Gardens Galore: Fall Colours ~ By Karen Brewka

All the brilliant colours in our landscapes are especially noticeable this year. Our long, warm fall is really giving us a show. We can take note of what catches our eye and look for these plants in the nursery to include them in our own landscapes. Much has been said about the beautiful larches in the mountains. Larches are deciduous conifers. They lose their needles in the fall (deciduous) and they produce cones (conifer). There are two kinds of larches we can use in our landscapes, the native larch (Larix laricina) and the Siberian larch (Larix siberica). The Siberian larch is the best for the landscape but it needs at least 15 to 20 feet of ground space. Schubert Chokecherries (Prunus virginiana 'Schubert) with their reddish purple leaves are real showy in the fall, particularly with a background of yellow poplars. We can't get the red of the eastern maples. The silver and sugar maples are barely hardy here but we can get a bit of red with Amur maples (Acer tataricum) or Mountain maples (Acer spicatum). These are much smaller trees but very useful, especially in a smaller yard. The colourful fruit of ornamental crabs (Malus spp) is showing nicely this fall. Mountain Ash (Sorbus spp) is another small tree that is great in the fall, especially with their clusters of orange berries.
We can get great pops of fall colour with shrubs. Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster) is one of my favourites. They give us a mosaic of red, orange and yellow leaves, depending on how much sun they get. Pincherry (Prunus pennsylvanica), another favorite, is a native shrub with edible fruit (like saskatoons and chokecherries). The flashes of magenta that you see at the edge of the woods are probably pincherries. Now on the market is a tree form of pincherry that would be great in a small yard. Highbush and lowbush cranberry (Viburnum spp) can also give us great red fall colour. They might need to be protected from wind, especially when young. Barberries (Berberis) are showing very well this fall with their purplish burgundy leaves. They are very effective when mass planted. Dogwood leaves bring us a coral red colour and also provide winter colour with their red stems (Red Osier Dogwood) (Cornus stolonifera) and yellow stems (Yellow twig dogwood) (Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea').
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), while a bit too attractive to bugs in the summer, really shows up in the fall with deep red foliage. This vine is vigorous and can creep up a very tall brick wall or chimney in no time.
When we see something that attracts our attention in the landscape, we can find out what it is by looking in plant books in the library or on the internet and seeing if it would fit in our own landscapes, helping to brighten up all of our seasons.
The Valley Neighbours Garden Club welcomes new members. For information call Bea at 403–933–7131. The Horticultural Club meets every second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm. For information call Sheila at 403–931–3989.