The Whistling Gardener

by Steve Smith

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, located at 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., and a respected local expert on all things horticultural. You can reach Steve at 425-334-2002 or by e-mail at info@sunnysidenursery.net.

One can't help but notice all the colors of fall this year. They are everywhere you turn. I flew into SeaTac on Wednesday last week around 5 in the afternoon and the red maples and sweet gum stood out like red beacons in the landscape. Once on the ground, the burning bushes just blew me away. Coming from a convention in Reno where it was all dry hills and brown landscapes, it was like flying into paradise. We are so blessed to not only be able to grow evergreen plants like rhodies and azaleas, but to also enjoy the fall colors of hardier deciduous trees and shrubs. One only needs to spend a few days in eastern Washington, Montana, Nevada or the Midwest to quickly realize what a diverse plant palette we have in the Pacific Northwest.

Fall colors come in all sizes, from large 30 feet and taller trees to 6 feet tall shrubs to small perennials and groundcovers, and even to vines clambering up a wall. I took a short walk around the nursery the other day and made a list of plants that were starting to show some very nice fall color. Here they are.

Trees-Look around town and you will see one of the best ever displays of fall color on the Sweetgums (Liquidambars to be precise) and the red maples (Acer rubrum) which are only red in the fall. If it is yellow that you prefer, then by the time you read this the Ginko trees will be in full regalia. Ginkos are by far the best yellow out there, and if you don't have room for a tree there are several shrub-like forms to choose from too.

You can add oaks and dogwoods and Japanese maples and flowering pears and cherries and even a crabapple called Prairie Fire to the list. There so many choices for trees with good fall color that there is no excuse for not having at least one of them in your yard.

Shrubs-this list is almost endless. Smoke trees are now taking on a translucent reddish hue that looks almost neon in nature. Sumacs are sporting a range of yellow to orange to red tones. Blueberries are also coloring up in that crimson end of the spectrum, along with the common snowball and many of the barberries. On the more burgundy to purple end are the deciduous azaleas, oak leaf hydrangeas, Chokeberries and Viburnum Dawn.

Even plants that don't lose their leaves are getting into the act. Nandinas, Leucothoes, some evergreen azaleas and small leafed rhodies and Euonymus Emerald Gaiety are putting on their winter coats of mahogany, bronze and pink. As the fall moves on there will be many more to add to the list.

The perennial/groundcover called Plumbago has a quick change this time of year before shedding its foliage for the winter. I noticed Euphorbia polychroma had some very nice fallish tones for just being a young plant in a four-inch pot. Several evergreen perennials will change from a rich green to a ruby or mahogany color this time of year. All it takes is a few frosty nights and the process of change begins. Bergenias are a classic example of this green to red metamorphosis. Our native Kinnikinnick and Winter green and a low growing Cotoneaster called dammeri all turn an attractive red in the winter. After a few more frosts you should start noticing them around your neighborhood.

Finally, there is even a vine that has unsurpassed fall color. It is on every Ivy League college on the east coast. Of course I am referring to Boston ivy, and it's in its glory right now. Virginia creeper isn't too shabby either. And on a trellis at the nursery growing over an old King apple framework is an ornamental grape vine (sorry, no fruit on this one) called the Crimson Glory Vine that sports leaves one foot across and turns a kaleidoscope of colors in late October and early November.

So, regardless of the size of your yard, there is a plant or two out there with fabulous fall color that will fit into your landscape. Look around the neighborhood and visit the local garden center and see what you might add to the garden to give it some fall interest. There is no shortage of choices. All you have to do is put out a little effort and you will be richly rewarded for years to come.

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville. You can contact him at 425-334-2002 or online at info@sunnysidenursery.net