First Snow

Our Head of Horticulture, Rod Burke, captured the beauty of the Garden after our first snowfall. I thought I would share a few pictures here.


Snow covered yuccas in the Test Garden by the greenhouses.


A cap of snow covering the vibrant pink and orange seed heads of the European Spindle Tree.


Another beautiful photo of the European Spindle Tree.



The Boys on the Swing sculpture in the Children's Garden.



Looking at the Rose Garden through a snow capped arbor with the Garden Cottage in the background.



The Lewis and Clark Native Plant Garden and Gathering Place.

The Princess Diana fountain in the English Garden decorated with Christmas lights and garland.


The beauty of the season is only starting. Beginning on Thanksgiving evening, the Garden will be aglow with color. Come out and see the beauty of the Garden for yourself and get into the holiday spirit.

Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall? By Ann DeBolt

One can’t help but notice the stunning fall color we’ve got going on in the Treasure Valley and at the Garden right now. So exactly why does this remarkable display happen each and every year?

As summer winds down and fall approaches, our nights become cooler and longer and the days shorter. This is known as photoperiodism, and is the largest factor in why leaves change color in autumn. As the nights get longer, the process of senescence becomes apparent through color change and the falling of leaves, leading the tree into winter dormancy.

As the photoperiod decreases, a plants’ ability to synthesize chlorophyll, which is responsible for the green color of leaves through spring and summer, becomes reduced, and yellow and orange carotinoids and xanthophylls, which are always present within the leaf, begin to show. In some plants, the leaf cells produce red pigments, the anthocyanins. In these leaves, once the chlorophyll has decomposed, the anthocyanins mask the caretenoids, thus turning the leaves red. Some species, particularly the oaks, contain high quantities of tannins in the leaves which are responsible for brown colors.


The color change and dropping of leaves are a plants’ way of avoiding freezing. During freezing, the water within leaf cells turn to ice, causing disruption of the tissues. Damaged tissues become inviting sites for fungi and bacteria to invade the plant. In order to prevent this fungal invasion, plants drop their leaves and form a protective seal over the areas where the leaves were once attached before the freeze damage can occur.


So even if your plants look dead and lifeless through the winter, rest assured they are monitoring their environment, keeping track on temperature and day length until spring!

Joys of Fall

I love the end of summer and early fall harvest. Plants nurtured all through the growing season come to serve a purpose other than a purely ornamental one. Home grown tomatoes and lemon cucumbers brighten my lunches, and peppers become stuffed for dinner. I’m impatiently waiting for an experiment to ripen. I planted Banana Melon seeds for the first time. The large, tapered sixteen inch green fruits are slowly turning yellow. I can’t wait to sample the salmon-pink flesh.

At the Garden, hundreds of children attend the Seed Sense tour and collect seeds to bring back to school. They learn where seeds are found, how they travel, and experience the wide variety of seed shape, size and color. Others will experience the fall with their schools by coming to look at scarecrows and select a pumpkin from the vegetable garden. And on October 3rd, Idaho Botanical Garden members may reap the benefits of a Garden harvest by purchasing seeds collected from the grounds!