Late fall at the UC Davis Arboretum

The Arboretum on the University of California Davis campus is only a few miles from our house. I visit frequently and have written several related posts (1 2 3 4).

Sunday was a gray day but temperatures were fairly mild so the whole family joined me on a walk along Putah Creek, the main body of water that winds its way through the Arboretum.

 

I knew that there would be fall color from deciduous trees such as Chinese pistache and cohorts, and I wasn’t disappointed.

 

 

 

 

To my surprise, I also encountered two species of deciduous conifers I had never noticed there before: bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), common in the Southeastern U.S. but not often seen here in the West, and dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), a redwood relative native to Central China.

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) glowing like a beacon

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Left: Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)
Middle: Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
Right: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

The Arboretum has quite a few ginkgos, many of them planted as memorial trees. Unlike the blazing yellow specimen I photographed last week, many were still mostly green, with just a hint of yellow around the leaf margins.

Ginkgo biloba ‘Fairmont’

Some of the trees planted right along the banks of Putah Creek are very sculptural, their branches reaching down and almost touching the water. With leaves beginning to turn, or already gone, they are reflecting the time of year.

Unidentified big tree by the water

This small dock is a popular hangout for kids who like to feed the ducks (officially discouraged but…)

Trees that have already shed their leaves present a majestic outline against the gray sky

While deciduous shrubs and trees bear witness to the season, many Mediterranean plants look the way they always do. In fact, winter is when rosemary blooms best in our climate.

Blooming rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Blooming rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and bush germander (Teucrium fruticans)

Not a Mediterranean native, but flowering merrily at this time of year: a winter-blooming red hot poker (Knipfhofia sp.)

At the end of our walk, we circled through the Ruth Storer Valley-Wise Garden which showcases both native and climate-appropriate plants from other parts of the world. Here you find Japanese barberries planted next to yuccas from the Southwest, and brachyglottis from New Zealand juxtaposed with a smoke bush from the Southeast.

Yucca recurvifolia ‘Margaritaville’ and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’)

Calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’)

Silver Spider maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Silberspinne’) and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii)

Sarabande maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Sarabande’) and autumn sage (Salvia gregii)

Smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria x dummeri ‘Grace’)

Smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria) and Brachyglottis ‘Sunshine’

Brachyglottis ‘Sunshine.’ This small shrub from New Zealand used to be part of the gigantic Senecio family

No sign of late fall here: Texas sage or cenizo (Leucophyllum frutescens) and an unidentified rose cultivar