Why I Oughta...

The Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas on the southside of our backyard in the 'kitchen curved bed' are holding on to their greenish/purple-ish leaves this late into the year.  Below in the photo you can see a number of them lined up along the back/middle-back of the border that are droop'ing, but...holding their large leaves: Also note...the leaf litter in the photo all across the beds.  I've cleaned these out a handful of times, each time trying to cut up the leaves with my mower and blowing the scraps back onto the beds.  

2024 is one of the years where our large, mature Red Oak trees aren't holding their leaves late into Winter.  This year, they've dropped MOST of them already - by December 1st.  I've posted about these two backyard Oak trees - the Tree Swing Oak and the southside Oak - over the years - documenting how much foliar marcescence takes places.   This year - here are a couple of photos showing the canopy of these trees on December 1st:  mostly bare. Here is December 6, 2019 - when the Oaks were holding TONS of leaves .   Here is November 23, 2020 - when the trees (both of them) had dropped all their leaves . Here is December 2, 2021 - when the tree swing tree was holding leaves .   Here is November 22, 2023 - when they were FULL of brown leaves .  

Speaking of 'holding leaves' (yesterday...I posted a photo showing the espalier'd Lindens holding their leaves), the row of Frans Fontaine European Columnar Hornbeams that we have planted along the south property line are doing what they always do in Fall:  hold their leaves late.   The term for trees that hold their leaves DEEP into Winter (when they're all brown and dry, but still clinging to the branches) is named foliar Marcescence.  These aren't quite to that state, but based on previous seasons, we'll see these trees brown-out soon.  Then, one or two of them MAY drop their leaves immediately, while others may hold onto them until Spring.   You see this with Oak trees - quite a bit.  They'll hold some of their leaves all Winter .   Here's a post showing what the trees looked like in February of 2023 - still holding small, crinkled, curled-up leaves that late into the Winter .   And here's a post from one-year-and-one-...

The pair of Spring Grove Ginkgo trees (dwarf Ginkgos) that I planted this past growing season on either side of our rear stoop are worth documenting in the garden diary.  Being winter, they're clearly dormant, but they're doing some interesting things:  They're clearly exhibiting some foliar marcescence with many of their leaves clinging to the limbs.   And, they're covered with buds.  That are stud'd everywhere.  On the limbs.  On the trunk.  At the tips of branches.  And all along them.  They're quite different and really nice to look at when contrasted with he white snow.  Here's a pair of photos showing the same one: the north-side Spring Grove Ginkgo .  The second one is planted by the Grill on the southside of the stoop, but I am not including photos here. The snow cover on the ground is a few inches thick and I'm hoping that it is providing a nice blanket of insulation on this young, one-year-in-the-ground dwarf ginkgo....

I most-recently posted about the hedge of columnar Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees in our yard earlier this Fall in September of 2023.   I covered how they had grown over the years and documented the full-Summer foliage.  These trees are so interesting - their growth habit is the thing that gets most people's attention.  But...their continued marcescence - or holding their leaves late into Winter - is really a big part of the 'why' any homeowner would want these trees in their yard.  They are decidious, so they naturally drop their leaves, which leads to people buying A LOT of Green Giant Thujas and common Arborvitaes to provide screening - they are evergreens.   But our Hornbeams provide that 'evergreen' look well past when most trees drop their leaves.  Below, is a photo showing the current state - early December - of our Hornbeams.  These are five years old. You can see plenty of yellow leaves at their feet, but pay attention to all the ...

Seven-or-so weeks ago, I wrote a post and shared a photo of the stand of Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam trees that we have planted as a hedge and talked about how the trees had been holding their leaves late into December .  That ability or characteristic of a deciduous holding onto dry, desiccated leaves  called foliar marcescence and for some trees - like these Frans Fontaine European Hornbeams is actually a feature.  It allows for trees like this to provide a bit of privacy screening even in Winter when most every other tree has shed their leaves during dormancy.   We've had different experiences with the leaves holding on for different lengths of time during different years.  But, what about now?  In mid-February 2023?   What do the trees look like.  See below.  They're *still* holding on to their dry leaves.   This is the latest they've gone in this state and I'm really finding it interesting to see them show-off a...

Posting a photo here in the tree diary to show that the young London Plane Tree that I planted in Spring 2020 is exhibiting some Winter foliar marcescence with a series of brown, dry leaves clinging to the branches.   This tree - the Grampy tree ( because I used some $$$ from him for my birthday to buy ) was planted in the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 .  After a brief period of transplant-stress, the tree seemed to get on just fine.  This past season, I was able to water this due to it being inside the footprint of some of the 2022-planted Green Giant Thujas - so it seemed to be in a fine spot with growth.  However...this is the first year that I've really noticed - or documented - the tree holding on to some dead leaves.  See below for a photo of the tree in early January 2023: Seeing this tree cling to some of the leaves is a good note for the tree diary - and something that is going to cause me to look over the rest of these trees - including the o...

