A couple of days ago the morning light from the hunter’s moon, diffused and softened by the predawn fog, felt like the last call for our record-breaking dry spell. The sunny day that followed was another gift for those who love the buffered, sidelong light of the autumn sun and the increasingly colorful leaves on campus and throughout the city. When the heavy winds and rain arrive late like this, the clear, cool nights that precede them can bring out the brilliant orange of the sugar maple (Acer saccarum), the red of the oaks (Quercus spp), sourwood (Oxydendron arboreum) sumac (Rhus spp.) and highbush cranberries (Viburnum opulus) and the yellow of the birches (Betula spp.) and poplars (Populus spp.). A visiting colleague from Massachusetts said the fall colors here were better than there this year.
Today it has been warm and rainy and then sunny off and on. The winds have finally arrived to scatter the leaves, so get outside soon if you can. A walk on a blustery day in October, followed by a cup of tea is just what the doctor ordered.
Sourwood (Oxydendron arboreum) in its fall glory near Cascara Circle
What is there not to like about a pomegranate (Punica granatum)? Seattle should be covered in them. This one is near the bus stop by Stevens Way
High bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) near Cascara Circle.
A little fog in the morning followed by afternoon sunshine; that was our lucky lot in Seattle for most of October. This is early morning, west of Cascara Circle.
View to the east through section D. Those are hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) branches to the upper right. Though they have little else to recommend their thorny, suckering, fruit-dropping selves, it would be a lie to say they are not attractive in an eerie, almost sinister way, perfect for the season .
Poroporo (Solanum aviculare) update from last post: the fruit are mediocre.
They aren’t bad except for the seeds that are hard as guava seeds. Not bad but not really good…though the flowers are top notch and they grow fast.
The last of the harvest of trifoliate orange or zhi shi (Poncirus trifoliata) and black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) near section D. The birds have finally figured out that chokeberries are edible. We could do worse than having our city green spaces filled with bird-sown chokeberries and wild grapes.
Forest spur flower (Plectranthus fruticosus) from South Africa, filled in nicely and grew without any pampering. Hopefully it will survive the winter. Its crushed leaves smell like grapefruit mixed with a hint of menthol. The whole plant is supposed to have antimicrobial properties.
Branches of Szechuan pepper tree (Zanthoxyllum simulans) west of section C. That leaden background is the foggy sky.
It’s normally very difficult to photograph spider webs with a little point-and-shoot digital camera. At least for me it is. So, when a thick fog settled in, I took not one…
…not two…
…but three shots, a feat perhaps never to be repeated.
The dewy, floating row cover protecting the clover from the rabbits picked up the tracks of the raccoons. Looks like they had a dance party.
Gathering figs before work one morning last month, I heard a strange trilling noise that I didn’t recognize. Pulling a branch aside revealed a young and worried looking little raccoon (Procyon lotor) staring down at me. We’d both had the same idea for a morning snack. I stepped aside to let it down and it scampered off home…wherever that is.
Barred owl (Strix varia) in the Japanese umbrella pine (Sciadopitys verticillata) north of section A. It is nearly Samhain, a pagan Celtic holiday during which the veil between the living and the dead grows thin. A visitation from the owl, which in many cultures is or was the messenger from the netherworld, adds a little gravitas to the commercial ‘holiday’ we now refer to as Halloween. From Mexico, another holiday of pre-Christian origin and celebrated at the same time, is Dia de los Muertos, which seems to have retained its meaning and been woven into a deeper cultural fabric than Halloween.
Listen for the alarm calls of crows and you might be lucky enough to catch a daylight glimpse of this night bird.
The east side of the Biology Greenhouse with the Life Sciences Building in the background, on a foggy day. They are both essentially finished and we hope to start moving into the greenhouse soon.
fall interregnum
twixt equinox and solstice
its old name Samhain
See you in the garden
Friends visiting Pennsylvania also reported that the colors weren’t great this year….locals blamed warmer temps and too much rain…..
I want more news of edible Solanum you’ve been able to cultivate outdoors! I tried growing Peruvian wolfpeach last year mainly so I can have an excuse to say the phrase “Peruvian wolfpeach”. I failed.
Well, there’s a reason most people stick to tomatoes and potatoes. Cultivating a Solanum species outdoors is one thing and getting it to produce ripe fruit (without overwintering it in a heated greenhouse) is another. The Solanum aviculare (poroporo) and the Solanum abutiloides (dwarf tamarillo) produce ripe fruit in one season. Solanum aethiopicum (African eggplant) will ripen up around here but the fruit are small, tough and bitter though they might be quite good after thorough cooking. Solanum melanocerasum (garden huckleberry) is easy to grow and very productive, but its resemblance to Solanum nigrum (black nightshade)… which is also edible… scares some people off. The Solanum muricatum (pepino) and the Solanum quitoense (naranjilla) pooped out this year. Both would need more than one season to produce ripe fruit.
It’s been too long since we’ve seen Flapjack at the office. The bag of kibbles isn’t going to eat itself…