I've been on the road since Monday 10/20. While the rain has not made the trip as pleasant as it might have been, the sights have overcome most of the inconvenience.
The mountains of West Virginia and Virginia were wrought with fall colors, with maples and tulip-tree leading the way. More than a few Sourwood and Blackgum added scarlet spice. The gray overcast and rain deprived you of that imagery.
Maybe a bit of Richmond, VA will tide you over - on the one sunny day so far.
Those are just a tiny bit of what the magnificent Maymont has to offer. Now a city park, this is an excellent extant example of what the turn of the 20th century created on exuberant estates.
From there, I meandered through the Tidewater and Coastal Plain on my way to Rutgers in NJ. On the way, I got behind this very large female driver...
You have to cross a lot of water when you work your way up the east coast.
And here is the destination, and where we are hanging out for the weekend...
Today we got out in the rain first thing. Got to see some fun plants.
1. Parrotia subaequalis
2. Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite'
3. Calycanthus floridus var. purpurea sport
4. Lindera glauca var. salicifolia
5. Koelreuteria bipinnata
And then, things took some interesting twists and turns...
Is that you with Lincoln? Was the lady in the Camry actually as large as a Cetacea? If so, that would be doubly hilarious. Looks like a cool trip so far, hope all is well at the convention!
It looks like you all turned the Conference Center into a Plant Swap? That would be the most interesting one ever.
"That was no lady; that was my whale." (rim shot)
The conference center is doing multiple duties, including serving up the finest Plant Auction you'll come across - 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. There's at least twice that many plants now as were illustrated in the images above.
The saga continues...
The fall color is ratcheting up here in NJ, quite a bit ahead of home at the Valley. Here are examples:
**Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum with its deep burgundy hues
**Quercus palustris was weakly bronzy brown
**Kalopanax pictus was turning frighteningly yellow
**Acer saccharum was doing its level best
**Betula nigra was unaccountably distracted, showing nothing of interest
What creeper place where you at today? That 3rd pic is really creepy.
Great pictures! Thanks for sharing !
A purple leafed Calycanthus! Awesome color, but are the blooms still brownish-maroon? Hmmmmm
Oh my the red Lindera! Just what the doctor ordered- a native (? is it) shrub with color to rival E alata.
Did you buy anything at auction? Did you give anything to it?
We could've almost crossed paths! I spent a few boring days in Philly this past week enjoying the sites while my spouse attended a fascinating conference on business communication. ;) That Betula nigra looks to be putting on some rapid growth.
