Butterfly

Fall Colors Abound

Our valley is more colorful this year than I can ever remember it. I don’t know what determines the level of color in our native trees, but we have had very little rain here since last May, very hot summer temperatures, and a very mild fall so far. The red oaks seem to get more red every day, and the sumacs, elms, and escarpment cherry trees are equally brilliant.

Our smoke tree is a wonderful shade of orange this year.

The courtyard is still looking nice. It has just been a year since we built these raised beds and began installing the plant material, and I am pleased with the results thus far. All of the roses that we selected are repeat bloomers that are both heat and pest tolerant, so they provided color all summer, and some continue to bloom even though our temperatures have dipped into the 20s in the early morning hours several times in the past couple of weeks. The passion vines, however, seem to have succumbed to the cold and look pretty sad. I hope they will come back in the spring. I love the fountain grasses that we selected. Most have thrived all summer, and are starting to turn a lovely golden color.

The tricolor sedum has turned a lovely shade of purplish-red, and the golden acre sedum adjacent to it is a brighter yellow in the fall than it is in the summer.

The French Brocade marigolds that I planted in late summer continue to attract butterflies. I got a couple of good shots of a painted lady, and a gulf fritillary. There is also a shot of some sort of checkerspot. The lighting wasn’t quite right to get a good shot, but I had to try because I had never seen one of these before. He is only about an inch wide, but has a very interesting coloration.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Carol

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