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.  

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-...

In Fall 2021, I planted two small (2 gallon nursery container) Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum shrubs in a pair of locations that were part of our overall, master garden plan.  The plan calls for these Arrowwood Viburnum in a number of locations, but I've only planted two.  (Note for next year, I suppose...) That means they've had three full growing seasons (2022, 2023 and now 2024) to grow up and out.  These are at the very back of the border, so while I'd like to say that I've cared for them...that's just not true:  these have mostly been neglected.  After the first few Winters - where rabbits were eating these, I've watered them (on occasion) and mostly forgot about them.   Despite that, they've grown up and out.  In Fall 2021, they were about 12" tall from the ground/mulch.  Today, they're both over the top of the lower fence (4' tall fence).  Below is a look at the pair of Arrowwood Viburnum - which....are still....surprisingly.....

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...

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.  

This post is going up on November 15th, but the photos are from earlier this month - on November 3rd.  Thus...for YoY garden diary record keeping, let's call this 'early November'.   Here's a peek at the large red oaks in our backyard - just about a year ago .  They were holding ALL of their leaves and looking good.  By early December, they had dropped *most*, but were still holding some .  Come Spring, they were still bare in early April .   What do they look like this year - in early November 2022?  See below for the photo showing the brown and orange leaves all over our tree canopy. Here's the same tree two years ago .   We had a VERY big wind storm this past week, so the trees look VERY different today.  I'll post an updated photo - showing mid-November - in the coming days.  

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 ...