In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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September 25, 2007

Fall foliage, fall berries

Anyone who has driven along Highway 80 between Sacramento and Auburn in autumn can’t miss the scarlet foliage planted along many of the on and off ramps. The color is screaming red. And on a cloudy day it’s positively luminous.

It’s the Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinensis) and while it is related to the pistachio, it doesn’t produce nuts. The tree grows to 25 or 30 feet tall. It’s very adaptable, and settles just as happily in a yard with regular water and decent soil as it does in places where it gets no care at all.

The female Chinese pistache trees bear small green and red berries. They can reseed, but I’ve never found them to be invasive.

Choose pistache trees in the fall so you can see their beautiful colors.

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