The autumn colours seem particularly intense this year at Glen Villa, my garden in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. Leaves started to turn earlier than usual and the height of the season has almost come and gone. But what a season it has been!
It started early, when a small horse chestnut tree (Aesculus pavia) began to turn.
This photo was taken in mid-September
It continued as the sourgum trees (Nyssa sylvatica) nearby began to change colour. First one tree caught fire …
You can’t see the tree itself, only this one branch silhouetted against the sycamore behind. Isn’t the contrast gorgeous?
… then another.
The colour of this sourgum is quite different from the one next to it. This one is a fruit salad of peaches and apricots, the other one a fireplace of red-hot pokers.
Everywhere colour lights up the shade. On the driveway down to the lake…
A photo only hints at the intensity of colour this year.
… near the house, where the stephanandra (Stephanandra incisa crispa) tumbles alongside the steps …
… in the Lower Garden where a magnolia is sun-shining its heart out …
The sculpture in the foreground is by Louise Doucet and Satoshi Saito.
… and beside a stone wall, where the leaves of a fothergilla outdo the colours of a motley fool.
The colours at the Skating Pond are past their peak but are still worth paying attention to.
The water is calm on a grey day.
Along Timelines, the trail that explores ideas about history, memory and our relationship to the world around us, Abenaki Walkers at The Clearing of the Land move proudly into the woods.
I particularly like how the mottled white walkers blend with the white tree trunk behind them.
The corrugated tin columns that form part of The Past Looms Large stride across a misty autumnal field.
A green path adds punch to the russet leaves in the foreground.
The temple façade stands out against a background of orange, red, yellow and green.
Is the temple façade under construction or is it falling down?
And everywhere, fallen leaves are scuff-able, offering carefree moments that bring out the child in me.
Autumn can be a sad season but on a clear day when the sky is blue and the air crisp, I don’t feel sad, I feel energized. What does autumn bring to your part of the world? How does it make you feel?
Our fall colors also started early and seemed to go past peak quickly. It’s the one bright spot in what was overall a poor growing season (cold in May, then hot and dry, and an early freeze). I take that back–the colchicums also look fantastic this year–two bright spots!
Two bright spots are definitely better than none. Overall, a mixed report card for this year’s garden. I’ve accomplished a lot — more than I expected to — but am still dissatisfied. If only perfection were possible.
I love this time of year, Pat. You have quite the cavalcade of colour happening!
Love your dahlias, Helen! Colour is everywhere.