On bike rides, hikes, park outings, camping trips and scenic cruises, I typically bore my children to near death. The endlessly fascinating subject of PLANTS with all their fancy Latin names, varieties and detailed nuances that take up so much space in my plant-nerd mind do not usually hold their interest for 10 seconds.
However, this morning on the way to school, I gave my boys a horticulture lesson and for once, they hung on my every word. I was riding along singing a litany of “See that red, shaggy one? That’s a Dogwood. And the bright yellow/green/orange one is a Sugar Maple. The redbud has the yellow, heart shaped leaves.”
For the first time, all three of them had questions. Why is it called a Redbud if it’s yellow? Does a dogwood come from a dog? Are the trees dieing? Evidently boring GREEN trees are not interesting. Even flowers don’t intrigue little boys. I guess it’s like Emeril’s Essence. Sling some obnoxious, flaming bright colors over the landscape and BAM!
Fascinating.
For some obnoxious fall color of your own plant one or all of the following:
Yellow – Ginkgo, Tulip Poplar, Trident Maple
Red – Dogwood, ‘Bloodgood’ or ‘Crimson Queen’ Japanese Maple, ‘October Glory’ or ‘Autumn Blaze’ Maple, Burning Bush (Euonymus alata),
Orange – Sugar Maple, ‘Coral Bark’ Japanese Maple
