Last week I noted that there is little flowering in the garden right now. And such is still the case. I also noted that while the leaves are changing, they are struggling to take on vibrant autumn colors. And such is still the case. Nonetheless, I was able to pull together six photos of leaves with proud color ranging from lemon-yellow to butterscotch to red to bronze. I’ll just present them in a gallery below.
The sassafras is native, as is the oakleaf hydrangea; in fact, it is the Alabama State woodland shrub. The maple is likely native–it was certainly already in place when I purchased the lot, which had never been built on or developed. So, it might be a Chalk Maple, or Acer leucoderme. But that is not a tall tree. The other option would be a Red Maple (Acer rubrum). Regardless, it is one of several striking maples surrounding the house here at Highland Lake.
That’s about it for this week. My primary garden task, which will continue for weeks to come, involves dealing with all the falling leaves in the more “designed” portions of the garden. That means cutting up some with a riding mower and shredding others with a nifty but noisy and dusty machine. Those in the wooded areas remain in place for the insects and other living organisms that depend on them. For now, I’ll close by directing readers to our new leader for Six on Saturday, Jim Stephens and Garden Ruminations. Guidelines for joining in can still be found at the site of The Propagator.
After Eden 
Those are lovely fall colours. I’m trying a bit of leaf compost this year with some of the fallen leaves.
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Leaves make good mulch, but if you have a curious dog with a bushy tail be prepared to have some of it in the house! Good luck on both counts.
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Sassafrass is one of the species that I would like to add to our landscapes, or at least to my own garden. I know nothing about it, but am intrigued by its appeal to those who are familiar with it. Besides a bit more color for autumn would be nice.
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I love the leaf shape and color, and although they come up on their own in the wooded lot, they rarely make it through tree adolescence.
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My concern is that there must be some reason why they were never imported here like so many other trees from the East were. Of course, that would not prevent me from growing one specimen in my own garden, just to see what it does here. The native bay tree is supposedly related to it, which is not so impressive, but so are avocado and camphor and cinnamon.
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What wonderful autumn colours. It reminds me of the sunset … autumn is nature’s sunset before winter.
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