Fall color is extraordinary this year

There is no doubt about it: the color is terrific this year, undoubtedly due to the ample rainfall in the spring. Here on the Hill, the last of the tomatoes and summer squash are limping along in the fading light waiting for the first frost to occur. Fall flowers such as mums, impatiens, Montauk daisies, snakeroot and asters are at their height--and high they are, again due to spring rains. Woody plants are just beginning to show red--maples, burning bush, and the native enkianthus (below), which will eventually be about 8 feet tall and wide.


Also beautiful at this time of year are the subtle beauty of buds, already set for next year's show of flowers, and visible throughout the winter months. Especially lovely are the cigar-shaped leaf buds of beech trees, the cascading sprays of pieris andromeda flower buds (below), and the upright buds of florida dogwoods, little pagoda-shaped packages holding the glorious huge white flowers of May.