I have been sporadically raking and moving leaves around the last couple of weeks, although most of the raking is still to come. Most leaves are still firmly attached to their plants. I love fall colors, so it is worth getting away from my desk in the afternoon.
We have finally had some chilly nights to help the leaves color up. Things are a little off, though. Our September rain did not arrive until October, and the nights seemed warmer than usual. As a result, the New England asters and the serviceberry got out of sync.
Normally the asters are still in bloom when the serviceberry changes color, and the whole effect is quite wild and bright, even on rainy days. This year, the serviceberry gets center stage; the asters have been done for at least a couple of weeks.
In the bottom righthand corner of the serviceberry photograph, you can see some peony foliage changing color. For some reason, despite the wild tumble of plants in this area of the yard, these peonies did not mildew, although I have seen much worse mildew than usual this year. It’s the dryness. The peony I have on the south side of the house is not in such a crowded situation, and developed such bad mildew by September that I cut the foliage earlier than usual.
A much calmer, but still beautiful, note behind the serviceberry is the oakleaf hydrangea, which starts its fall show by turning a purply brown. The flowers will persist all winter.
Some plants take a slightly different approach. The Lamium has bloomed again—not a lot of flowers, but very pink flowers. They spark up the leaves.
Lavender also shows a few flowers, but the foliage just gets more silvery.
The final treat that I found during one of my brief leaf-raking breaks was a bundle of baby earthworms at the bottom of a small pile of leaves that I had left on the edge of the driveway a week before. They got tossed onto a more hospitable spot.
It has gotten warm again and quite rainy, so the plants should be well hydrated this winter.