A Coastal Alabama Garden: Drought and Autumn Leaves

Apart from a single "rain event" a few weeks back (that gave us either a quarter- or a half-inch, can't recall which), our drought has continued. The lack of rain has put a huge damper on my enthusiasm for gardening, this autumn. I've watered a few times, but it's a time-consuming process to water even just the main flower beds-- and I always worry about putting too much of a strain on our well and pump during dry spells, anyway...

Fortunately, it looks like we may be starting to dig our way out of this drought, one shower at a time. We had a very little rain last night, there's a chance for more tonight, and the local weather forecast offers hope for rain over the weekend. The drought won't be erased in just a week or two (and the winter ahead will likely be dry, thanks to La Niña), but every fraction of an inch is a step in the right direction.

Because of the drought, I've been putting off planting the ornamental trees in my "pot ghetto". (I may bite the bullet and start planting soon, though.) I started gathering pine straw and blocking out new extensions of the flower beds, including places where those ornamental trees will eventually go.

I've also mulched a bed on the septic pad (field lines area). I may expand it, at some point, but it's a start. After mulching, I planted it with a variety of plants-- a few recently purchased, some transplanted from existing beds, and others started from cuttings this summer. The new flower bed doesn't look like much, at the moment, but I'm confident that by the end of next summer, it can be full and flowering.

- - - - - - -

Let me close this blog post with some photos of autumn leaves (and related subjects) from around our garden...

I think most of the popcorn trees (invasive "trash trees", I know, but they do turn beautiful colors!) may be done for the year, around here, but some of the crepe myrtles are still holding onto some leaves.

Certain ones have nice autumn color, while the leaves of others just turn brown and fall to the ground, so if you're planting a crepe myrtle in the hopes of fall foliage, it's important to do some research. I'd tell you the names of these in my photos if I knew them, but I'm not sure. I can only tell you that all these are white-flowered varieties.

The papery-barked river birch's leaves turn yellow before falling. It may not be a breath-taking show, but the speckles of yellow mixed with green are delicately pretty. (Any color at all is notable, this far south.)

...And the peeling bark itself is beautifully textural.

Our bald cypress has lost many of its rust-colored needles already, but there are still some left. Though I am frustrated by its tendency to host nasty caterpillars (every single darn year), I do love this tree... It has a lot of character.

This ash tree is a golden torch, every autumn. Unfortunately, I've been reading that ashes are at risk from the emerald ash borer. I guess we'll just enjoy it while we can. Maybe we'll be lucky...