Visiting sumacs

Yesterday I went to a local nursery that I don't visit too often to look at their late-season sale plants. It's a small place but when I arrived the number of customers equalled the number of employees on hand (two) -- it was a cold and dreary morning. I took time to look at nearly every single plant they had twice, as many of them had started going dormant and I wanted to make sure I didn't pass anything interesting by.

This took some time, and a few more customers arrived while I was making my rounds and taking mental notes. Then I heard a familiar voice say "well, hello!" -- my friend Mike had the same idea I did this morning. "Why don't you come by and see the sumacs after you're done shopping?" he asked, as he lives not too far from this nursery. So I did.

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My first thought was that Mike knows how to add fall color accents! The sumac leaves in the background and the mums in the front beds really worked well together.

Rabbits are the bane of Mike's gardening existence, and he let me take a photo before jumping in and chasing this coney away -- do you see it hiding? Do you chase rabbits or coexist with them?

I really liked this Chrysanthemum!

The huge pines had carpeted the back part of his garden with a soft, needled mulch. Beautiful!

Since I wasn't planning on taking any photos I didn't have my camera, just my iPhone (with its scratched camera lens cover), but I knew I needed to capture the display that the five or so different sumac species were putting on. Some of these haven't been retouched, but others have had some artistic treatment. Enjoy.

Why won't you focus?! This is untouched color.

Another case of focus failure!

Mike's goal is to get me a division or two next year, as he thinks I really should have some sumac in my garden. (Although all of them spread, some of the species are quite difficult to divide successfully otherwise I'm sure he would have given me some of these already.)

I think you've convinced me Mike!

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