Dallying with 'Dancing Oaks.'

I am certainly no 'Julie Andrews', but the hills did truly 'come alive'.  Not with music but with breath-taking brushstrokes of amber, ochre, and vermillion.  My garden buddy and I were accompanied along on our sojourn with two red-tail hawks, a coyote, and a gorgeous pheasant.  It seems surreal that most of Oregon was inhabited by oak-savannah landscape once upon a time.

The oak tree from which I believe the nursery's name was derived from.

 I love the lustiness of this combinations:  birch bark cherry's bark with autumn crocuses and entwined with zauchneria.  Lovely.

 Whom would think that the 'Pow-wow' barberry could pack such a punch.  But yow-zah, it does.

Flower of the Franklinia alatamaha tree

This Franklinia tree is in the camellia family.  I was intrigued to discover that it is apparently extinct in the wild.  All known living specimens are cultivated plants probably descended from a few trees grown in the garden of the eighteenth-century botanists John and William Bartram.   The Bartrams discovered the species in 1765, when they found a small stand of the trees growing beside the 'Altmaha River' in coastal Georgia.  These trees disappeared within the next few decades, possibly destroyed by land clearing in the area.

The Franklinia is also called the Ben Franklin, or Franklin Tree, a name given to it by Bartrams in honor of their friend Benjamin Franklin.

Part of the charm of this tree is its' obstinate nature.  It requires some coddling, but rewards the gardener with lovely white flowers in late summer followed by maroon colored foliage.

Sternbergia lutea

I was tickled to find these bulbs.  At first glance, they resemble crocuses, but they are actually in the narcissus family originating from the Mediterranean regions.  Consequently, they prefer dry and well-drained soils.

A small slice of the lushness of this nursery

The above photo barely captures the richness in plants and sense of richness of this destination spot.  It is like an oasis that is interwoven with oak trees.

Do yourself a favor, take some time to soak up the lustiness of fall.  Make it an indelible mark on your heart.  For we know what come next.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.  ~Albert Camus

Cheers,

Laura