Travelling is wonderful, but nothing beats being at Glen Villa on a perfect autumn day, when the air is clear, the sky is blue and nothing in particular has to be done.
This morning I walked around the garden, my first walk-about in three weeks. A few flowers are still blooming, like the never-say-die sedum ‘Autumn Joy.’
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| Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is still going strong in mid-October. |
The bergenia I planted this spring to complement the aqueduct is showing its full fall colour.
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| Which name do you prefer, bergenia or pigsqueak? |
The peegee hydrangea that was here when we bought Glen Villa in the mid-1990s is doing its normal stuff, turning from white to cream to blush pink.
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| Old reliables like peegee hydrangeas: what’s not to like? |
When colour fades, texture remains. This sage leaf caught my eye this morning. Tomorrow it will be stuffing the turkey.
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| M-m-m good. |
The coneflower stopped blooming in late August but the seed heads remain, prickly against the soft green behind.
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| Echinacea seedheads add texture in the fall, and stick out from the snow in winter — if it is not too deep. |
We’ve passed the prime of autumn here in the Eastern Townships. As you can see in the photo below, many of the trees have already lost their leaves.
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| A week ago most of these trees would have been scarlet and peach. Too bad we missed it this year. |
But not the witchhazel. It blazes out against a bright blue sky.
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| Hammamaelis, or witch hazel, looks like gold against the sky. |
Even the plants in the planter boxes on the deck still have interest, especially for the bees.
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| I used curly parsley in the planter boxes this year — it looked good all summer. I love the bright green and the texture. I’ll use it again next year. |
Autumn always contains a touch of sadness, or nostalgia for the summer that has gone. The empty bench below, under the old maple trees, looks lonely. But aren’t the colours glorious?
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| This bench washed up on the beach a few years ago. I never tried to find an owner — the bench is very simple and I fell in love with it right away. It’s a perfect place to sit and watch the waves on the lake. Or to rejoice in the season. |
To Canadian readers, Happy Thanksgiving! To those who celebrate the harvest at another time, happy wishes in advance.
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| A long view across the lawn to a sculpture by Louise Doucet and Satoshi Saito. |
