Design

Many of the leaves in our garden have fallen now, although there are still holdouts. The two white oaks in back still have all their leaves, and one of them, amazingly, is still almost all green although the other has leaves that are a deep maroon color. The crape-myrtle above my potting bench is a brilliant orange-red. Spectacular. The big-leaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) is now leafless, but on the ground, they're still lovely.

Our Magnolia macrophylla is in full flower, with its large citrus-scented flowers striking in the evening light. A rare plant, discovered by botanical explorer Andre Michaux, native to only a few places in the Carolinas, it's an adaptable garden plant for us. Deciduous, its winter buds and branching patterns make an architectural statement. The largest leaves of any North American tree bring comments from the schoolchildren -- they're quite impressive on the large specimens that we have. People are always surprised that we have native magnolias here that are deciduous in addition to Southern Magnolia ( M. grandiflora ), which is a world traveler, being planted in practically every continent except Antarctica.