Friday 7 November 2014

the fog and flowers of November


Always so odd to wake up to:

when the mist moves in from the sea. It is strangely magical.
 
Wally built a tepee around our Japanese maple that we can see from the kitchen window,
and as we drive in from the road.  It will be our Christmas tree in time.
Our mighty ash, which is actually two trees grown together (can you see the seam up the middle?)
is the last to get it's leaves in the spring and the first to lose them in the fall. It does it's best to camouflage the power lines on the street.
 
Two days ago I wandered about the yard taking pictures of the flowers that have survived
into November, a novelty for me when, for most of my life in Ontario,
 the season so rarely went past the end of September. Many trees haven't even changed colour yet!
 
That was the day we were forecast sun,
but my laundry hung most of the day in the gloom save for 15 minutes of the promised light.

It was this huge hollyhock blossom that got me started taking pictures that day,
 probably the last we'll see til next July.
  
The garden next to Wally's composter made from shipping palettes is drying up beautifully.
You can see one last Echinacea blossom on the left. These cattails are the gorgeous purple spires of late summer that will be a wonderful accent if and when it snows.
(It will surely snow. I just get a little perplexed with these long autumns out here in the east.
Already there has been 30cm of snow in New Brunswick just last week.
 I know, I'm one of the few people who love it. )

Pink mallow are hardy, and grow like weeds, this one hiding under the brown hydrangeas.
 
How can anyone call this a weed??

The arugula bolted quite early on and there are a myriad of these tiny blossoms,
 even smaller than this.
 
Though they are tiny, I couldn't resist this close-up of the wonderful veins like butterfly wings.
 
As I pluck sorrel from the bed for this grapevine, hundreds more appear.
 
These raspberry leaves are too beautiful to pass by.
 
Out behind the back hedge this wild rose bush is festooned in tiny rose hips.
 
really only this small

Who knew an African daisy would be so hardy?

Another one blooming despite nighttime temperatures hovering around freezing
 
And a brave little bachelor button in among a few impatiens, another surprise 
 
At the beginning of October I plucked this Japanese lantern stem from an abandoned lot.
I'm hoping it will take root, or seed itself. They grow in clumps like our hydrangea,
 in the same place every year.
 
"So where's the new art?" you're asking me.
 Still brewing I must say. I will give you a hint though:
I doodle a lot when I'm on the phone.
 
Can you believe we're a week into November already!
And the weekend is upon us.
Do keep looking for the beauty 
 

2 comments:

barbara@sparrowavenue said...

the misty shots are nice; they hint at some kind of warmth

Enchanted Blue Planet said...

Yes, rather mild, all things considered.

Post a Comment