Learn to Love ... Vibrant Fall Foliage

It's November.

Yes, it's gloomy, grey and cold outside. If you feel singularly unmotivated to step outside and visit your garden, I have the answer for you.

Vibrant fall foliage.

Try adding one, or more, shrubs that have vibrant fall foliage to your garden border. Before you know it, you will be pulling on your galoshes and meandering down to the garden to check out the dynamic colour these shrubs will add to your garden over many weeks - if not months. Let's look at a few of these shrubs.

Nandina 'Gulf Stream'. Heavenly Bamboo is a drought tolerant shrub with a compact rounded form that combines well with other plants. In spring the plant has tiny white flowers that attract pollinators. These flowers turn into red berries. Cut off the flowers before the berries form, as these berries may be toxic to birds (eg. cedar waxwings) (1). Nandina 'Gulf Stream' has leaves that are constantly changing colour. The young leaves emerge bronze-orange in spring, turn soft blue-green with an orange tint in summer, and then develop deep orange and red tones in fall and winter.

Nandina 'Gulf Stream' pictured in November. This shrub looks great when combined with plants with blue-green foliage like Pinus strobus 'Blue Shag' on the left and Juniperus horizontalis 'Wiltonii' to the right.

Or combine this shrub with other colourful plants such as ...

Anemanthele lessoniana (New Zealand Wind Grass), Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Blackfield', and/or Acer Griseum (Paperbark Maple) for a stunning border.

If you are looking for a colourful North American native shrub with flowers, fruit and fall foliage try Viburnum opulus var. americanum (also known as Viburnum trilobum and or American Cranberry Bush). This viburnum is a large deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit. It attracts bees, butterflies and birds to the garden.

In spring, the green leaves emerge with a red tinge. In May, the shrub has showy white flat flowers. The flowers are followed by bright red edible fruit. The fall foliage is brilliant red. Last month, while visiting Foxglove nursery on Salt Spring Island, I stumbled upon the blazing red maple-like leaves of Viburnum trilobum 'Red Wing'. Needless to say, the shrub came home with me.

Viburnum trilobum 'Red Wing' spring flowers (2), summer berries(3), fall leaf colour.

This viburnum shrub is self pollinating, as the flowers have both male and female parts. However, some sources suggest the shrub may produce more fruit if cross pollinated with a different variety of the same species. For example, Viburnum trilobum 'Alfredo', trilobum 'Bailey Compact', or trilobum 'Wentworth'. Other deciduous Viburnums which have great fall colour include: Viburnum dentatum, Viburnum nudum, and Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Summer Snowflake'.

A colourful shrub, native to the Pacific Northwest, is Pacific Ninebark or Physocarpus capitatus. This is a large deciduous shrub with an upright vase-shaped habit. It has delicate white flowers in spring, maple-like leaves that are green in summer then turn red to russet in fall. The shrub also has peeling bark. The name "ninebark" arises from the belief that the plant has nine layers (or strips) of peeling bark on the stem.

There are many new varieties of Common Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) now on the market that purport to have smaller habits, brighter leaf colours, and improved disease resistance. Refer to this Fine Gardening article for an analysis on how these new varieties perform in the garden. (4)

Above: left - Common Pacific Ninebark flower and foliage; middle - Physocarpus opulifolius 'Mindia' (also known as Coppertina) bronze summer foliage; right - physocarpus opulifolius 'Mindia' foliage in November in my garden.

Finally, there are many roses, in particular the wild species roses, rugosa and hybrid rugosa roses, that have pleasing fall colours. Many of these roses are adorned with crimson rose hips that often persist through winter. For example, Rosa Therese Bugnet has leaves that turn scarlet, gold, and burgundy in fall. The young stems are purple-red and provide winter interest after the leaves have fallen.

Above - Rosa Therese Bugnet in mid-October.

Above - a wild rose on the property. Vivid yellow foliage and red rose hips.

Go here for a recipe for rose hip jam (5).

There are many other shrubs (native and exotics) that are sporting wonderful fall colours right now - blueberries, barberries, smoke bushes, oak-leaf hydrangeas, deciduous azaleas, etc... So, if you haven't visited your garden in days ... now is the time to visit a nursery and pick up a colourful shrub to add to your garden. Here on Mayne, it's not too late to plant a shrub. In my next blog I will delve into another plant characteristic that will hopefully motivate you to step out into the cold - winter fragrance.

References:

1. Woldemeskel M, Styer EL. Feeding Behavior-Related Toxicity due to Nandina domestica in Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). Vet Med Int. 2010 Dec 9;2010:818159. doi: 10.4061/2010/818159. PMID: 21197466; PMCID: PMC3005831.

2. Image from http://www.chicagolandgrows.org/shrubs/redwing.php

3. Image from gardenia.net

4. https://www.finegardening.com/article/the-best-ninebark-shrubs-for-the-garden

5. Rose hip recipe - https://crdcommunitygreenmap.ca/story/how-make-locally-harvested-rosehip-jam

For past posts visit the Blog page: https://www.leslieanngardendesign.ca/blog