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Garden impressions - Autumn 2005

  Autumn is a season in which the garden often surprises me. Not just because changes happen rapidly as the end of the gardening season approaches - but also because by this time of year, I don't venture out as often anymore. Shorter days, rainy weather, or just plain burnout conspire to keep me inside, so that when a cheerful sunny fall day draws me out, there are lots of new things to explore. On this page I show some of the sights that prompted me to take a picture.

The side garden is not yet in full fall splendor, but already has taken on that regal state where details like tidy foliage and prim blossoms no longer matter - colors blend together, and messiness that might have been offputting in the height of summer seems less frantic, more natural.

Showing off their technicolor transformation, the leaves shine in the autumn garden. This set belongs to our crape myrtle.

But while crape myrtles, with the explosion of flowers in summer, have already had their best show, other plants are just now starting their primary season of interest. Burnish bush is one of them. Another one is this Japanese spirea, whose foliage was golden early in the season - in its purple state, it has finally gathered up its composure and is at long last mature.

So too, the variegated Japanese elm had foliage that was showy enough in the regular season, maturing from light green in spring to deep green in summer, in both cases strikingly streaked with white. By now, the white is gone, and a more gentle mixture of burnished colors has replaced the contrast that came before.

And then the clematis. Notwithstanding the fact that Ramona is still sporting its glorious flowers, the focus has shifted to the typical moppy seedheads. Except that Ramona (left) is more grunge, Jackmanii more new wave.

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Last modified: November 05, 2005
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