Why I Oughta...

Walking out the backdoor, I found a bunch of these fan-shaped Ginkgo leaves laying on the stoop.  They're from the pair of Spring Grove Ginkgo trees (dwarf, Witches broom trees) that sit on either side of our back stoop and flank the entrance.  I originally had a pair of Rhododendrons in these spots - planted in 2018 .  But, moved them out in 2023 doing a 'garden edit '.   I caught this post on Instagram from Erin - the Impatient Gardener - where she posted some photos of her own dwarf Ginkgo - a Gnome Ginkgo - and included some info that...I sort of 'observed', but didn't know what was going on with Ginkgos. Her post, embedded below, includes this line :  "Ginkgo trees develop these scars on all their leaves simultaneously, causing them to drop all at once when triggered by a hard frost." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener (@impatientgardener) "Blink and you'll miss it...

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 ...