It's Fallen

Above is the yellowwood tree and the hydrangea paniculata on 11.4.17.

The second photo is 11.17.17.  What a difference two weeks and a hard frost makes, especially when the first hard frost is below 20 degrees.  

The page has been turned.

Katsura Tree

I bought this katsura tree (cercidiphyllum japonicum) sapling for $15 at a plant sale a year or two ago.  Did I have room for it? No.  Did I need it? No.  Did I want it? Yes!  I've always wanted to grow this tree so it came home with me.  I've been torturing it by growing it in a large hypertufa planter ever since.  I feel guilty constraining this beautiful plant, caging it for my enjoyment in my private zoo.

Above is the gorgeous color from last October.

It colored up differently this year, probably due to the late dry spell we had in September and October.  Above is a photo I took on September 10th this year.

This is last week.  It's been so gorgeous this fall that I'm starting to rethink my promise to find a good home for it next spring.  

Maybe just one more year in the planter...

Figs

A few years ago a friend gave me a potted fig cutting about 2' high with the regular story, saying it was from on old Italian neighbor, but that she didn't have enough sun to grow it.  I reluctantly took it, knowing I had no room in the yard for it.  I know how much attention people lavish on their fig trees in this area, and, frankly, growing food is not my thing.  I put it in the largest plastic pot I had on hand and dutifully kept it in the cold basement all winter and the hot deck all summer.

Once it finally bore fruit in a couple of years, I was surprised that it was a yellow fig, not the common brown one that I had assumed.  The tree has gotten larger and larger in its plastic pot and the branches sprawl lazily out from the main trunk.  This spring when I carried it out of the basement I was surprised to see it set with the beginnings of a breba crop.  These few bonus figs are weeks ahead of the regular crop of fruit.  I had the first, warm jammy fig this morning before anyone else was awake.  

This tree is worth the hassle.