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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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The First Peony - 'Shima-Nishiki'



The Tree Peony 'Shima-Nishiki' is the first to bloom. The name means "fire flame" in Japanese, an apt title to describe the red blooms striped with white. Occasionally, there are solid red blooms.

Every year this peony gets better and seemingly overnight, the puny-looking bare branches are suddenly fleshed out with a tremendous profusion of leaves. The bush is dense, forming a 4 ft. mound. Our plant resides at the top of one of the terrace beds in back where it gets some morning sun and dappled sun (mostly shade) for the remainder of the day. 

We have many peonies in the garden and they all came from Adelman Peony Gardens in Salem, Oregon. It is worth a drive just to see their beautiful display garden in May.






Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Kris PetersonApril 27, 2025 at 7:03 PM

    That's a looker! I'm SO envious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 29, 2025 at 7:08 AM

    Stunning, with just a touch of white... Wow!
    Chavli

    ReplyDelete
  3. tz_gardenMay 1, 2025 at 8:24 AM

    Oh, it is absolute perfection. I love that you placed it by the red branched (maple?) pot.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Visit VashonMay 11, 2025 at 10:07 AM

    Wow, lovely

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