Last week I visited Chicago and had time to walk around my sister's neighborhood on the
N.W. side. Chicago was once famous for its majestic elms, but they are all gone now.
But in spring, these streets are now lined with white and pink flowering trees, and in
autumn, they show off maples, oaks, beeches, and other brilliantly colored trees.
These sugar maples are across the street from the Lutheran church.
Many houses in the neighborhood display chrysanthemums, either in planters like this
or in beds in the yard. This is a beautiful urn with Copper Garden Mums.
One of my sister's neighbors specializes in dahlias, and has more than a dozen special varieties
planted in the back yard and along the fence. "Siren's Song" is more than a foot in diameter,
high on a tall stalk, and is magnificent.
"Patty's Petticoat" is a beautiful pink and white dahlia.
"Hot Spots" Cactus Dahlia was striking.
"Lucy's Dream" was in pale lavender.
"Mariachi" flowers were about 10 inches in diameter, on tall stalks.
A cluster of "Mariachi" dahlias.
"Icy Frills" was a beautiful white thistle mum.
"Mint Julep" was a two-toned pink dahlia.
"Sassafras" is a bold yellow dahlia.
"Peach Melba" is another giant mum, more than a foot in diameter and on a tall stalk.
"Peppermint Patty" is a red and white dahlia.
"Lillian's Love" is a pale peach thistle mum.
"Firebushes" were in many of the yards and brilliant red. I was fortunate to see them
before wind and rain knocked all the leaves off.
This area of Chicago is famous for decorating its yards and houses extensively for
Halloween, even more than for Christmas.
Maple trees were in full leaf and ran the gamut from green to yellow to peach to orange
to red. They were on every block and splendid.
A pot of yellow anemone mums.
Pale orange anemone mums in a pot.
White garden mums.
Pale purple garden mums.
Copper colored garden mums.
Pale pink mums in front of the Lutheran church.
Pale Blue Milka Asters
"Coral Reef" Anemone Mums
Pale Pink Anemone Mums
Some houses have all one color in their flower beds, and others try to show off
as many colors as possible. These came from a multi-colored bed of flowers.
Red Maples made a beautiful contrast to the sugar maples.
Lawn decorations were colorful.
Pale Orange Sugar Maple
"Antoinette" rose mallow, about 8 inches in diameter.
Pink Geranium
Red Geranium
Autumn "Queen Alexandra" roses.
Autumn "Princess Margaret" roses.
The front stairs of one of my sister's neighbors. They are very creative.
In spring, they have all different flowers and colors.
Pink and yellow lantana
"White Queen" hydrangeas
One rather large house had only marigolds of many kinds and sizes all along the front.
"Double Ruffled" Yellow Marigold
The street where my mother used to live now has these beautiful maples.
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I hope you have enjoyed a virtual stroll through a Chicago neighborhood in autumn.
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