Colorful fall foliage at the Wildflower Center, part 1
Fall pounced on Austin quickly this year, then retreated for nearly a month, and then dashed back in, ushering in a brief flare of color. We’d planned to visit Lost Maples this month in hopes of seeing the bigtooth maples flaming red and orange, but we missed that window because reservations were so hard to get.
Still, I got my fill of leaf-peeping last week at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where I was greeted by these smoldering flameleaf sumacs (Rhus lanceolata). As you’ll see, I also enjoyed a few bigtooth maples in full color, but that’ll be in part 2 of my post.
Flameleaf sumac lives up to its common name in autumn. For those not familiar with the Wildflower Center, all plants grown here are native to Texas, and you’ll often see them growing wild in greenbelts and state parks.
A thicket of sumacs near the parking lot were putting on a bright show.
Contrasting with their pale gray trunks, the leaves look even prettier.
Silver agaves lounge in a soft bed of tawny Mexican feathergrass, under the orangey leaves of a cedar elm.
The aqueduct is festooned with red leaves of Virginia creeper. Luminarias already line the path for the holiday show Luminations.
Virginia creeper
Meadow view between aqueduct columns
On the other side of the walk you see a smaller meadow with a limestone-and-glass sculpture.
At the spring-like pool in the main courtyard, something perched on the melted-marshmallow rock caught my eye…
…a frog in hiding. I see you!
A jacquard-shelled tortoise sculpture resides in the courtyard by the kid-friendly Little House.
Grasses shine in autumn, of course, like Gulf muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) and Lindheimer muhly (Muhlenbergia lindheimeri).
You can’t help trailing your fingers through them.
Fuzzy bottlebrushes of spent liatris flowers adorn a meadow with muhly grasses.
The curved arbor in the Woodland Garden…
…where brain-like horse apples, the fruit of an osage orange tree (Maclura pomifera), litter the ground.
Dwarf palmettos (Sabal minor) line the moist edge of the stream.
Ah, a stock-tank pond in the Theme Gardens brings back fond memories.
Virginia creeper tracing thin arteries of color on a limestone wall
A yellowing sycamore-leaf snowbell (Styrax platanifolius) pokes its head above a low wall.
But what’s this? Check out that stunning color — in a wooded garden, no less. I looked around for a plant tag and could find none.
It’s fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), with thanks to Lori for the ID!
A pointillist’s dream
A Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) still hanging onto yellowing leaves
Another dwarf palmetto, with sprays of black fruit that birds and mammals love to eat
A nearly naked bur oak reigns over a fencerow of red-berried possumhaw hollies.
Going, going, nearly gone
This Mexican buckeye already shed its leaves, but it’s easy to identify thanks to dangling, dark-brown seedpods. They rattle when you shake them.
Fiery color from possumhaw holly (Ilex decidua) berries
Cedar waxwings will be feasting on these this winter.
Ka-pow!
In a patch of Gregg’s mistflower (Conoclinium greggii), a queen butterfly made the rounds…
…adding fall color of her own.
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope,” said founder Lady Bird Johnson. True enough, but fall’s foliage is a source of joy too.
Up next: Part 2 of my leaf-peeping visit to the Wildflower Center, with bigtooth maples in their fall finery.
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Digging Deeper
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Fantastic Blog on plants for fall color!
It did turn out that way, Holly. 🙂 Yay for the Wildflower Center for always having it going on.
Your mystery plant is Rhus aromatica, Fragrant Sumac. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=rhar4
I’ve been working down in Dripping Springs for the last month or so, and watching the entire sumac family change colors has been the highlight of my drive for the last few weeks!
I MUST have one! Thank you for identifying it, Lori.
Beautiful! You get a lot more fall color than we do. Thanks for sharing it.
We don’t usually have much fall color, but this year seems a little better than usual. Of course it’s all relative. I grew up in the Southeast, and I miss the colors we had there, especially in the Blue Ridge. A New England fall I can only dream of.
Fantastic and unexpected fall color. Oh, I love the Wildflower Center, I really hope to get back there and see it in its entirety someday. I bought a Rhus trilobata (very similar ) from High Country Gardens (from our gift certificate given at the Austin Fling) and so far, it is gorgeous, but small. All lovely pix, Pam, thank you!
You need to come back to Austin, Tamara! Once this covid crap is over. 🙂 I looked up your sumac — wow, great fall color. And I see that High Country also sells a groundcover variety of the R. aromatica. Interesting!
Hi Pam,
You get many compliments about your gorgeous photos, but I think your poetic writing deserves a bit of appreciation too. “A pointillist’s dream”, “thin arteries of color“, “Silver agaves lounge in a soft bed of tawny Mexican feathergrass”. You have an imaginative turn of phrase that I always enjoy.
Thank you, Paula! I try to keep it fresh with my descriptions. I’m glad to know you enjoy them!
We in Texas cities can’t match the color explosion of the northeast in autumn. However, one of the things that makes our autumn color so appealing is the dramatic contrast between the leaf colors and the background of deep green from live oaks, Magnolias, yaupon hollies, cherry laurels, and junipers, not to mention palms.
You’re quite right, Peter. And the evergreens keeping things going all winter is something to be grateful for also.
Just beautiful–photos and prose. I am not sure I have ever seen such a rosy pink hue on a five-leaf creeper, aka Virginia creeper. Gorgeous. I picked up a fragrant sumac at a previous Wildflower Center sale and planted it in my front yard, where the deer promptly chewed off its leaves. Still have it in the front yard but protected somewhat by a “round” of field fencing. Planted it there for the described fall color, but I’ve yet to see it. Maybe it has something to do with not having any leaves by fall, courtesy of the deer 😉 Will wait for it to “outgrow” the deer…
Thanks, Beverly. And arghhhhh on your behalf regarding the deer chomping! I read this right after looking up the plant online and reading that its deer resistance is high — ha!