Consider the Thanksgiving landscape
What color is Thanksgiving? Right after Halloween, many Oklahomans begin decorating for Thanksgiving. When we put away the orange and black, what colors go up?
When I think of Thanksgiving, I think about turkey and dressing complete with giblet gravy and pumpkin pie. Colors that come to my mind are yellow, brown, orange, red, gold and all shades of each.
These are all colors that can be found in the fall landscape as we look at the trees, shrubs, grasses and vines.
Although Thanksgiving was observed in many states before 1863, that was the year Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday. Our nation was involved in a Civil War at the time. Lincoln said, “Even in war we can count our blessings.”
Thanksgiving has become the favorite holiday of many families.
Trees, shrubs and vines are decorating the Oklahoma landscape. Different varieties of ivy are turning yellow, red, orange and brown.
Notice the Virginia creeper. This plant can be troublesome in that it tends to grow everywhere, but the fall colors are beautiful.
If you have a greenbelt close to your home, you are probably seeing colors brought to us by oaks, elms, sumac, maples and locusts.
The Cross Timbers forest that spreads across the untouched lands of Oklahoma brings us great color.
We add to the natural colors of the Cross Timbers by planting trees and shrubs that we import from neighboring states and nations. These transplants also bring us the colors of Thanksgiving.
A tree that has become a standout is the Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum). It has fine, needle-type leaves that look like they might be an evergreen. The leaves are almost fern-like.
The Bald Cypress is deciduous and will lose its leaves, but until then we enjoy the many shades of fall. A plus with the Bald Cypress is the bark that is revealed by the falling leaves, a reddish-brown that adds to winter interest when the reds and yellows of the foliage are gone.
We are finding the Bald Cypress to be a fast grower and even though it likes wet and moist conditions, it has survived dry spells in Oklahoma.
Bald Cypress is not the only fall color introduced to Oklahoma. Check out the Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis), which also brings bright color to the fall landscape. The colors range from yellow to red and colors that say “Thanksgiving” in the landscape.
The book says the Chinese Pistache is a medium-size tree, 25-35 feet wide and as tall as 45 feet although most Chinese Pistache trees I have seen have been shorter. This non-native tree seems to like Oklahoma.
Perhaps the most popular tree we have added to the Oklahoma landscape is Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum). It is striking as it grabs the attention with its deep red to rust color. It is a small tree that can be an understory tree or used like a shrub.
It doesn’t like Oklahoma wind, but put in the right place with protection from the wind and some shade, it does quite well. It starts as a slow grower, but when established, grows at a moderate rate. There are several cultivars to choose from.
Thanksgiving is a harvest feast, and grain stocks stacked together are one symbol of the season. Ornamental grasses serve to decorate the landscape and remind us of these pictures.
Probably some of the more popular grasses are Switchgrass (Panticum virgatum), Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinerse) and Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana). These grasses are tall, 5-7 feet, and have large flower heads that draw our attention when the wind comes sweeping over the plains.
As you decorate inside, notice the decoration in the landscape. Nature is saying, “Happy Thanksgiving!”