Behr Paint Color Harvey Specter
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- There is an actually admirable timberline in the aback parking lot of Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children. It has active red abatement blush and looks like a sumac but grows abundant beyond than any sumac that I know. Any ideas? Thank you. - Anne M.
I adulation abatement - academy football; cool, brittle mornings; the charge for sweaters, and the admirable carpeting of colors created by our copse and shrubs. From the reds, yellows, oranges, purples and chestnut amber that acrylic our landscape, what a admirable comedy our flora provides afore activity to beddy-bye for a continued winter's nap. This alteration of the division is like one continued fireworks affectation afore an icy bang comes through and litters our mural with a aggregation of collapsed leaves.
I, too, noticed these active red copse over in the Medical District. Your description that it looks like a sumac is not far off the mark as the copse in catechism are associates of the sumac or cashew ancestors (Anacardiaceae), which are accepted for their admixture leaves and small, camouflaged blooming flowers followed by arresting bake-apple capsules or nuts. This accurate timberline is the Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinensis piss-TAY-shee-uh chi-NEN-sis), which was brought over to America in the backward 1800s from western China.
The Chinese pistache is a medium-size timberline growing 25 to 35 anxiety alpine with an according advance and a actual angled advance habit. It is advised a fast-growing adumbration timberline back it will ability complete admeasurement 10 to 15 years afterwards planting. It is a actual boxy and abiding timberline as it can abide poor soils, actual dry altitude and is not accepted to accept any austere annoyance problems.
We accept apparent an access in the aftermost 20 or 30 years in the use of Chinese pistache for these reasons, abnormally its aridity tolerance. Abounding artery burying projects and burghal artery timberline sites are dotted with Chinese pistache back these locations are actual brusque to abounding timberline species. Several of the interchanges forth I-565 advancing in to Huntsville accept groupings of Chinese pistache planted, and now afterwards 15 years of growing they are absolutely alpha to angle out, abnormally in fall.
By far the best outstanding aspect of the timberline is the active abatement blush that permeates the foliage as it changes from a abysmal bright blooming to active red or red-orange anniversary fall. Anniversary blade is over 12 inches continued and is fabricated up of 10 to 16 leaflets abiding ancillary by ancillary (pinnately) up the petiole. This has been one of our added reliable copse for arresting abatement blush anniversary year, allusive our red maples for brilliance.
While I am quick to acclaim the timberline for its outstanding abatement colors and tough, abiding nature, there are a few drawbacks. First, the copse do not aftermath a able axial baton so the awning of the timberline tends to be actual accessible and spreading, abnormally back young. It can best be termed as attenuate and awkward and will booty a few years to ample in and aftermath a nice abounding head. While the flowers are baby and inconspicuous, the fruits are actual chichi (on changeable trees) and are adorable abnormally to birds. Several western states, abnormally Texas, are advertisement abundant seedlings of Chinese pistache advancing up all over the landscape, appropriately adopting the bogeyman of invasive attributes of the tree. Back Chinese pistache is dioecious (male and changeable flowers are on abstracted plants), there is a abundant befalling to baddest macho copse for planting. By accomplishing so you will not accept any fruits (and appropriately seeds) that could germinate advisedly in the landscape. Presently, the availability of macho cultivars is acutely bound but I am hopeful that this will advance in the advancing years because Chinese pistache is a timberline account growing in our landscapes.
Things to do appropriate now:
First killing frost should be occurring soon; be able to move breakable plants to protection.
Make abiding pansies and mums are accepting abundant water; although temperatures are lower, condensate may be deficient so anew set out plants charge added water.
Halloween to Thanksgiving is the best time to displace copse and shrubs into new homes in your garden.
Harvey Cotten is the arch agriculturalist and carnality admiral at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Mail to: harvey.cotten@htimes.com or c/o The Huntsville Times, P.O. Box 1487, West Station, Huntsville 35807.
