Fall Color, Fall Berries
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Fall Color, Fall Berries
- From: L* P*
- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 08:24:38 -0700
I have just returned from yet another quick jaunt to the Cascades. The
aspens are gorgeous and the sight of flaming vine maples against the dark
conifers is so incredible. We walked several miles along an old road
eating wild strawberries. Because of the late season they are still
abundant in areas that have not yet been hit too hard by frost. Life
doesn't get much better than that.
The berries in the fall garden are so lovely now. Fuchsia procumbens has
dusky rose berries that are bringing the Stellars Jays to my rock garden to
glean. They are pesky sometimes and raid my seedling pots, picking out
choice tiny bulbs, the rascals! They are so beautiful with their rich inky
blue and black attire that I have a very large soft spot for them.
I thought that it might be nice to save the seed from the creeping fuchsia
but wonder if it is ephemeral as so many of the genus are. This is an odd
but charming plant with brown-tipped yellow flowers that remind me more of
a scrophularia than a fuchsia. It can get rampant here but I give it some
room in a low rock wall for more robust dwellers than typical rock garden
plants. The array of fine threads of bare stems draped over the rocks in
the winter is such a pleasant sight that I do not cut it back until late
winter. In fact I leave all of my collection of fuchsias pretty much alone
until March or even April. Some are marginal for hardiness and seem to
suffer less in the cold if left with generous stems.
The berries on ericaceae are starting to color up. Gaultheria procumbens
is one that most birds leave alone until early spring. The thick dark
green leaves of Wintergreen are such fun to chew on. They seem to help a
stomach ravaged by use of chemotherapy/chemoprevention meds. Of course I
make no medical recommendations here and would be the first to admit that
it might be the placebo effect ;-) Anyway they taste good. G. miqueliania
needs extra-faithful watering here, but the long season of white berries
are worth it. Another plant laden with soft red berries now is creeping
Pratia mumularia. Hard frost will kill it
Some consider them to be overused or cliche, but I love the cotoneaster.
The berries on all of them, from the dwarfest rockery plants to the small
"trees" have gorgeous berries that are good keepers and provide food for
birds in the leanest times of late winter when they finally soften. Rose
hips also provide food during this lean time. Rosa rugosa growing in my
wild and wooley area has such gorgeous hips. Even my R. moyesii seedlings
in pots are colorful with hips. Pomegranites both dwarf and large produce
fruit in colors ranging from peachy pinks, scarlets, to pale yellow. A
planting of mature pomegranites is incredibly fragrant during the warm fall
days.
In the fall the birds often rehearse their spring mating behaviors. It is
so lovely to hear the warbling song of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet and wrens
who except for their occasional rasping call notes are quiet all summer.
This morning I watched a vocal Bewicks Wren plucking pieces of Selaginella
krausiana as if to build a nest.
Cheers, Louise
