Fall Begins

Ginkgo fall photo. Leaves remain green so far.

Front ginkgo. Now it's taller than I am. Leaves starting to change color now.

Lots of grapes now. It's dark when I go to work and come home, so I forget to pick them.

Also-
still getting a few tomatoes, beans, cucumbers.

I ate ONE fresh fig yesterday - a small one from Hardy Chicago.

I moved the Magnolia seiboldei to a more sheltered location, north of a fence and east of the house. There is will be less likely to develop sunburn, and need less water in the summer. It's bushy, about 6 feet tall. The roots were actually quite limited, about 2 foot diameter root ball, about 1 foot deep. I did remove one tall stem that leaned the wrong direction, but left the remainder unpruned.

I moved a mature oriental lily as well, near the magnolia. Also a few minor perennials.

Magnolia sieboldii

This bush is now 7 years old. I bought it mail order from Wayside Nursery. This is the first year that it has bloomed. It has about 6 flowers, smaller than the usual magnolia. The advantage of this tree was that the flowers were described as fragrant. I cant smell them at all. Also that it blooms later in the Spring than other magnolias, so that the flowers are less likely to be touched by frost. I think that is true.

I'm not sure that it was worth it. Maybe next year it will have more flowers. Novelty is worth something. I've never seen one before, except in the catalog.

Addendum: I went back out and stuck my nose into a flower. It IS sweetly, but faintly, scented. Well, I'll give it a chance for another year. Many shrubs and trees improve with age, including color and scent. The wisteria didnt bloom for about 6 years, and it was worth the wait.

I looked around google for more information about this Magnolia. It is also called "Oyama magnolia" for the mountain where it is native in Japan. It also grows in Northern Manchuria and Korea. (Ning grew up in Manchuria and states that he's never seen one before). The Japanese and Korean varieties may have lighter coloration of the stamens, with the Manchurian varieties having darker red stamens. This information from "The World of Magnolias". This variety seems to be in the darker stamen group, although not as dark as in the original catalog picture. Apparently it is better suited for shade, and this one is in a more sunny spot - maybe that's why it dried out 2 years ago during the summer. Last year I watered it more frequently, compared to the other shrubs, and it did not lose leaves that summer. According to multiple sources, it blooms over a several-week cycle, and then sporadically through the Summer.