Old Man Winter Just Arrived!

 The seasons have changed, fall is behind us, winter is paying its first visit with a drifting of that white stuff.  The grass was still showing, but things did look white, much to my disgust!  So the hibernation has begun.  I look forward to next April when life can begin anew.  

And I'm going to throw my schedule for posting out the window; I can't let such a big seasonal marker like this pass by un-noted.  Even if it really will be gone by the end of the week, when temperatures are supposed to hit 10°C!

This is the view out my window, a view that was the colour of fallen leaves ang green, is suddenly white.

The flakes accumulated on the branches of the spruce.

We rarely have snow when the Norway Maples still have their leaves.

Can you see the white flakes against the dark background?  I could when I took the photo, but I confess I can't see it in the picture.

I'm always intrigued by the pattern of the white stuff on the red deck chair.

It's hard to believe that this Hellebore will stay green under the white blanket and be ready to bloom in early spring.

Ok, this isn't the same thing, but I was intrigued by the pattern of tracks left by vehicles on our street.  If you can see it, the central tracks seem to show some light brown.  This is the sand spread by the town, and it will still be there in the spring when I'm out there to pick up the grit in my wheels!

At any rate, our Snow Crane got its first taste of winter, and is ready to mark the progress of the seasons.

The Fall Garden

We're leaving the Sugar Maples behind now, though we'll have to return to the Norway Maples, whose leaves hang on til nearly December.  A great deal of effort has been expended over the past month to 'put the garden to bed' for the winter, with enormous help from our gardener.  I'm only sorry that I can't help much.

The six of our raised beds have all been cleared, and covered with leaves under a protective screen of wire mesh.

An enormous amount has been cleared out, packed up, and taken to our local yard waste depot.  This sculpture has emerged from the tall plants to become visible again.

To take this one example, this wall of our shed was almost covered by a huge Clematis.  It's been clipped off and away it went.  Let me warn you, different Clematis varieties require being left unclipped or clipped, depending on their bloom pattern, so you need to know what you're working with.

Obviously we depend heavily on our gardener, since I can't do much.  He's the nephew of our neighbours, and has been with us since I returned from the hospital.  Mrs. F.G. has shared her knowledge of horticulture from the beginning, so he's very capable now.

This is one of the Clematis plants that does not get trimmed.

I just love these seed heads of this Clematis.

the bright orange Calendula and our red Rose are the brightest blooming flowers left in the garden.

Our Magnolia plant, acquired 6 years ago, has finally grown tall enough this summer to outgrow the rabbit's nibbles.  We look forward to its blooms in the spring.

The Japanese Maple is the brightest patch of colour now.  It has grown horizontally more than vertically!

All of these photos were taken just ten days ago.

And with this post I'm reverting to my usual loose schedule of posting every other day.

The Last of our Sugar Maples

 You'll be glad to know this is the last of my posts featuring our Sugar Maples and their fall colour.  And I've suddenly realized that I will soon run out of pictures to share.  You'll have to help me decide what comes next.  But I hope you enjoy these, no need for more comments from me.

A Drive Through the Valley

 Every year recently we have driven back down into the Beaver Valley, to see the fall colours.  The colours this year are very subdued, but we went for the drive anyway.    The best red colours come from the Sugar Maples, which tend to grow halfway up the slope, so that's what we were looking for.

The Amik subdivision is a curving road heading up the escarpment slope, just north of the Talisman property.  Built when Talisman was an active, popular ski resort, it was built up in ski chalets, many of which have been expanded and modernized since.  A number are now year-round homes, but this road gets you up the slope where the Sugar Maples grow.

You could see the colours looking into the woods between the chalets.

I don't usual;y show private homes, but this struck me as too nice not to share.

This Burning Bush was brilliant!

Back down at the bottom just before the village of Kimberley, you get a great view up to Old Baldy.  At the cliff face, the dark trees are cedars, but there are lots of Sugar Maples on the long slope below.

South of the village you get a view up to the hill now known as Eagle's Summit.  Purchased by the Bruce Trail last year this is where a friend has led the effort to design and create a new network of trails leading up the slope and along the top.  The view here is even better than that at Old Baldy!  Sorry about all the wires, but shooting out the front window leaves little chance to avoid that!

We continued up the slope, and every now and then I'd get a view of bright trees looking downslope, even though overall the colour did seem definitely subdued compared to recent years.

Eventually we ended up back at home, where I caught the leaves out back in the evening sun.

And just to give you a comparison, this is the slope just north of Amik three years ago.  Talk about bright  colou

Two Favourite Trees

 Around our neighbourhood I have two favourite trees, both Sugar Maples that turn a uniform orange.  One is much bigger and older than the other, but both are beautiful.  I go past them every time I go downtown.  Sorry about so many photos, I just can't help myself!

I have found in the past that photos which show the leaves and some of the dark-coloured trunk or branches are particularly effective for me.  All these are like that.

And just to provide the context, this is the tree, just a teenager in Sugar Maple terms.

The other tree is a huge old maple, with branches low enough that I can get close to lower leaves.  I think this is my favourite of all the big old trees in Meaford.  This is a grandfather among Sugar Maples!

And this is the base of this huge old tree, enormous by anyone's standards.  I hope you enjoyed these.  The temperature has turned colder here and that white stuff is in the forecast.  Send us good vibes please!

Leaves

 I've often thought that a close look at leaves is the best way to see fall colour, so here you are, seven pictures of Sugar Maple leaves, right out of our back yard.

Happy fall!