California is not famous for its Autumn color. Many plants get confused
by what passes for seasons here on the west coast. Instead of the traditional four: Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter, California has just two: the mostly wet and very
dry seasons (sometimes called the mudslide and wildfire seasons). Nonetheless, we do
have some plants in the San Francisco Bay Area which make an Autumn effort.
The Red Oaks have turned already. Soon, we will see the flaming displays
of yellow-orange-red Chinese Pistache leaves, yellow Ginkgo trees, and
red Pyracantha berries. We just drove from Palo Alto to San Jose on Highway
280: the new color show is worth seeing! It is not a riot of color, just a
colorful protest against the prevailing pallet of grey-green and brown.
My roses are putting on their last display before shutting down with
the coming cold. I have eleven rose bushes, including two of my favorite,
Chrysler Imperial. Chrysler Imperial is a Hybrid Tea Rose from 1952, one of
the first roses used to market a consumer product (the Chrysler
Imperial car). The Chrysler Imperial rose starts off as a scarlet bud, then
darkens to a rich violet red color as the bloom ages. The flower scent is
deep and complex.
Gas prices are dropping with the leaves. During our August 2008
family road trip, we paid prices as high as $4.99/gallon. Last night in
San Francisco, gas was for sale at $2.99/gallon. Always pleasant to have
some good news!
Red Oak leaves
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Red Oak leaves
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Red Oak leaves
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“Chrysler Imperial” rose
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“Chrysler Imperial” rose
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“New Day” rose
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“Playboy” rose
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Images Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson
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