Foliage Redux and Minimal Fall Clean-Up

After a week or so of pretty but not exactly award-winning foliage, we had a few days of rain and wind which we thought would put us into the “past peak” phase of the season. Not so. We woke up one morning to a stunning display – many of the still green deciduous trees had turned brilliant shades of yellow and orange overnight! The picture above was taken at sunrise that day, in the very brief period when the sun’s rays lit up the east facing mountainside. Below is another view from our deck that morning. We feel very lucky to enjoy the foliage as it continues to change with falling temperatures and the quality of the light.

The vibrancy of the fall foliage is a major topic of casual conversation these days. We love chitchatting at the post office, grocery store and the doctor’s office about whether this was a disappointing foliage year (yes seems to be the consensus), whether the foliage has peaked, how many leaf peepers there seem to be, and why there are still so many of them in the ever-present weekend rain. We’re starting to feel like locals and it’s kind of fun.

Why was the foliage disappointing this year? David Govatski, a locally renowned retired forester and tree expert offered an explanation last week. Record rainfall, high humidity and warm nighttime temperatures in September were the major culprits.

For those looking for more color, he suggests the upcoming “Autumn Gold” season when Tamaracks turn a stunning gold in large concentrations north of the notches in Jefferson, Berlin and Milan. Tamaracks are truly spectacular in late October – here is a picture of our Tamarack from fall of last year.

Minimal Garden Cleanup is Good for Pollinators

Now is that time of year people traditionally rake leaves and put the garden to bed. Our desire to have things look neat, however, removes habitat nesting bees, caterpillars and other beneficial insects need to survive the winter. We need these insects in our gardens next spring and summer for our gardens to thrive.

I’ve been leaving perennials as they are for years to help the native bees, but I have to admit I really couldn’t picture how this works until this year. Before I began to photograph and identify insects, I thought all bees were bumble or honey bee sized. How, I wondered, did bees fit in these small stems? This summer I saw with my own eyes how tiny these native bees can be, and now I am a believer.

Here is a factsheet with great pictures by Heather Holm showing how to deal with spent perennials to create habitat for hibernation, nesting and development of larvae for our native bees.

The pictures reveal how the bees use the hollow stems to hibernate over the winter. The incredible close-ups of Small Carpenter Bees and a Leaf-cutter Resin Bee starting to nest in these tiny stems after they have been cut back to 12-15″ in spring show how it really works.

Other native bees, like the Sweat Bees, overwinter under leaves, in rotting logs, debris piles or underground. Most butterflies and moths overwinter in the leaf litter as an egg, chrysalis or adult. Leaves are also mulch, protecting the soil from drying out and from temperature swings. So minimal fall cleanup helps all these pollinators and beneficial insects survive the winter and protects the soil.

If this seems like it will look too messy, raking leaves into the beds can make the fall garden look more intentional until snow covers everything. Another option is leaving the backyard natural and tidying up the front yard.