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Japanese Maples Fall Color

'Skeeter's Broom' is the most colorful maple in our garden. I have just returned from a 2-week trip to Japan. This was my first ever trip outside the United States. It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget. Japan was wonderful - they really have their act together and I think the U.S. could learn a few things from them. There was one disappointment on the trip - the fall color had barely begun there and was really just beginning as we left. That is okay because the gardens were still spectacular, and I got a nice shot of fall color when I got back. 'Ryusen' I missed a few things - our ginkgo had just turned a glorious color the day before I left, and the leaves were gone by the time I got back.  'Sango-Kaku' I came home to many leaves on the ground but still a lot on the trees. 'Osakazuki', a beautiful red maple always changed color very late and therefore doesn't usually last long. When I left there was no color but a few remaini
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Assessing the Heat Damage


I am probably being immature as our horrendous heat wave will continue today with temperatures predicted to be even higher than yesterday's inferno of 109. I've never experienced such, not even in Alabama. Although the humidity isn't as bad here, the sun is noticeably hotter. You can feel your skin blistering when standing in it.

Looking around the garden this morning and there are lessons to be learned.

Overall, most everything looks okay. These daylilies and hypericum seem unfazed and the bees are swarming -


But there is some damage and in unexpected places. We have been watering heavily in the evenings and mornings before the heat hits and were concentrating on the pots and usual suspects (hydrangea). 

However, I didn't give the smaller conifers or, of all things, barberries, a passing thought. That was a mistake.

Norway Spruce (Picea abies 'Pusch')

Picea orientalis 'Tom Thumb'

 I had no idea barberries were so delicate!

A newly planted barberry and I can't recall the name of it. It is one of the golden-leaved varieties.

Berberis calliantha which I relocated this past winter

These plants have umbrellas over them today so I'm hoping they will pull out of this. Poor things!

Of course, even on the shaded deck, the fuchsias are not faring well. We could not even grow these in Alabama. I actually thought about bringing them all inside but that would have been a huge ordeal. Some look better than others. Most of the ones planted in the ground seem fine.


A marine front will push this nastiness out of here this evening and it will get down into the 60s tonight. Last night the low was in the 80s and I don't think our a/c kicked off. We are just thankful to have it. So many people here do not.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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  1. Kris PetersonJune 28, 2021 at 5:31 PM

    Hopefully, many of the scorched plants will recover if given time. Even agaves can get sunburned under conditions like that. The first time we had sustained temperatures over 105F, the lemon tree at the bottom of our slope, which had probably been in planted 30 years before, dropped almost all its fruit overnight. What didn't drop withered in place. It's done that now each time we've had a severe stretch of heat lasting more than 2 days but, thus far, it's recovered every time, although that recovery takes several months. Here, it's usually the smaller and newer plants that perish. Best wishes for relief soon.

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  2. chavlinessJune 29, 2021 at 8:29 AM

    I planted my one and only Berberis ('Admiration') last year, and it promptly lost most of its leafs. I continued to water, hoping it's not a goner, and it came back beautifully this spring. Let's hope the same is true for your berberis. I'd be more worried about the small conifers... overall it seems like your garden took the heat wave with stride. I was never so happy with cool marine air as I was this Tuesday morning!

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  3. chavlinessJune 29, 2021 at 8:29 AM

    I planted my one and only Berberis ('Admiration') last year, and it promptly lost most of its leafs. I continued to water, hoping it's not a goner, and it came back beautifully this spring. Let's hope the same is true for your berberis. I'd be more worried about the small conifers... overall it seems like your garden took the heat wave with stride. I was never so happy with cool marine air as I was this Tuesday morning!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hoover BooJune 29, 2021 at 2:37 PM

    Brutal. I dread summer for this reason. Hope it's cooling down for you now.

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  5. Lisa at GreenbowJune 29, 2021 at 5:39 PM

    What a nightmare. These times are crazy weather-wise. I hope your plants recover when the temperatures go back to normal.

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