October 2006
Fall Fashion at Buck
Leonard J. Buck Garden, Far Hills, NJ
With its brilliant golds, yellows, oranges and reds, fall colors are progressing at the Leonard J. Buck Garden. As the days grow shorter and the nights get cooler, the stage is set for the greatest show on earth.
The autumn leaves of our native dogwood,
Cornus florida, has taken on fall shades of red to maroon, and its attractive glossy red fruits are abundant until the birds find them. This small flowering tree is a familiar understory tree of deciduous woodlands throughout most of the United States. Its branching habit is flattop with picturesque spreading horizontal branches.
Besides being an important landscape tree, the wood of dogwood has many practical uses. The hard wood from the trunk was used in the past to make farm implements, wedges to split rails, and shuttles for spinning mills. If you take a close look you will notice that the steps at Buck Garden are made from dogwood trees. You can see Cornus florida, in all its fall glory on top of Big Rock and elsewhere in the garden.
The golden yellow of
Carya ovata, shagbark hickory, is one of the richest colors in the fall forest. The leaves are pinnately compound, with 5 lanceolate or ovate leaflets per leaf. The older trees have long, shaggy strips of light gray bark, and the round fruits have a thick husk around a slightly 4-angled nut, which is sweet and edible. The often bountiful crop of nuts feed the squirrels, chipmunks, and other woodland rodents.
The strong white wood has been used for wagon wheel spokes, skis, furniture, paneling, lumber, and heavy timbers. In colonial times, a yellow dye was made from the inner bark and the Indians produced milk out of pounding the sweet kernels in hot water. You can't help notice the shagbark hickory as you enter the Fern Garden and elsewhere in the garden.
What would fall color be without maples? In most people's opinion maples typify fall color. No other group of trees contributes as much color, brilliance and beauty to the Eastern forests.
Acer saccharinum, sugar maple, is one of our first trees to display its fall fashion and
Acer rubrum, red maple, is right behind.
Sugar maple sets the autumn landscape ablaze with its combination of bright yellow, orange and red leaves. Its leaves are 4-6 inches wide and long, have 3 to 5 blunt lobes, and are beautifully displayed on a compact, rounded crown. This shade tree can reach 60-75 feet and up to 125 feet at maturity. Maple sugar, the most widely known maple product, is produced by boiling down the sweet, watery spring sap. It takes about 32 gallons of sap to produce a gallon of maple syrup.
Red maple is indeed usually a brilliant red, but at times it may display orange and sometimes yellow leaves. Red maple leaves are 2-5 inches long and their lobes are often pointed rather than blunt like the sugar maple. Red maple makes a successful shade tree and can grow 40-60 feet tall in cultivation. The hard, fine-grained wood of red maple is used for furniture, flooring, musical instruments, tool handles, cutting boards, cooking utensils and many other home, farm and industrial uses.
At Buck Garden
Acer saccharinum, sugar maple, stands tall along Primrose Path, and
Acer rubrum, red maple, can be seen in the Azalea Field.
At the Leonard J. Buck Garden summer greens have turned to brilliant hues of fall. Come and see for yourself.
- Tricia Scibilia, interpretive gardener
** All photos Courtesy of Tricia Scibilia
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