Cultivar Varations

Different Leave from Same Tree Type

Taking a look at some plant genetic and just how much they can vary even between the same plant types. Above are all leaves from the same kind of tree. I picked up 4 leaves from Sugar Maple trees, two are from my neighborhood and 2 are from cultivar trees from the garden center where I work. The difference between them is extremely noticeable, the colors are completely different and leaf shape ranges from sharp points to more dull in appearance. What does this all mean for plants? Just like people plants have genetic difference between tree to tree. Meaning if you are choosing a tree for fall color like red or orange, for example you want to be careful the type you choose or you may end up with yellow. The good news is the unknown variability is more likely from a plant in the wild. The horticultural industry have come up with a term called cultivars which is plant breeding that allows plants to be more consistent in the traits they have. What is a cultivar? It's a plant type that has been bread for a certain characteristic maybe flower or leave color, plant height or disease resistance. They can naturally occur or they can be bred by people. If you have ever seen a plant listed as Sugar Maple 'Fall Fiesta' the 'Fall Fiesta' is what the cultivar would be. There can be 1-2 Cultivars per plant going all the way up to hundreds per plant. They are important since they can make a huge difference in the way plants grow to even their health and cold hardiness.

 Looking at the photos above the trees above from left to right are- Sugar Maple 'Fall Fiesta' Sugar Maple' Green Mountain' then the next  two are just naturally occurring Sugar Maple Black and finally just strait Sugar Maple.

Sugar Maple Black Subspecies

Regular Sugar Maple

Again the two trees above are both naturally occuring Sugar Maples but one is called Black Sugar Maple which more often then not doesn't have the beautiful orange-red fall color everyone looks for. Instead it is more yellow-gold. They also turn color slightly earlier then strait Sugar Maple. The other Sugar Maple with the orange is from a neighboring tree behind my house and has that beautiful ember orange color.

Fall Happenings

Fall color 10/19/19

 Fall is in full swing for sure, trees are starting show their fall colors. I'd say about 30% of the trees are showing color. The two largest trees in my yard are Sugar Maple subspecies black and just happen to be with in the percentage of early turning trees giving my yard a really big boost in the color department.  The weather has been cooler then average for awhile but then it heated up for a couple days with strong winds out of the south at almost 50MPH yesterday. and next week we will be returned to cooler weather which I welcome because these temperatures prolong the fall colors if it doesn't get too cold.

Autumn Crocus 10/19/19

The last of the fall flowers are continuing to hang on but one that has just getting going is the Autumn Crocus which started blooming last week. I often find these are the last blooms of the season. These are not quite the same as Colchicum which flower in mid September and look similar. These are autumn Saffron Crocus. Rabbits unfortunately to eat some of these for me but so far they have left enough for me to at least enjoy some of the flowers. While these come up with no leaves when in flower, the foliage will appear shortly and persist until late spring next year. These were planted rather late last year and was surprised by Christmas blooms! As can be seen they are much earlier this year.

Rhododendron PJM 'Elite'

Cyclamen Bloom

Cyclamen is still blooming surprisingly its been in flower for a month now. The foliage is starting to fill in and I'm also happy to report the missing Cyclamen from my last post have also started to grow in leaves so I didn't loose any of the bulbs like I had first thought. More were added fall-blooming types and a spring blooming one after I had success with Cyclamen this fall. Also another garden surprise, the Rhododendron although evergreen does shed some of the inner leaves and the fall color is looking quite nice!

Shredded Umbrella plant

Variegated Solomons Seal

More plants to add to the fall leaf-color list is the Shredded Umbrella plant as well as the Variegated Solomons Seal, both turning a nice shade of yellow although the umbrella plants looks more like electric green which is actually pretty nice. This was a gift from a garden friend and she visited yesterday evening and we both marveled over the color we didn't know it had. These plants are both part shade lovers by the way!

Sugar Maple 10/19/19

A good way to end the post by showing some of the brilliant yellow of the Sugar Maple ( black ) in my back yard. Yellow is a missed-understood fall color. People always strive for the red or orange but yellow can be an important color too, especially golden yellows like this.  Also people don't realize red/orange doesn't look as nice without yellow to contrast. Think of almost any fall-color artsy photo you have ever seen and I bet you'd realize there was yellow "somewhere" with in. Get out there and enjoy the fall season!

"Hardy" Cyclamen

Cyclamen 10/1/19

Walking through the garden one morning there was a big surprise waiting... I stopped in my tracks when I saw a little flower un curling through the mulch. It was the Cyclamen I planted last year! It How exciting it was to see the blooms of these flowers that were completely out of my mind until seeing their little flowers poking through! These Cyclamen have the appearance of the ones you find in florist shops but much smaller in scale and these are of course outside hardy. They are not well known to be hardy to Iowa however but hearing about some gardeners having success I decided to give it a try.. They was originally 3 but only one has come up flowered so far. Cyclamen like a fairly specific location in the garden requiring dry shade. Summer dryness is especially important because the bulbs are dormant. Flowers curl out of the ground in September followed by the leaves a couple weeks later. The blooms last for about a month and the leaves persist through winter and to early summer the following year before fading around July. The leaves are really cool being just as beautiful as the flowers! Just make sure you plant them in the front of the garden where other perennials wont cover them up. This variety is Cyclamen cilicium which is the hardiness temperature wise but not necessarily the easiest to grow. I  like them so much 15 more were ordered to try in other areas in my garden, including a spring-blooming one! Brent and Beckys bulbs was the company chosen because they have very good quality material. Sometimes you just have to try something to really know if you will have success!

Monarch resting

 Also something very interesting to watch in the garden last week was the migrating Monarchs as they drifted through my backyard. There still migrating today but the most abundance of butterflies came in a two week period at the end of September. Some people believe butterflies avoid the city like the plague but this photo proves that otherwise because my garden is on the edge of town meaning they would have gone through the entire metro before reaching my yard. This is why it is every so important to plant natives, no matter where you are!