The most recent check-in on our Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam trees was in November when all of out trees were still showing green foliage and outlasting - in terms of holding leaves - most everything else in our yard .  Where are they today - three weeks in December?  Well....they're ALL still holding leaves.  But, some more than other.  And...all the leaves are dry and desiccated.   See below for the current view of the trees.  The tops are thin, but the middles are *still* providing some level of screening between our house and then neighbors.  Pretty nice for a deciduous tree, right? This ability to hold their dried leaves through marcescence - is one of the key features of the Frans Fontaine Hornbeam trees and helps make them even more desirable for screening beyond just the Summer months.  

Most everything has let go of their leaves for the season.  Our Hornbeams are holding some of their leaves and the Chanticlear Pear flowering trees have many of theirs, too.  But, there are a few shrubs that are playing the marcescence game, too.   The deciduous shrubs that I recently noticed are holding their leaves are a few varieties of Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  This is, I think, the latest they've head their leaves into Winter, but this is ALSO the first year that I've protected them with chicken wire cages from the dang rabbits.  So...is it just a unique situation where they're holding their leaves longer than normal?  Or, is the nibbling from the rabbits what has - in past years - caused the leaves to drop?  Either way, I'm happy to see these leaves stick around. First...the Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are closer to the house.  These are holding deep purple leaves on all of them.  See below: Also, a little further down that same bed ...

It was just last week when I posted a couple of photos showing the full, orange and brown Oak tree canopy in our backyard .  Our two largest trees were holding ALL of their leaves until early November of this year.   Then, we had a HUGE storm.  I'm talking heavy winds.  If you watched the Illini vs. Michigan State football game and saw the punts (into the wind), you know what storm I'm talking about.  What happened to our trees and their marcescence?  Most all of the leaves were stripped from the trees.  What does the backyard look like right now - in mid-November?  See below for a photo showing the very few leaves still on the tree-swing Oak tree and nothing else anywhere. 

Almost everything but our large, mature Northern Red Oak trees have dropped their leaves this season and have begun their long Winter's nap.  I say *almost* because there's one big outlier:  Our Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees.  Not only are they still holding their leaves....they're still green.  See below for a photo of the current state - during the first week of November - of what these trees look like.  You'll see some yellow here and there, but there's a remarkable amount of green foliage:  The most recent check-in on these trees (with photos) was during their peak in early Summer - July of 2022 - when they were alive and lush .   I documented these trees on December 1st of 2021 when they were still clinging to *some* of their leaves, but they were all dry, desiccated and brown .  Will these stay green until December?  Not a chance, right?  But, the trees (this year) are MATERIALLY DIFFERENT than what they showed in 202...

A note here, in the [ tree diary ] that one of our Northern Red Oak trees - the tree swing tree - is exhibiting some signs of leaf marcescence this Winter.  The leaves that are closest to the core of the trunk and along the main branches are remaining through (for now) mid-January.  

Yesterday, I posted some photos of our Frans Fontaine Hornbeam hedge (eight trees) that are still clinging to their leaves as we head into December.  One of the known features of those trees is that they hold their leaves longer than most trees - something called foliar marcescence.  Oak trees do something similar - in that if you look around right now and see large, mature trees with leaves on them, they're very often Oak trees.   Last year, I posted a photo in mid-November showing the pair of mature Oak trees in our backyard that had - by then - dropped all of their leaves .  This was unique as I remember the Oaks holding their leaves deep into Winter.  I wanted to document what these two trees looked like this year - in early December. Here, below, is a look at both of the trees (and other parts of our backyard canopy).  The large Northern Red Oak on the right (the tree swing) has leaves up and down the main trunk and branches.  The other matu...

Today is the first day of December and I wanted to mark this entry in the [ garden diary ] and the [ tree diary ] to show that current state of our Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees.  It seems that each Fall/Winter, the trees have behaved differently in terms of going dormant and experiencing (or showing) foliar marcescence. Here, below are a couple of photos showing the current state of all eight of these Frans Fontaine Hornbeam trees.  First, the five that are the furthest to the West.  On the edge of this Hornbeam Hedge is a Chanticleer Flowering Pear tree.  That, too, is still clinging to its leaves with foliar marcescence.   And, here below, is a look at the other three (plus a partial view on the left of the fifth one from the photo above) showing the same thing:  they're holding their leaves on December 1st this year.  Also, capping the far end of the Hornbeam Hedge is ANOTHER Chanticleer Flowering Pear that is also holding on to its ...

