Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica), the small shrub in the back, has beautiful fall color.
This particular plant is a cultivar — either ‘Henry’s Garnet’ or ‘Little Henry.’
The tall brown spikes are liatris, gone to seed. We used to deadhead everything when we had an ornamental garden, and I think we missed a lot of beauty. Why are only flowers in bloom considered beautiful? And birds appreciate the extra source of seed.
When we took the time to observe, we discovered all sorts of fascinating and beautiful seed pods. This one happens to be the seeds of native hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos), but there are many other intriguing seed pods once you start looking.
This section of our roadside bed includes obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), some species of goldenrod (Solidago) (I have several different ones), and New England asters (Aster novae-angliae).
Except for the lawn, we leave leaves where they fall. We rake up the leaves that are on the lawn, though, since they would smother the grass otherwise — another of the many disadvantages of lawns!
We put most of the leaves we rake as well as leaves we collect from the curb into a bin and just wait as they transform into wonderful leaf humus.
Each season has its own type of beauty. The stream looks very different in each season.
Fall is at least as colorful as the other seasons. For example, we enjoy hardy geranium (Geranium maculatum) flowers, but its leaves in fall are equally beautiful.
Even though it means winter is coming, it’s hard not to see the beauty in these leaves covered in ice crystals.
This seed head is covered with ice crystals.
We missed so much when we used to deadhead everything!
Resources
Reflections
If there are gaps in the sequence of food supply, are there no losses of pollinators and seed dispersers? And if the ranks of these crucial servants are thinned in the summer, what becomes of the plants that bloom or berry in the fall?
~ Sara Stein, Noah’s Garden p. 55
There are yards here of nothing but cut grass and clipped conifers that are so static all year that were it not for a time-telling pumpkin bag, one wouldn’t know that autumn had arrived.
~ Sara Stein, Noah’s Garden p. 57
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
~ Albert Camus