The PermaDesign Weblog, with Nate Downey and Melissa McDonald!

Fall Color Rocks the Rockies

by Melissa McDonald

Here at the southeastern corner of the Rocky Mountains, we have some amazing fall colors. One of my favorites is foresteria neomexicana (aka, NM privet or NM olive) with the rhus trilobata (three-leaf sumac). The bright-red  'gro-low' variety of the sumac here works really well under the explosion of yellow that the New Mexico privet provides. In the foreground, is the attractive semi-evergreen quality of pineleaf penstemon, which blooms bright red through the summer, but offers a cool contrast to the foliage above it. Nate took this shot the other day just outside our front door a couple of days after this vignettes' fall peak.

Fall color doesn't have to stop and start with the leaves of bushes and trees. There are many late-blooming flowers and the awesome colors of all of the wonderful edibles of the season help to define color in a more interesting light. Check out the sheens that you can get from various leafy greens and the blue hues of cool-season Brassicas like cabbages, cauliflower, and kale. Probably the greatest fall-color combination that we have in northern New Mexico is the neon-gold chamisa up against the striking violet of the purple aster. Since this combination of yellow and purple are vibrating colors that compete for space, this contrast rivals anything New England has to  offer in terms of fall-color. I'll look for a picture of this for an upcoming post. Stay tuned!

10/24/2012 | (0) Comments