Thanksgiving Colors

My backyard jungle in November before the early freeze

Happy Thanksgiving, readers! What am I grateful for on this day? Among many blessings, I am enjoying seasonal color without leaving town.

We don't normally have a whole lot of autumn leaf color where I live. Most often the leaves drop without changing to mango, topaz,  ginger, or garnet. This year is different. Leaves have remained on trees a bit longer than usual, I think, and an early freeze last week seems to have coaxed startling pigment from some of them.

In addition to the effect of climate change, there is another reason for the increase in fall color in the Lowcountry. A couple of years ago the Town constructed medians on Highway 17, landscaping both the medians and the verges, on each side of the road, with an attractive palette of plants. And in my own yard, I now take into account the potential for gorgeous autumn foliage when I select new shrubs and trees to plant. Several months ago I purchased a coral bark Japanese maple with color in mind.

Coral bark Japanese maple before the freeze

Coral bark Japanese maple after the freeze

The leaves on this "Desert Gold" peach tree have dropped now

A hosta coordinates foliage color with Japanese maples 

Oakleaf hydrangea (see last month's post for comparison)

Lace-leaf Japanese maple "Viridis" surrounded by a partridge berry ground cover

Leaf shapes in a public space

Lowcountry, Late Autumn

Fallen leaves

With all the extra rain that descended on the Lowcountry during the summer of 2013, I wondered whether we would get a higher degree of fall color than usual this year. I'm no botanist, but I've observed more brightly colored leaves here this month than in any other November since moving to the area more than two decades ago.

Japanese maple and palm fronds

Yellow maple leaves

When I think of autumn in the Lowcountry, I think of Spanish moss dangling from live oaks and of the marsh with its spartina grass turned the color of ready-to-harvest wheat. In the wild, scarlet Virginia creeper and the bright yellow leaves of wild muscadine garland trees and anything else they manage to climb. Dogwoods always provide a bit of color before dropping their leaves. This year I'm noticing more maples and ornamental fruit trees displaying vibrant colors. And I'm loving it.

Near creeks and rivers this is what November looks like in Mount Pleasant

A typical Lowcountry autumn scene: Live oak dripping with Spanish moss

This year trees display more vibrant leaves than usual

…but there are plenty of just plain brown leaves on the ground

Virginia creeper can be counted on to add brilliance

Mountain Maples

Kobe, Japan

If I appear to be obsessed with autumn leaf color this year, it's because I actually am. As much as I appreciate the calm that shades of green induce, the crimsons, russets, and golden yellows of autumn are what wow me. 

Blushing maple leaves

Sometimes natural lighting cooperates during field trips. Sometimes it does not. Yesterday a mostly overcast sky provided diffused light. For the most part, the photographs I took lacked the contrast I sought and the colors my eyes experienced differed from those my camera recorded. 

The ginko trees on Kobe's Rokko Island have begun to drop their leaves

 In Kobe the trees at lower elevations have begun to drop their leaves. The foliage on the maples on Rokko-san - the mountain range rising above this city of one and a half million souls - have just begun the transition from green to vermillion. Yesterday my daughter led me up a path above Kobe's Okamoto district so that we could enjoy the early stages of color transition.

Metropolitan Kobe glimpsed through the trees

Maple leaves

 Along the way we encountered Japanese hikers, middle-aged and older, usually alone, sometimes in pairs - these hikers also there to absorb the beauty. Often they would stop to tell us about special places further up the hill. I understood nothing beyond "Konnichiwa." Fortunately, my daughter is able to understand more of the language. 

Bits of blue sky

 As we descended the hill, a pair of elderly women motioned us toward them. At first we thought they wanted us to hurry down and vacate the path. Only when we reached the spot where they stood, and allowed our eyes to focus on the scene above, did we realize their intent - to share a beautiful display of color we might have otherwise overlooked. 

The recommended view, even more lovely in real life

Wildlife

For me, the wild boars we saw during our urban expedition were a bonus.

Wild boar warning

One of several wild boars we saw, this one seemed more laid back than scary

Information in Japanese about Rokko-san: 
http://www.rokkosan.com/do/nature/
Information in English:
http://www.rokkosan.com/en/