easier to see what kind of damage the winter left. Back in mid-January, we experienced five straight days of below-freezing temperatures. This caused much damage in Portland and areas where frigid winds were a factor. Here, we were fortunate to not get the wind and the cold temperatures were dampened by a blanket of snow. That said, it was a tough time for the garden and there are noticeable casualties but no outright deaths that I have seen. The bottlebrush ( Callistemon 'Woodlander's Red') did not like the cold at all. It was planted six years ago, in the north-facing garden no less, and I've not experienced die-back on it until now. A local expert said to cut it all the way back so that is what I did. If it doesn't make it, I won't be too distraught. It is

Fall colors



The Home Garden blog is celebrating Fall by gathering together blog posts that showcase fall color in their areas. I was beginning to think that we would not have any color to boast about this year. It has been a bad year for the garden - bone-dry conditions from drought being the chief culprit. October is usually a gloriously colorful month here in north Alabama. This year, it is late and we've even had a few frosts already.  A lot of leaves have been lost already before they had a chance to change color. However, the last few weeks has brought about a magical change. Last night brought rain (hooray!), so I rushed yesterday to get a few shots of the garden in her coat of many colors.



The first two photos were taken from the street (W. Limestone) which borders the north side of our property. Ornamental grass "Adagio" and oakleaf hydrangea "Sikes Dwarf" are planted outside the fence. In the background, you can see the foliage of Japanese Maple "Boskoop Glory" and Red Maple "Autumn Blaze". The yellow leaves on the left are also from a red maple.



Hydrangeas, the macrophylla and serrata types, are also very colorful in the fall season. The large yellow tree in the background is actually in our neighbors yard (the lower garden lies between it and this bed) and I don't know what it is.








Standing in front of the bird bath that you see in the above photos, I took this shot looking down along the patio. A Chinese Pistache tree is planted on the patio (to the right). In the background, you can see Japanese Maple "Sango-Kaku", Dogwood and Sugar Maple.




The "Sango-kaku" Japanese Maple is one of my favorites -




The large Dogwood trees were here when we moved in. They offer pleasure in every season -





On the opposite end of the house (the north side) is a small area I created underneath the Yoshino Cherry tree. The crape myrtle in the background was also here when we moved in and I tried to kill it several times (imagine that!). It has beautiful pink flowers that we can see outside our kitchen window as well as brilliant fall color. That is Chester on the bench.



Around the corner to the front garden, you see Japanese Maple "Boskoop Glory" again. The large tree on the left was one of the first I ever planted - a red maple that was on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart. I was very miffed when I saw that the leaves were yellow but I now love it.




Not a lot of color looking inside from the front gate but I wanted to show off the Armandii clematis that I'm very proud of. "Autumn Blaze" maple in the background to the left) -



And finally, a beautiful wisteria inside the secret garden -





Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. beautiful fall foliage, your blog was the first place I saw the Coral Bark maple, and the reason I planted mine!

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  2. Your fall garden color in all its splendor! Beautiful Phillip and so nice to take advantage of the neighbors tree. ;) "Sango-kaku" is a most beautiful specimen... I can't wait for ours to grow up a bit more. ;)

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  3. Phillip, These photos really show off Alabama's fall color bonanza! Your garden looks great in all seasons.....

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  4. You have gorgeous fall color in your garden this year! The garden looks beautiful.

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  5. I find it amazing that your initial thought is that you have no fall color photos to offer.....we would all like to have such an exquisite garden at our home!

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  6. Beautiful Phillip!!Besides the fall colour I think I see some camellias inside the front gate. Yes?

    You just proved that when a garden is well designed, it is beautiful year round. BRAVO!!

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  7. You have a rainbow of fall colors in your garden Phillip.

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  8. There's nothing like that in Austin, so I'm enjoying your fall color from afar. Just beautiful.

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  9. I have been surprised by the fall color here as well, it has been wonderful. Your garden looks great, and nice of Chester to color coordinate with it.

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  10. Well, in spite of a rough summer, it looks like you have some glorious fall color...thanks for all the pics, it looks gorgeous down there!

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  11. Phillip - you've surrounded yourself with some great fall color specimen! Love the photo of the kitty on the bench next to the crape myrtle. The 'Boskoop Glory' Japanese maple has some great color too! Thanks for joining in the project! I'll have a sumamry post up in the morning!

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  12. Gorgeous photos of all the beauty of autumn! I enjoyed the tour of your garden.

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  13. I have been away and am only just now catching up on my blogging. I am glad i didn't miss your fall colors! Your garden is fabulous, and the interplay of its colors and structure reveal how well planned it is. Just when I thought my own garden had reached its fall foliage peak, today brings even more spectacular colors. I thought we weren't going to have much color this fall. I was wrong!

    PS I have got to get me a sango kaku!

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  14. What a stunning collection of trees and shrubs you have! Glad my first visit was to see it in full fall splendour.

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  15. Thank you for the beautiful post. I just purchased the Sango-kaku at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens gift shop last week. Even as a young sapling it was too beautiful to pass up. And the Botanical Garden was spectacular. I went for an art show but made sure to walk around outside because of your earlier post about it. The fall color made it absolutely divine!

    Barbara H.

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