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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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The Deep Freeze



We are in a prolonged freeze with snow cover (I am guessing 3-4 inches).  Thankfully, this was a dry snow. It all started on Friday night with the majority of it hitting us yesterday. The temperature plunged to 18 where it remained all day with a constant snowfall. Actually, I am appreciative of the snow since it will help insulate plants during this long cold spell. It may be Thursday before we climb above 32 and freezing rain is predicted for Tuesday.

We had advanced warning and I covered some plants on Friday. 




I was more concerned with the hummingbirds and it is an endless job trying to keep them unthawed. At present, we have six feeders in the garden. I brought four of them inside for the night and the other two, the ones that are the most difficult to access, I covered with fleece that Michael rustled up for me. The next morning, the two feeders left out were frozen the next morning, but not solid and the hummingbirds were using them. I've been following that same cycle since then but today I put Christmas lights one of the feeders and hope that will do a better job. After all this, I'm seriously thinking about trying the hummingbird feeder heaters. It is rare, however, to have such a long stretch like this of freezing weather. 




We are fortunate that we did not get the harsh winds that Portland got and so far, we have not lost power. There have been power outages in our county but the worst areas are in Portland.






Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Kris PetersonJanuary 15, 2024 at 10:22 AM

    Your garden looks lovely with its snowy blanket, Phillip. I hope that blanket protects your plants against the icy rain you expect later this week. I saw an interesting trick for keeping hummingbird feeders liquid on Instagram yesterday. My recollection is that the poster taped handwarmers to the bottom of the feeder.

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    1. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2024 at 11:02 AM

      Yes, I have heard that as well. I have not tried it yet.

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  2. tz_gardenJanuary 15, 2024 at 1:07 PM

    Your garden does look pretty with the blanket of snow. I can't believe how many days of freeze in a row! So glad your power stayed on.

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