Fall color ranges from burnt sienna to brick red . There ’ s a particular dawn redwood I look for each fall on my walk to work . Its fiery color looms over a blue , two-storey house . The homeowner told me this tree was a seedling given away in a fast-food “ happy meal ” when her children were small , and it has been growing happily ever since . In the Arboretum , a great place to view dawn redwoods is Rhododendron Glen , where there are four mature specimens . Taxodium distichum ( bald cypress ): This medium-sized tree in the cypress family is native to the Atlantic Coastal Plain , and to swamps and bayous of the U . S . Southeast . According to an article on the American Conifer
Bald cypress
Society blog , the autumn color is orange , and leaf drop depends on geographical latitude . In northern climes , bald cypress is wholly deciduous , while it is “ tardily deciduous ” in the South . The fall foliage display of the bald cypresses along Arboretum Creek in the Pinetum shouldn ’ t be missed !
Maidenhair tree
Ginkgo biloba ( maidenhair tree ): This conifer relative from China is widely cultivated around the world for its distinctive form and foliage , which turns bright yellow in fall before quickly dropping . It is the star of Japan ’ s annual Icho Matsuri foliage festival , held at Meiji Jingu Gaien — a ginkgo-lined avenue — in Tokyo between mid-November and early December . The synchronous leaf drop of ginkgo trees growing together is the subject of Howard Nemerov ’ s poem , “ The Consent ”
( www . poetryfoundation . org / poems / 53817 / the-consent ): “… the golden and green Leaves litter the lawn today , that yesterday Had spread aloft their fluttering fans of light .” A beautiful ginkgo stands sentinel by the gate to the Graham Visitors Center parking lot at the Arboretum . m
Rebecca Alexander is the manager of Reference and Technical Services at the Miller Library , located in the UW Botanic Gardens ’ Center for Urban Horticulture ( 3501 NE 41st Street , Seattle ). She is also a contributing editor to the “ Bulletin .”
Bibliography
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Brotak , Ed . “ Colorful Fall : What ’ s Behind the Seasonal Changes in Foliage , and Why It Can Vary from Year to Year .” “ Horticulture ,” September / October 2019 , Vol . 116 , Issue 5 , pp . 44 – 49 .
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Drori , Jonathan . “ Around the World in 80 Trees .” London : Laurence King , 2018 .
Goodhart , Frank . “ Bald Cypress : A Great Tree for the Home Landscape .” American Conifer Society blog ( conifersociety . org / conifers / articles ). September , 2020 .
Lang , Frank A . “ Western Larch .” “ Oregon Encyclopedia ,” last updated March 17 , 2018 ; www . oregonencyclopedia . org / articles / western _ larch /#. YMEDxPlKi70 [ accessed 6 / 8 / 2021 ].
McDougall , Connie . “ Uncovering the ‘ Ooh-ah ’ Factor of Fall Leaves ” Seattle Times , September 25 , 2008 .
Ross , Neil . “ Blaze of Glory .” “ New Zealand Gardener ,” April 2008 , p . 70 .
Ozbek , Melissa . “ The Science of Larches .” “ Washington Trails Magazine ,” September / October 2017 ; www . wta . org / news / magazine / features / the-science-of-larches [ accessed 6 / 8 / 2021 ].
Pliny the Elder . “ The Natural History of Pliny .” Book 16 , Chapter 19 : “ The larch : the torch-tree .” Translated by John Bostock and H . T . Riley . London : Henry G . Bohn , 1856 .
Turner , Nancy J ., R . Bouchard and Dorothy I . D . Kennedy . “ Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia and Washington .” Victoria : British Columbia Provincial Museum , 1980 .
Wu Zheng-yi and Peter H . Raven ( eds .). “ Flora of China , Volume 4 .” Beijing : Science Press ; St . Louis : Missouri Botanical Garden , 1999 .
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