Fleeting Fall Colors

Hello again,
Colors are starting to disappear from the landscape and change to various browns, grays, and yesterday, whites. After a brief snowfall though, some colors have persisted and are quite beautiful yet. Here are some of the highlights from our landscape.
Cotinus 'Golden Spirit'
This can be seen from quite a distance. The summertime golden leaves turn a fiery red on this smokebush. I personally love how the veins turn last giving it a multi-colored effect. Golden Spirit continues to surprise me every year. In addition to the fiery red fall color, it actually produced smoke this year as well. It was the first year since planting that I've seen flowering on it. I just assumed it wasn't going to happen. My previous experiences with Cotinus in general is that you can cut the plant back to the ground each year for bigger, more beautiful foliage but then you lose the flowers. I hadn't been doing that intentionally, but there has been some dieback. This year, we got the best of both worlds.
Physocarpus Coppertina™
Coppertina™ is quite a beautiful plant all year 'round. Dark purple foliage with copper highlights in the summer and brilliant red in fall. During the winter time, this plant has interesting exfoliating bark which adds to its four season appeal. For Midwest Groundcovers, Coppertina™ has replaced the more well known 'Diabolo' based on it's better resistance to powdery mildew. It grows 6-8' tall and wide. In our garden, it contrasts well with the Forsythia Show Off™.

Fothergilla 'Beaver Creek'
Beaver Creek Fothergilla has always been one of my favorite fall coloring shrubs. Growing 3-4' tall with creamy bottle brush-like flowers in spring, this is a great plant for the shady border. Here in fall, its orange-red fall color is nothing to scoff at. Another multi-dimensional shrub, I have this growing close to where deer are always browsing, and they have yet to attack it. Today the white frost on the orange-red foliage contrasted very nicely.

Cotoneaster 'Hessei'
Looking like red raindrops cascading to the ground, this plant really caught my attention today. The gray stems contrasting with the red leaves really does add interest to this already interesting plant. Summer and fall red fruit are typically what I love this plant for, but these days in late fall, show off a delicate beauty. A Chicagoland Grows introduction from many years ago, this plant really merits use in the area. Great job Morton Arboretum for promoting this plant in the program!

Callicarpa hybrid
More kudos to The Morton Arboretum for this gem. While yet to be named, the fruit on this particular beautyberry are quite their namesake. We received two varieties a few years back and this one has remained a favorite of mine. The fruit are sometimes so heavy that the branches look like they are weeping. Here's hoping that Chicagoland Grows picks it up and starts marketing them. I think there are great applications for the landscape for these.

Thanks again for reading the blog. I hope you enjoyed. I'll be keeping my eyes out for the more subtle beauty of winter for the next couple months, so keep checking the blog. Until next time, have a great day!

A Couple more Pictures of Fall

Hello again,
I have a few more shots from last week that didn't make the blog. When I looked back through my pictures, some of my favorite ones were not used. How wasteful! Well, I couldn't just let them disappear and never be seen, so here they are.
Geranium maculatum
When I first started working here, we had a pretty extensive display of Geraniums in our perennial garden. Many of the varieties we never sold and some, like 'Jolly Bee', have gone on to be superb sellers. This is a seedling that arose in a nearby spot that I have kept since that time. I like the blooms and by golly, I love the fall color. I think this is the best fall color I've ever seen on this variety. It is getting a fair amount of sun, though the plants typically grow in shade. Well, I think this fall color is enough to make me want these in full sun.
Aconitum fischerii
Speaking of blooms, these are still looking fabulous. After frost and rain, these plants look stunning. There is not a lot of purple this time of year. The question I have is, would anyone buy these? If your company would, please email us at mgplanttrials@midwestgroundcovers.com. It only takes a couple seconds to let me know if there is a market for these. If nobody replies, I'll assume that there isn't interest in monkshoods.
It's always a pleasure to eat lunch and then hang around the pond at our site. It is always chock-full of bullfrogs and sometimes the occasional turtle, as well as some giant Asian carp that lurk around. Right now though, the Bald Cypress with their rusty brown needles dropping into the pond are the stars. It's fun to see the rusty rim that forms around the pond from the needles floating to the sides. In the background, my favorite oak tree on site is turning shades of orange.
Fothergilla Beaver Creek™
What a beautiful plant in fall. My favorite attribute of the plant is the fall color. The flowers are great and all, but nothing beats the fall color of Fothergilla. The name is excellent as well. Who doesn't like saying Fothergilla. It's kind of like saying Bouteloua! I find it amazing that these haven't been ravaged by the rabbits. At home, the rabbits love this plant. I rarely get to see fall color over the height of 4". Wascally wabbits!
Euonymus europaeus
These plants have always been interesting in the landscape. We have them in multiple locations and they've been there longer than I've been with the company. Therefore, the fact that I have not seen any seedlings of this in the forest or anywhere else in the landscape leads me to believe that this is a Euonymus that I need not worry about. It's fall color is in shades of pink and orange.

Thanks again for reading! I hope you've found it enjoyable. Until next time, have a great day!