October '21 vs. October '22

 I feel in a summertime warp. While searching for photos for an article the other day I happened upon photos from the garden exactly one year ago; I marveled at the difference. This year seems to be perpetual summer with no autumnal color. Last year, normal color.

Therefore, a "Then and Now" post is in order to illustrate how weather impacts the garden. Half of these photos are from October 17, 2021, and then their counterparts from October 17, 2022.

Then: Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' and its two siblings elsewhere in the garden were spectacular last year.

Now: No autumn color this year. It's as lime green as ever. I note the Salvia o. 'Berggarten' under the yucca is gone, it died in our record wet spring. Too bad, I really like the shape and color of those leaves.

Then: Spiraea betulifolia 'Tor' with some pretty color coming on that grew intensely more vivid as the days passed into November.

Now: Not only no color but they are crunchy crispy from being so dry despite repeated waterings.

Then: Green field grass against deciduous shrubs in a high shady area.

Now: The green field grass here is only because FM kept watering a patch he reseeded. You can see on either side of the green how brown it all is. Everything else looks relatively similar.

Then: Hydrangea macrophylla flower blossoms have a lovely purple shade, contrasting nicely with the native vine maple, Acer circinatum, in the background.

Now: No color on the acer, just brown bits and fewer, less colorful hydrangea flowers.

Then: Veronicastrum v. 'Album' at the edge of the berm garden with pretty yellowing foliage against silvers of Stachys 'Helen von Stein'.

Now: Slightly different angle but no coloration at all. In fact, I chopped off the ends of one of them because it was crunchy, needing much more water than what I could give it. The Stachys 'Helen von Stein' looks quite ratty, I notice.

Then: Flaming red foliage of Itea v. 'Henry's Garnet' set off by Hesperantha coccinea 'Oregon Sunset' flowers.

This year you can't even pick out the itea foliage, it is still fairly green (although I'm confident it will shift to red soon). It looks more like high summer than mid-autumn.

Then: The edge of the labyrinth garden, very low water and full hot sun.

Now: Not that different.

Then: Pretty berries of Berberis jamesiana

This year, barely a blush.

Then: Stewartia pseudocamellia, although small has mighty color.

Now: Zero color (unless you count brown crunchy leaves).

Then: Phlomis russelliana seed stalks

Now: To be fair, seeds don't change much. But the foliage of santolina in the foreground matches it, being especially crunchy this year.

Then: Green field grass, glowing Acer palmatum and Amsonia hubrichtii.

Now: Brown field grass and no autumn color.

Then: Another shot of Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' among Muhlenbergia rigens.

Now: No autumn color but the Muhlenbergia rigens looks great! Again, it feels more like high summer than mid-autumn.

Then: The edge of the labyrinth with Ceanothus 'Italian Skies' in the center, Rudbeckia hirta and Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' (the taller on the right) sporting some lovely red foliage shades.

Now: I show this primarily because the ceanothus is gone. It died, branch by branch. I had another Ceanothus 'Italian Skies' die last year in a different location, it was pretty crowded. Not sure why either of them died but both are gone. The Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' on the far right is fried, no color, just crunchy dead. In place of the ceanothus I planted an Arctostaphylos 'Louis Edmunds'.

Then: The path leading to the dry garden with a pretty Acer palmatum and Amsonia hubrichtii glowing on a dull day. The green field grass colored up after our early autumn rains, it had been dormant as it is every summer.

Now: Umm . . . at least the Amsonia hubrichtii, while not golden, is a pretty green color even without much, if any, supplemental summer water.

Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' at the top of the driveway.

Now:  No color as of yet. That branch on the right has been like that since May.

A parting shot, just for fun (no comparison shot), of the edge of the labyrinth. This is a very hot, very dry, very well-drained site and it looks pretty good despite all of that. I think more of this is in order in the near future.

While I subconsciously realized there is little to no leaf color right now, it didn't come into focus until I stumbled upon last year's photos and I was, frankly, shocked at the difference. The field grass is a big piece of it being completely brown and still dormant with no way of it greening up until we get real rain. I don't mind that so much, but when plants like Stachys 'Helen von Stein', a stalwart, drought-adapted plant, looks as crummy as it does, it makes me really take notice. I still think we could get some color in the coming weeks if rain does indeed arrive, but I also think we could go from 85 degrees on October 16 to 40 degrees in mid-November with no real transition. The Acer macrophyllum, big leaf maples, are losing leaves like crazy and not due to seasonal leaf drop. Rather they are dead, crunchy brown and just falling on brown lawn. That seems to be the trend, extreme summer and extreme winter with no real transitional seasons any more and maybe, in the case of the big leaf maple, no autumn color. Just an observation. 

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you and hearing what you are up to and how your gardens area faring! Happy gardening everyone.