Observations!

High 44 F
Low  30 F

Another chilly day here today.  A walk in the garden  resulted in a few snapshots of some bright foliage remaining.  I know many bloggers received their first snowfall and I feel lucky that we escaped the white covering.  I am just not ready.  The furniture needs to be put away and the bulbs...a post for another day, have all arrived and are ready for planting.  In the meantime, the Heptacodium miconioides or Seven-Son Flower is sporting red.  I have limbed this up a bit high so that I can enjoy the exfoliating bark but the sepals have their red coloration and are still visible and interesting in spite of being sky high.  The other plant in the garden which is sporting crimson is the Vaccinium corymbosum.  While these are supposed to be highbush blueberries, they are not very high.  I planted them at least ten years ago and they are stunted and small but the color is nice and they aren't taking up too much room.  One of my many plant failures!  This year they are beautiful shades of red, pink and yellow. The fall coloration of the highbush blueberry makes it a good  substitute planting for the Euonymus alatus or burning bush which has been widely planted here and is now considered an invasive species.  This plant is native to Northeastern Asia and central China and was introduced to this country in 1860.  It is adaptable to a wide range of soil types and will tolerate sun or shade.  I have never seen any seedlings from the three plants in my garden but they were given to me by a friend who dug up the seedlings from her garden  .  It is perhaps the  brightest red plant in the northeastern landscape in the fall.  The density and shear number of the leaves make it a focal point in the landscape and while it is no longer in favor, it is still beautiful.  A scary beauty, just in time for Halloween.