Fall & Winter Colors in SoCal

Southern California is known for evergreen and palm trees but not for trees with leaves that change color in fall. Except for trees that are planted for fall color, there are no vegetation and trees that grows naturally in Southern California for their colorful leaves in fall.

The pomegranate tree in my yard is one such tree that has leaves that turns yellow then shed sheds them in late fall early winter. It has relatively small leaves that turned yellow in late fall.

Another tree in my yard that turns color is the Japanese maple which is now about ten foot tall. The leaves turned yellow in early to mid fall then turned red in early winter. The red leaves are still in the branches during Christmas. 

Dahlia

 

Dahlias are perennial tubers that bloom from late summer to the fall months. They come in multitude of different colors, shape and sizes. Most can grow as tall as six feet in height with blooms as big as a small plate.

Established dahlias require a thorough and deep watering at least once a week during the summer months. Summer this year in Southern California is unusually humid with a few inches of rainfall. With the mandated reduction in water usage due to the drought, I have watered my dahlias only every other week but still came out with huge and healthy blooms. The rain during the summer months definitely helped.

Besides the pink dahlia that I planted a few years back, I planted a new one during early spring and it bloomed with an orange red flower. As usual the pink one has blooms that are huge but not as huge as the last few years. It definitely needs to be dug out and divided. I will have to do this early January. It should have been done this year but did not have the time.

Pomegranate

A small tree suitable for the semi-arid climate of Southern California is the Pomegranate. It is not only grown for its nutritious fruit but the tree itself is a very good addition to any garden as it is relatively small when full grown.

I have planted one almost 2 years ago and am now bearing fruit but not as many as a full grown tree. It is about 5 feet tall after 2 years and has a few fruit this year. It started with flowers in the spring and a few of these flowers developed into fruits.

Pomegranates are drought tolerant which makes it suitable for the Southern California garden specially these past few years with only a few inches of rain annually. I deep water the small tree once a month and it is very healthy. Pomegranates do not thrive very well in wet soil as it develops root decay.

The edible part of the fruit is the deep red seeds which can be eaten raw or pressed into juice. The fruits are not as big as I expected but with enough water and fertilizer perhaps the fruits next year will be bigger.

Succulents

The drought in California has been ongoing for four years and this has huge impact on water usage. To cut water use, cities across California is encouraging removing lawns and planting drought tolerant plants.

Succulents are plants that require less water and still look nice and pretty. Succulent plants are also known as fat plants and have parts that are thick and fleshy in order to retain water. These plants thrive very well in arid climates which make them suitable in Southern California with its dry climate.

These plants are usually planted as ornamental plants because of their unusually beautiful and striking appearance. Most have green to blue color such as the Agave and often have needles. Home centers usually have a section for succulents and offer a variety of these plants to choose from.

A few of succulents bloom but most do not. What they lack in colorful bloom is compensated by their unusual and fleshy appearance. Succulents do not only require less water, they are also almost carefree and very little care.

Apples

Southern California is not well known for apple growing except for some apple farms in Oak Glen, a farming community located in the foothills of San Bernardino Mountains. It is known as the Apple Country of Southern California with private ranches, restaurants and apple farms where you can pick apples from the tree. Julian located in the mountains of San Diego County is also one of the popular locations for apple picking in Southern California.

Bought an apple tree from Home Depot a few years ago and is now full of fruit. The fruit is not as good looking as the ones you can buy from a grocery store but they are sweet, juicy and really crunchy besides free of pesticides which make it organic.

Apple picking season is usually done at the start of fall and we are in the middle of summer but my tree is almost done for the season and have harvested almost all the fruit. Was able to harvest almost 2 grocery bags full from that small tree.

Peony 2015

This year’s peony went well with the peony having not only more flowers but bigger bloom as well. The peony plant itself is much bigger and healthier. It is growing bigger and healthier every season.

The plant was trimmed late winter and started to grow shoots early spring with full leaves by middle of the spring. It started to bloom as early as mid spring which lasted for almost a month.

I deadheaded the spent flowers about late spring with the green leaves lasting early December. If the plant is situated properly with enough sunlight, it will last and bloom for decades. Peonies rarely need to be divided; the plant I have still does not need to be divided.