Last Fall Images, 2018

Winter has come with cold rain and bitter breezes that have stripped lingering autumn leaves from trees. I don't mind our brief winter too much, despite the leaden, mushy landscape. It is a good backdrop for the festive decorations and Christmas lights of December. But I enjoy looking back at the last images of fall, taken less than two weeks ago:

'Orido Nishiki' is usually my last Japanese maple to take on fall colors and the last one to lose them. While many trees were already barren, glorious leaves still clung to this tree in the woodland garden:

Finally, here are a couple of pictures that don't belong to me. Another Deb (who also lives in Helena!) sent me the following photos. First, a decorative rabbit in a sea of leaves:

And her adorable dog named Honeybunny:

Thank you, Deb, for letting me use your beautiful photos.

Despite the arrival of winter, I can't just sit back with my hot chocolate and look at pretty garden pictures. All those leaves covering my moss paths and draped over shrubs have to be raked! (Remember, moss needs air to grow.) And many weeds flourish during milder winter days. So I have to pull them as they appear throughout the winter if I don't want to be swamped with spring weeds. You would be amazed at how many baby weeds are birthed during cold weather!  

Acers for Amazing Fall Foliage

Today I had to take a breath and gaze in wonder when I stepped outside.For spectacular fall foliage, acers must be at the top of the list, and my property is blessed with about twenty of them. Most are Japanese maples. Some of these acers have fancy, hard to pronounce names, for which I paid more than I want to remember. Others are inexpensive, unnamed seedlings I planted in 1990, after a tornado wiped out the center of our property. My landscaping budget at the time was zero, because our heavily damaged house was taking all our money, and even a few tiny trees was a stretch. But now the humble seedlings have matured into magnificent specimens, as beautiful as any with grandiose pedigrees. I say I made a good investment!The red-orange foliage of the tree in the center of this view at the edge of the woodland garden belongs to 'Orido Nishiki.'

'Orido Nishiki' from inside the woodland garden

This is our "Marriage Tree." It was about four feet tall when it survived the tornado that brought down enormous trees all around it in 1990.

One of the unnamed seedlings that has grown into a beauty

As you can see, acer fall foliage comes in a wonderful variety of colors, ranging from gold to orange to ruby-red to burgundy. Many trees show multiple colors. They are incredible when backlit by the sun.

All of these beautiful leaves will soon be on the ground. We have many trees on our property, and we have already begun the months-long chore of raking our lawns and paths, as well as brushing fallen foliage off of shrubs. It is a labor of bittersweet love and joy. (And very good exercise!)