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Autumn Leaves

'Dancing Peacock' Someone needs to write a song... :) With an atmospheric river and 30 mph winds predicted this past weekend, I was afraid the ginkgo, which had just started to turn color, would be stripped.  We were lucky though and it remains intact. Gingko 'Princeton Sentry' After the storm... The Black Tupelo (Nyssa slyvatica) changes color from the inside out - The above photo was taken last week. Here it is today - 'Wolf Eyes' Dogwood (Cornus kousa) has never had such pink color - Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea', Crape Myrtle 'Dynamite' ( Lagerstroemia ), and Persian Ironwood ( Parrotia persica ) - Japanese Maple 'Beni Hime' - Serviceberry 'Autumn Brilliance' ( Amelanchier ) with tree peonies - Stewartia pyschocamellia starts the color show early. It has since faded to a much softer color - Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Black Tupelo - a spectacular tree for autumn color


This is my favorite tree at the moment. It wins the prize for the most colorful leaves. It is known by a string of different common names - 'Black Gum' (also spelled as 'Blackgum'), 'Black Tupelo', ' Sour Gum' and 'Pepperidge'. I like the name 'Black Tupelo' since we used to live close to Tupelo, Mississippi (birthplace of Elvis). The scientific name is Nyssa Sylvatica - Nyssa after the Greek water nymph and sylvatica is Latin meaning 'from the woods". It is a member of the dogwood family (Cornaceae).

The tree will probably get much larger than I'd like and I'm sure it will cast a lot of shade - not necessarily a bad thing. I did not know until recently that it is a major bird and insect attractant. The female tree produces purple/blue drupes that bees use for honey production and birds love to eat. 

The fall color is spectacular - a combination of bright orange, yellow and deep reds but it was one of the last trees to change color. It does hold them nicely and still has leaves at the moment despite some really strong winds. 

My video shows the tree is various stages over a three week period. The tree is 3 years old and was planted in September of 2018.


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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  1. chavlinessNovember 9, 2021 at 8:18 AM

    Once you explained the name's meaning, Water Nymph From The Woods, I was totally invested in memorizing the latin name Nyssa Sylvatica. The fall colors are wonderful and would get even more impressive the bigger the tree gets.

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  2. Kris PetersonNovember 9, 2021 at 9:11 AM

    Wow! It's spectacular.

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  3. Hoover BooNovember 9, 2021 at 4:41 PM

    A very beautiful tree. The autumn color is spectacular, but the growth habit is also lovely.

    Of course I had to go listen to Van Morrison 'Tupelo Honey'.

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