Fall Colors

We are not having a very colorful fall here in Johnston County, but
fall is a beautiful time of year whether there's a lot of color or not.

Musclewood is colorful this year, much needed as the red maples are not.
Carpinus carolinana seems to color best when young, for some reason, and is
a nice understory tree at woodland's edge. These trees are next to one of the horse pastures.

Musclewood's common name derives from its smooth gray trunks, which twist in such
a way that they really do produce the visual effect of muscles rippling under skin.

Wild Possamhaw (Ilex decidua) grows next to the pastures and along the creek that borders our farm. As the scientific name suggests these hollies lose their leaves in late fall, leaving a beautiful display a red berries. The leaves are still persisting but won't for long. The possamhaw berries have a striking shine to them, unlike American holly berries which tend to be duller.

Winged sumac and broomstraw -- they're just weeds, but they're actually rather striking together. I wouldn't plant Broomstraw in my garden but I do like the effect in a meadow. These plants are in a ditch next to the pasture that we only mow once or twice a year to keep the woody plants down. Our neighbor's pasture has a large stand of broomstraw that glows golden even after the sun has dipped below the horizon.

A view of the neighbor's pasture and trees, east of our house,
showing a three quarters moon in the middle of a fall afternoon.

Bees on Aster 'Miss Bessie'

This late in the year all of the pollinating insects descend on the few remaining flowering plants that are left. Honeybees, yellow jackets, bumblebees, carpenter bees, and the remaining butterflies all crowd together. The two plants currently in full bloom are aster "Miss Bessie" and groundsel trees, both of which we have in great number.

Aster 'Miss Bessie'

Bumblebee with skipper

Hoverfly

Honeybee and hoverfly

The Garden in November

A view of the big perennial bed through the trellis, taken on Election Day.
The dahlia sprawling on the ground behind 'Cl. Old Blush' is 'Rothsay Reveller'.

'Miss Bessie' with 'Foxi Pavement' on left and Muhlenbergia filipes on the right.

A different view of the same part of the bed. The lavender flowers in the foreground belong to an aromatic aster. The brown stalks are the skeletons of Brazilian blue sage turned brown by frost, and the grass on the left is Lindheimer's Muhly.

The seedheads of Joe Pye Weed have a surprising sort of beauty. This is not a cultivar, but divisions of JPW that grow wild here. It comes in 2 colors, a light mauve and a darker mauve/ purple. In the background to the left are the roses 'Rosette Delizzy' and 'Foxi Pavement', and in the background aster 'Miss Bessie'.

Aster 'Miss Bessie' by hay shelter. 'Miss Bessie' can be a bit
gawky, but makes up for it by the lateness and color of the flowers.