My Halloween Tree
Yes .. you are reading the right title to this post .. only 120 days till HALLOWEEN !!! So I was sitting here in front of my laptop, a bit low with all this business with FB Racoon and poor Emma in a very early heat (she is doing fine though .. so far .. July 24th 'come on down soon !") .. In any case .. when I'm feeling kind of low I cheer myself up with Halloween. To combine that with a garden post can be a bit tricky. I think I have managed it though with talking about my Staghorn Sumac aka Halloween Tree ! .. Why is it a Halloween tree you may well ask .. for a number of reasons in my head (which is a place no one really wants to delve
into too deeply mind you) .. come October this gorgeous what would normally be treated as a shrub, but I made it into a TREE .. well it becomes the most perfect colours of Autumn. If you looked up 'colours for Autumn" in the dictionary .. the Sumac should be the illustrative pinnacle of gold, oranges and reds. The leaves are beautiful and the fruit cones are scarlet to burgundy. This large tree was once a tiny shrub that knew it would be a TREE one day. Hubby had his doubts to my mad plans. This year how ever .. even in the throws of disbelief when I said "cut here and here and here and so on .. well he thought this poor Sumac's goose was surely COOKED .. but now he is in awe of my insane creation of an almost 'palm tree' in our own back garden right off our deck. So .. if you haven't heard of a Sumac .. you may not recognize what I have created here .. some what like Frankenstein .. but my 'baby' is no monster .. it is a Halloween Tree waiting to show off its glorious costume !
into too deeply mind you) .. come October this gorgeous what would normally be treated as a shrub, but I made it into a TREE .. well it becomes the most perfect colours of Autumn. If you looked up 'colours for Autumn" in the dictionary .. the Sumac should be the illustrative pinnacle of gold, oranges and reds. The leaves are beautiful and the fruit cones are scarlet to burgundy. This large tree was once a tiny shrub that knew it would be a TREE one day. Hubby had his doubts to my mad plans. This year how ever .. even in the throws of disbelief when I said "cut here and here and here and so on .. well he thought this poor Sumac's goose was surely COOKED .. but now he is in awe of my insane creation of an almost 'palm tree' in our own back garden right off our deck. So .. if you haven't heard of a Sumac .. you may not recognize what I have created here .. some what like Frankenstein .. but my 'baby' is no monster .. it is a Halloween Tree waiting to show off its glorious costume !
11 comments:
I love this species of tree and what you have done to yours! I look forward to October when he puts on his show!
Gail
Well, I'm not ready to think of Halloween yet, but the tree is beautifulm nonetheless. I never once thought of a sumac as looking like a palm tree. You have a very creative mind!!
That's great. Can't wait to see it after it colors up.
Incredible the way you have turned it into a standard. You have the magic touch!
Rose
Hey Rose ! .. I thought we had talked about my plans with doing this .. must have been another off beat conversation in my head I had ? LOL
I don't know how long it will put up with my tweaking it this way .. but we love it !
Debbie .. some Autumns, lately .. have been cold and wet .. so tree colours have suffered .. I'm hoping for a good one this year for the Sumac and our Pacific Sunset Maple .. http://www.jfschmidt.com/articles/pacsun/ .. fingers crossed !
Jane Marie .. 119 days NOW !!! .. it is never too early to THINK Halloween girl .. LOL .. and yes .. after seeing the palm trees in Spain (hubby sees them in Cuba every winter .. go figure .. haha) .. it does remind us of them : )
Gail if I had the room I would have a colony in their natural form too .. I was so surprised to see them in Holland as well .. they were trained to look ancient with twisted knarled trunks .. it was amazing !
Thank you so much Nancy ! .. I hope to have some great pictures of it for Autumn .. fingers crossed we get some decent weather then ! : )
Wow, what you have done with this sumac is amazing! Can't wait to see it in all its fall glory, though I'm not ready for Halloween just yet.
Rose .. I think I have been working in the garden too much .. so now dreams of a cool but sunny Autumn .. and yes, Halloween 'cause I'm a nut for it .. well .. I'm tired and hot so I can't help it ? LOL
I have a sumac tree but it is a different kind. It doesn't look like yours at all. But it does get the big red fruit in fall too and the colors of the leaves are just beautiful. My tree is more open and ornamental I guess you would call it. I will have to get a picture for you. Yours is really neat looking!!! Mine is very old though so maybe thats why it looks so different.?
Hi Cindee .. I think I know what you mean by open and ornamental looking .. that is the way these are supposed to look as well if they grow naturally. I forced it into a canopy type top .. then did something like a "pollard" pruning http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/63pollarding.php to get this affect for this year.
They are beautiful shrubs/trees no matter how they grow though .. so bring on the Autumn colours and fruit .. I'm a happy camper ! : )
I think your 'tree' turned out really well. Hope we get to see it when it dons its Halloween costume colors.
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