Governors Park Foliage
Garden Bloggers Foliage Day (GBFD) is hosted monthly on the 22nd by Christina at Creating my own garden of the Hesperides.
Inside my autumn garden the foliage I wish today to note is this Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily). Flowers should precede the leaves, but sadly did not. These were planted a couple of years ago.
Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)
I thought I would share a couple of scenes from a recent walk around the neighborhood. For the longest time it seemed we would have very little fall color and the leaves would simply drop without marking the occasion. Suddenly last week trees along the highway and inside my neighborhood lit up to make it really seem like autumn.
Specifically there are lots of colorful red maples that have been planted in rows along the sidewalks. They have turned bright red and look beautiful in the glow of the sun. But I really love the older trees.
This post oak is one of the grand remnants of an old farm, an anchor to the past on the land where my subdivision now sits.
Governors Park Foliage -Quercus stellata (Post oak) North American species of oak in the white oak section. Native to the eastern and central United States.
Many of our houses face an elliptical-shaped common area (the rest are tucked into cul-de-sacs). Within this loop are several groves of old trees, hardwoods as well as pines. The trees in the image below approximately mark the midway point of the loop. Behind the trees sits a pond where occasionally a blue heron spends time.
On Friday when I stood at the south end of our “meadow park” looking north, the sky was blue, yet eerily darkened by smoke from wildfires in the western part of the state.
Governors Park Foliage
When I reached the grove of trees pictured above I took a few more minutes to gaze upward through the treetops. As peaceful and lovely as it was, the scent of smoke was overwhelming and I hurried along home.
Governors Park Foliage
By Saturday morning shifting winds had cleared the air. Meanwhile the fires are partially contained but have scorched thousands of acres.
Many thanks to Christina at Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for reminding us the important part foliage plays in our gardens (and surrounding environs). Check out her foliage and that of other gardeners across the globe.
pbmGarden 
How wonderful that the old trees were saved when your houses were built. It was the same with us, the builder wanted to cut down the trees in the woodland for access, but the village put a Preservation Order on them all, thank goodness!
I’m glad the colour appeared in your trees, even though it took them some time to change and I hope that the fires are now well and truly out.
Glad your old trees could be saved also Pauline. It makes such a difference in preserving the character of an area. Sadly I think the fires are only about 40% contained. Thank goodness for the many firefighters coming in to assist.
The mature trees around you are beautiful; it is so lucky for you and the other residents that they were retained and not all cut down to create more space. It must have been very worrying to smell the smoke so strongly, a fire, out of control, is one of the most frightening things. Your last image is glorious with the light shining through the falling foliage creating a wonderful texture. Thanks for joining GBFD for November Susie.
Thanks Christina. Our neighborhood isn’t particularly forward thinking in terms of creating wildlife habitat, using native plants, or avoiding lots of chemicals on lawns, but people do seem to appreciate trees.
I can’t recall wildfires in NC, especially this time of year. Stay safe. Love that Sweetgum.
Unfortunately, the fires are all too common, but this year seem especially bad. Redeeming quality of Sweetgum is beautiful fall color.
Scary, the fires. They do a lot of controlled burns here and it is terrifying to watch. Have you noticed the English and Australians love their Liquidambar and have cultivars?
Glad to see you are having some great color this year… but sorry to hear about the ongoing wildfires. It’s about time for a good rain to come along.
Trees can make such a difference to residential areas – I love seeing huge old chestnuts or red beech here. Lovely to see the mature old trees near your home Susie. I had no idea that there were wildfires in your area too. Hope they get some rain to help put them out.
My Lycoris bulbs haven’t produced foliage, much less flowers – maybe they don’t like the dry conditions we’ve both been living with. I’m sorry to hear that the fires are still a factor out your way but I’m glad your air has cleared. I hope you enjoy a happy Thanksgiving, Susie!
Lucky to have such lovely open areas nearby.
I hope the fire is contained by now. It is amazing how quickly the seasons can shift, isn’t it?