What’s in Bloom

As winter approaches many people dreading the dreary upcoming months may dismiss the idea of a beautiful winter landscape. We still have a few weeks left of fall color, but as our trees and shrubs lose their leaves and the perennials are cut down or covered with a blanket of snow, beautiful aspects of plants that may have previously been hidden will be revealed.

Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia ‘Dynasty’)

Chinatown is rich with autumnal colors, but there are more subtle botanical features to be enjoyed as well. Our Chinese Elms (Ulmus parvifolia ‘Dynasty’) along Kingston Street have recently put out their delicate, pink to reddish-tinged fruit. Elms produce a fibrous, papery fruit called a samara. The seed is held in the center of what appear to be papery wings, which effectively carry the fruit far away from its parent tree. As the Chinese Elms lose their fruit and leaves, the nude branches and revealed trunk display one of the tree’s most beautiful qualities- its bark! Ulmus parvofoliaare also known as Lacebark Elms due to their exfoliating, piecey bark, which takes on shades of gray, brown, green, and orange.

Chinese Elm

Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium ‘Putte’) 

The Fort Point Channel Parks have been transformed by the colors of Fall, with red and orange-tinged Maple leaves, fiery-foliaged Amelanchiers, and plump red Winterberry Holly and Cranberrybush Viburnum fruit. Also in color for the fall are a few of our smaller woody plants. The Lowbush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium ‘Putte’) have turned a deep red for the fall, and the ‘Henry Garnet’ Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica‘Henry’s Garnet’) are turning a rich shade of burgundy.

Lowbush Blueberries

Red Sunset Maple(Acer Rubrum ‘Franksred’) 

Enjoy a stroll through the Greenway soon and enjoy one of the most classic New England fall sightings: a fiery red Maple tree. The Red Sunset Maple (Acer Rubrum‘Franksred’) is one of the most popular cultivars of Red Maples due to its vigorous growth, disease and pest resistance, and most notably its vibrant fall color. We have several Red Sunset Maples throughout the Fort Point Channel, Wharf District, and North End Parks.

Red Sunset Maple