Here in Maine we've had the most beautiful fall this year. It has not only been unusually warm but it has been sunny nearly every day and not at all windy. Due to the lack of cold nights earlier on we didn't have brilliant fall foliage but we've had instead a steady more subtle transformation of the landscape; I don't think I've ever appreciated the subtlies in the colors of the oak leaves quite as much. I have a Viburnum carlesii (Korean spice viburnum) right outside our kitchen windows, off the deck, and it has never had such brilliant color. Today, November 20, it still has its leaves--unheard of this late in the season. My fothergilla has been as brilliantly colored as one I once saw in Pittsburg at the botanical garden there in late October. Before I saw that one I was unaware of just how colorful these shrubs can be given a long, slow decrease in fall temperatures. The hydrangea and the spiraea were also exceptionally colorful this year, and, though I hate to mention it, the barberry had never spoken to me before...I saw one on a street in Rockland the other day that blew me away with the range of oranges and reds in its repertoire. I am usually one to promote the eradication of this invasive plant but for that one I wished I'd had my camera! Luckily I did bring my camera on the walk I took along Appleton Ridge Road through the blueberry barrens at the top.
