From the Magazine: December 2014

by Neil Sperry

Fall Foliage for Texas

This is the view I get a couple of miles down the road from our house in rural Collin County each fall. We have these same plant species on our little 11-acre retreat, so I’m just going to use this photo to illustrate what a beautiful time of the year late fall into early winter can be. (Photo taken November 2013.)

Before I go any further, let me pay homage to the Piney Woods of East Texas. This kind of color comes every year in every mile for you lucky folks. You are in, after all, one of the prettiest parts of Texas, particularly in mid-November. But your red sandy soil is a lot more conducive to good plant growth than the alkaline Metroplex chalk from which these trees are growing. These plants are survivors!

To identify the stars of this woodland, the reds are from all shapes and sizes of Shumard red oaks. The bright golden yellow is from American elms. I believe there’s also gold from a couple of Texas ash trees, and right behind me as I took this photo, there were brilliant reds of sumacs and Virginia creeper.

Let’s fine-tune this down to our own Sperry home landscape. We have these same native trees along our streambed, and to them I’ve added this list of favorite domesticated plants I’ve brought in, partially for their fall color.

Japanese maples. These are my go-to fall color trees. We have 20 scattered through our woods, all in full shade. They turn all shades of red, burgundy, gold and orange late each autumn.

Ginkgo ‘Autumn Gold’. Perhaps my favorite trees that I’ve planted. Glorious pure gold fall color. Unusual leaves and growth form. Be sure you get a male (fruitless) selection.

Crape myrtles. We grow them for their flowers, but crape myrtles’ fall color can also be handsome. Reds, yellows and oranges.

Rusty blackhaw viburnum. This large native shrub or small tree has glossy dark green leaves all season. In fall they turn crimson red.

Oakleaf hydrangeas. The large white flower sprays in spring are reason enough to have these shade shrubs, but the deep red fall color of their huge leaves adds a second season of beauty.

Boston ivy. Smaller-growing cousin to Virginia creeper, this clinging vine turns from dark green to all the shades of red, orange and yellow that you see in the woodland photo above. It’s great on masonry walls.