I am still digging tropicals and other non-hardies at home. If the weather had not been so great I would be in deep double-dug doo-doo. As it is, I’m sort of leisurely going along – but admittedly starting to look over my shoulder for “real” November weather. Whether it was the cooler summer or the steady rains I don’t know but many plants did extra good this year. The Amorphophallus konjac got huge.

The Xanthosoma violaceum produced “pups”. A first for me.

Even a stroll around the IMA reveals horticulture rarities. One of the bananas Jim planted by the Rain Garden bloomed this year. Since that stalk will die anyway he just left it in the ground. The leaves look real sad but that bloom, that bloom thinks it can still make fruit. The middle of November and it is barely touched by cold.

These little yellow flowers would each develop into a banana in the perfect (tropical) climate.

Behind Deer Zink the containers still have variegated shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’) looking great. On November 13!

On the Sutphin Mall Geranium ‘Rozanne’ demonstrates why I still am willing to plant it. Plenty of flowers on a plant that started blooming in May.

The woody plants continue to put on a show as well. Near the Formal Garden, European beeches glow in the afternoon sun. All that yellow holding back the gray of winter.

In the Overlook an oak and some viburnums seem to have color coordinated themselves.

So even though it is mid-November there is still plenty to enjoy and delight in the gardens. Why don’t you come and visit a spell?

Even though I miss my gaudy tropicals terribly I know their demise means the autumnal show is ready to start. And who doesn’t love a good show?

This year the colors are simply spectacular, the reds super intense like the color of first lust, the oranges brilliant as Vegas showgirl costumes, and the yellows absolutely glowing like so many rhinestones on a Porter Wagner jacket. It’s just been a great year to walk about and soak it all in. And it’s lasting a pretty long time too.

I suspect our cooler wetter summer has something to do with the great color. But did you ever wander why the trees and shrubs especially change color? The fact that the trees produce less chlorophyll allowing the red and yellow pigments (carotenoids) to show is fairly common knowledge. The trees also produce more red-purple pigments (anthocyanins). But is that all there is to it? I get regular e-newsletters from my former boss when I interned at the Cincinnati Zoo, Rob Halpern (thanks for the link Katie). He now has his own design/consulting business (ZHCD) and includes in each month’s newsletter a group of links to interesting and sometimes bizarre plant news. In fact these have been such a hit they now have a website devoted to them, plantworldnews.com. Anyway, one of Rob’s recent newsletters included a link about fall color. One theory suggests the reds in autumn color dates back 35 million years when the trees and their insect pests survived a series of ice-ages. Could it be the trees are warning the aphids “my leaves are about to die don’t lay your eggs on me”? It’s a fascinating story you can read in its entirety here. Let me also just say I really wish Rob would sell t-shirts or something with his logo. It’s brilliant.

Okay, enough chatter about color. Let’s look at some color.
Maples of all forms are great this year.

Cornus kousa are well beyond their usual color.

The always reliable Lindera angustifolia are spectacular. I love the glossy oranges and reds these plants develop. And when the leaves do turn brown they hold on til Spring, providing a nice cover for birds and your neighbors prying eyes.

Hydrangea quercifolia is glorious.

How about Hamamelis virginiana in full fall color and full bloom?

Another large shrub looking great this year is Aesculus parviflora draped in bright golden foliage. This native of the Southeast is perfectly happy in the Midwest. And is perfect with the late blooming Aconitum.

Parrotia persica is a tree I would love to see more often. The fall colors are fantastic. Once the leaves drop you have the added value of beautiful bark all winter that, like men, will just get better and better looking with age.

The Liguidambar styracifula ‘Slender Silhouette’ we put in Nonie’s Garden developed the glorious yellows, reds, and burgundys these trees are famous for. While the species becomes a broad pyramidal tree the cultivar Slender Silhouette remains a narrow 4 to 6 feet wide at maturity. I like the clean modern lines of these very vertical plants against the backdrop of the broad horizontal curves of the Efroymson Entrance Pavillion (which isn’t evident in this photo).

Not every year is good for fall color in hostas, but this year the Hosta sieboldiana ‘Elegans’ in Hosta Curve is beautiful in bright amber shades of gold. Lilies even look good.

Just walk around the gardens and everywhere you look there is a beautiful view.

Now let’s compare that fall color to one of Porter’s jackets. Oh, the tragedy of it all. Listen close.

Indianapolis Museum of Art Garden, Pony Bridge; contributed by Terry.Tyson

I’m not the only one captured by the seasons, as shown by the IMA Flickr Group.  As of this writing we have over 200 members and we are pushing dangerously close to 2000 images!  It’s wonderful to see the many vantage points brought together to a single point on the web.

Here’s a few photos I captured three years ago shortly after starting at the IMA.  They are not altered in any way.  I always revel in these photos and tell people about them.  So I am taking my opportunity now to share them with you.

Grab the extinguisher. This tree's on fire!

Check out the latest additions to the Flickr group and please join us by sharing your fall photos as well.

For me though, the new year and ensuing opportunity for a fresh start occurs about this time every year. I always look forward to the end of August, because that is when the onslaught begins.

That is when super size fashion magazines featuring the latest trends for fall begin to flood my mailbox. I remain giddy for about a week, knowing that at least one brand new, beefy, fall fashion issue will be waiting for me when I get home.

I truly look forward to studying each page (even the ads) for inspiration on ways to update my wardrobe. As I open every cover, I begin to formulate a plan for ways to revamp my current clothing and identify key pieces to purchase- – all in an effort to start fresh.
Yes, these pages will undoubtedly feature the same basic pieces (shirts, sweaters, slacks, skirts, and shoes) that were featured last year, and the year before, and the year before, etc. But every year, they are presented in a different way. The current fall fashion issues look different than their predecessors because the designers behind every highlighted outfit saw things in a different light. They let their creativity and self-expression guide their designs. Design is often the result of seeing things in a different way- an end product of self expression and creativity.

Evidence of such self expression will abound at the IMA Design Center, opening October 11th.

For example, Alessandro Mendini certainly saw the corkscrew in a different light when he designed the now iconic ‘Anna G’ version in 1993. Who knew a corkscrew could look so feminine? Similarly, there was certainly nothing new about a baroque style armchair in the early 2000s. That is until 2002 when Philippe Starck envisioned a version made entirely of polycarbonate. Voila- the Louis Ghost chair.

Finally, in what is perhaps my favorite example- Fiskars. You know, they make the orange handle scissors that we have all seen a million times. What you may not know however, is that Fiskars is actually a town in Finland. A beautiful town that is primarily inhabited by tremendously talented artists and craftsman. One such craftsman is Olavi Linden. Olavi began his career making violins, carving each one by hand. One day however, he too must have seen the value of crafting something in a new way. He had a vision of how hand tools could be designed and manufactured in a way that would make each one easier to use, and more aesthetically pleasing than the others in existence at the time. The results have been pretty amazing.

Now, I know absolutely nothing about gardening, but I do know that the aluminum PowerGear Bypass Pruner (designed by Mr. Linden) is just about the coolest looking tool of any kind that I have ever seen. This too, will be available at the Design Center.

People continue to ask me if the Design Center will sell art. Art in the traditional sense, i.e. paintings? No.
But art- – yes. Because design is art. And these objects of design are pieces of art that you can take home –pieces that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also functional. In other words, each object is a piece of art that you can use.

In speaking about this very topic, Max Anderson (The Melvin and Bren Simon Director & CEO) said ‘Why separate examples of creativity based on whether they have a gold frame around them?’ in a recent issue Indianapolis Monthly.

I couldn’t agree more.