Putting a photo of the large Red Oak tree - the tree swing tree - in the garden diary here to show a little look at the Fall show that the tree is putting on during the first week in November.  You can see in the photo below that the tree is a mix of green and yellow and has held much of the leaves still on the limbs this late in the season - which is typical for this tree and Oaks in general.   I posted a similar photo a year ago - in early November - where the same tree had already lost many of the leaves for the season.   For tracking in the [ tree diary ], I noted that both of our large, mature Red Oak trees had dropped ALL of their leaves by mid/late November last year .  Will be tracking if foliar marcescence will persist this year like it did in 2019.  Here's a photo all the way into December when this tree had leaves clinging to the branches . An additional note about this tree - it didn't produce any acorns this season.  Or, at le...

Just yesterday, I posted a photo of our barren Oak trees in our backyard .  These two mature Oaks have historically kept many of their leaves well into Winter thanks to the phenomenon called foliar marcescence.  In that post , I mentioned that we were seeing something similar on other trees that normally behaved the same was as the Oaks.   Today, you can see the photo at the top of this post showing all eight Frans Fontaine Columnar Fastigiate Hornbeam trees that have lost all of their leaves by mid-November.   Just two weeks ago, I posted about how one of these trees shed its leaves , but the rest were keeping them.  This tree (#4 from the left) has done this same thing before in 2018 .   But now, ALL OF THEM have dropped their leaves.   And that is, umm, alarming. Here's what these same trees looked like one year ago - on November 19th, of 2019 .  FULL OF LEAVES.  Dry leaves.  BUT FULL.  Have a look at this pos...

Yesterday, I posted a photo in the garden diary of the recently set buds on our very small caliper Northern Red Oak tree that was planted just this year.  In that post, I mentioned that both *that* young Oak tree AS WELL AS our two larger, more mature Oaks have lost all of their leaves.   Notable, I think - as we're seeing a very different timeline than last Fall/Winter.   I posted this photo of both of the mature Oak trees in our backyard on December 16th 2019 - a little bit under a year ago - showing that both of the trees had A LOT of their leaves clinging to the limbs.  At the time, I poked around a little bit into the concept of foliar marcescence and how it might be a behavior that is aimed at assisting the tree by retaining some of the leaves until Spring to be used as an organic material delivery system when the tree needs it.  Here's what those two same trees look like right now:  barren. Wonder what caused this change year-over-year....

Two years ago, I posted - with some alarm - that one of our Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees had suddenly dropped all of its leaves while the other seven clung to their fall leaves vis foliar marcescence.  That post was back in November of 2018 can be found here .  If you look at that post, you'll note that it was the fourth tree from the left.  Today - I'm sharing this photo of the stand of columnar hornbeams above and you'll notice that....wait for it....the SAME tree (fourth from the left) has done the same thing again this year.  It has shed most of its leaves.  Below is a different angle of these same hornbeam trees where you can see all eight of them. And, here, below, is an even closer look at the difference between some of the trees and #4 - the tree that has lost leaves.   This is when the [ garden diary ] pays off for me.  I would normally be very concerned about this tree - was it stressed?  Was it dying?  Do I need to...

Yesterday, I mentioned that we don't get A TON of fall colors in our yard - mostly due to the variety of trees that we inherited, but posted a photo of our small Bald Cypress in the front yard that was showing some fall colors .  We have a couple of Chanticleer Pear flowering trees in our yard (I know, I know...) that normally retain their leaves for a good part of Fall - leading into Winter.  There have been a number of years that I've tried to wrap a couple of these trees with Christmas lights to only have to deal with the leaves that have stuck around.  This year, however, two of these trees (We technically have four with two in decline) have decided to put on a really great Fall Show with oranges and reds.  Here is the one on our north fence line you can see below: I'll get out and measure the caliper of this tree this Winter, but I'm thinking this tree has grown just a little bit this year.  

  I haven't done this in year's past, but I thought it would be useful in terms of tracking the leaves and foliage to track an early November backyard tree canopy.  We have a couple of large Oak trees that have foliar marcescence - or the ability to keep some of their leaves late into the Winter.   You can see some of those trees in the image above.  Oak tree on the right and on the left.  Up high, on the right side, I'm documenting *some* larger Catalpa leaves are still on the limbs.  And the massive hackberry that straddles our fence line on the northside is still flush with dry, brittle leaves.