With the return of cooler temperatures in coastal Southern California, I've thrown myself into a variety of fall garden projects and had just about forgotten that it was time to celebrate the foliage in my garden with Pam at
Digging, who hosts the Foliage Follow-up meme on the 16th of each month after Bloom Day. The first foliage plant that caught my eye was
Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku', also known as coral bark maple. It's one of just 2 Japanese maples in my garden. I've tried growing others but our summer heat, water restrictions, and exposure to heavy winds makes my garden relatively inhospitable for these beautiful trees.
'Sango Kaku' is a delightful exception and she's already showing a bit of fall color too, something else that is in short supply here.
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| This east facing spot next to the garage offers protection from the wind, morning sun, and shade from the hot afternoon sun, which seems to be just what the maple wants |
My other Japanese maple is the dwarf,
Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa'. Unfortunately, it doesn't handle summer heat as well as the coral bark maple. Last winter, I moved it from the backyard to a more protected area in the cutting garden in the hope that would improve its performance. It may have helped some but the lengthy heatwave that began in late August and extended into early September was too much for it. Just as it did last year in the back garden, it prematurely dropped all its leaves. However, this week, I noticed that it responded to the small amount of rain we got from a surprise September thunderstorm and our current cooler temperatures by producing new, spring-like growth.
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| It still looks fairly bare but the bright green foliage helps its appearance a little |
Meanwhile, in the back garden,
Jacaranda mimosifolia 'Bonsai Blue', the tree that replaced the dwarf maple in its former location, took the long heatwave in stride.
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| Planted last December, the tree handled its first summer here with no trouble |
Before I close this post, I'll mention another sign of fall, albeit an unwelcome one. My mimosa tree,
Albizia julibrissin, has moved to the next stage of its messy annual cycle. Having littered my garden with a fuzzy mass of dried brown flowers for months, it's now dropping its leaves and its seedpods. This week, while taking photos for bloom Day, I saw this:
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| This Albizia seedling was hiding behind a mass of Agapanthus foliage along a dirt path I travel infrequently. I fear that one day the Albizia seedlings will get away from e and I'll wake up in a forest of mimosa trees. |
I immediately pulled up the seedling, which was already nearly 2 feet tall. The foliage was darker than that of my mature tree and brought the hybrid form
Albizia 'Summer Chocolate' to mind but, pretty as it might have been, I couldn't bring myself to invite another of those messy trees into my garden.
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| This photo of the seedling sitting in a tub waiting to be hauled out to the compost bin shows its darker color better than the first photo |
For more Foliage Follow-up posts,
visit Pam at Digging.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
