Late Fall Colors

In my Maine garden, October is turning into November. Last week brought a string of cold, rainy days that provided a preview of November and a reminder of why no Mainer has ever declared November their favorite month. By the time the storm passed, most of the vivid fall foliage for which New England is famous had been stripped from the trees.

But as I walked around the garden yesterday doing my weekly inventory of what’s in bloom (the last for this year), I found lots of late fall color. Although many leaves, including the scarlet and orange maple (Acer) leaves, have already turned and fallen from the trees, color can be found on other trees that hang onto many of their leaves through winter. The leaves on the oak (Quercus) trees mostly have muted russet tones.

Here and there, though, an oak tree shows brighter colors against a clear blue October sky.

The beech (Fagus grandifolia) leaves turn from green to gold to copper.

These colors are mirrored in the colors of hostas going into dormancy and in the yellows and golds of Amsonia foliage glowing in the slanted rays of the afternoon sun.

Some scarlet hues can be found in the foliage of hardy geranium and of Spirea japonica.

There is also a surprising amount of green to be found among the foliage of late fall perennials, including hardy geraniums, Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), and Heuchera.

Here and there among the foliage, there are still some flowers providing late fall color. These include some tiny blooms of Spirea japonica ‘Magic Carpet,’ red clover (Trifolium pratense), the amazingly long-lasting Heuchera ‘Raspberry Ice,’ and flowers on chives that have somehow been fooled into thinking its spring.

All too soon, the predominant color in my garden will be the white of snow. But I’m enjoying these late fall colors while they last.