Late fall color

On a recent trip up to Austin going on the back roads, I was amazed at the colors in our local leaves. The crepe myrtles are orange-yellow, the cedar elms and hackberries are yellow, the flaming sumac is bright red and the Spanish oaks are brownish red.

In the summer, Spanish oaks blend in with other native trees that grow on limestone such as cedar (ashe juniper), escarpment live oaks, hackberries, and cedar elm. But in late fall It stands out with its beautiful brownish red leaves. Another common name for the Spanish oak is Texas red oak.

I recently learned that Texas red oaks play an important role in the life of the famous, rare golden-cheeked warbler. This bird uses the strips of bark from mature cedar trees for its nests. The warbler then binds these strips in the webbing from the tent caterpillars found on Spanish oaks before many of the caterpillars are fed to the newly hatched chicks. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

In addition to the colorful leaves, I noticed colorful berries along the roadside. Possumhaw trees have lost their leaves around this time of year but keep their orange-red berries. Yaupon shrubs have bright red berries among their green leaves. Both Possumhaw and Yaupon are in the holly family: Ilex.

Other bright, orangered berries seen in December include those on Pyracantha bushes. Many birds like to eat these berries, including the robins and cedar waxwings who migrate here. These three small trees can be planted in your landscape, and winter is one of the best times to plant them.