The pond was very clear and barely a ripple ruffled the surface - unlike my last visit.
Zingy red and orange.
Pine cone. It amazes me how quickly these open if you take a closed cone indoors.
A silvery leaf caught among thorny stems - and a snail shell.
From beneath the dying foliage of another plant some primroses are peeping out.
A tree above the Cafe courtyard is covered in tiny white blossoms - their anthers were decorated with water droplets.
Iris berries. Not long ago the leafy pods resembled the thicker pieces in some frankincense and myrrh potpourri I was given last Christmas which had been sprayed with gold paint - now they're like wispy lace drapes.
Leaves are losing their flesh and becoming skeletonised.
As I came round the corner the smell that hit me wasn't like the usual sweet smell of mahonia - it reminded me of disinfectant. A few steps further and the familiar mahonia smell was back again. Although I hadn't seen anything I wondered if I had passed a different plant with a less pleasant scent before coming to the mahonias.
Fallen leaves - jewel like colours.
The banana tree protection has been adjusted so that the stems are properly protected again.
Looking closer at the dried resin on one of the Korean pine cones - it reminded me of polystyrene packing chips.
More lovely autumn colours - almost the last of the autumn leaves.
There aren't many left to fall now.
I disturbed a small group of pigeons - they made me jump as they flapped noisily up into the trees. Several squirrels bounded effortlessly across the path in front of me. The seem to enter slow motion at the height of each jump.
Now that so many leaves have fallen I noticed a tree further back. with a few leaves left on it but on closer inspection they weren't leaves at all. I was excited to discover that it's another tree like the "party popper tree" mentioned in a couple of previous posts but these are a different colour.
Like exotic sea anemones
or cheerleaders pom poms
with red and orange delicate but unruly strands.
Back to the original party popper tree that I discovered recently. I had a closer look at the bobbly bits that I had intended to look at before I got distracted by the party popper papery petals the other day.
A few are still producing their long pastel green strands.
On to the large mushroom to find that a mottled greeny yellow leaf had settled into it's bowl like surface.
Hydrangea petals becoming cream and papery, centres drying and turning to midnight blue.
The amount of spindle berries this year is amazing.
They are opening quite fast now.
Slender leaves covered in water droplets emptied themselves on me as I brushed past.
Twisted papery pods.
The gardener was cutting back the plants that have finished in the wide flower bed beside the lawn.
Agapanthus seeds. The stems trapping fallen leaves.
I noticed creamy flowers
Hellibores. At this time of year?
Flower beds, with dead plant material cut back.
Fern.
Now that the little hairs have dried on the Jerusalem sage (I think that is what it is) and water droplets have caught on them, the star-like shapes seem even more pronounced.
Euphorbia (?) - new growth
Water droplets glistening on the edges of the leaves.
Fish and reflections.
Short stubble of the ferny stems by the pond.
Bullrush - having been soaked by rain over and over again - reminds me of a breakwater post covered in seaweed.
Bullrush stems against willow branches.
More signs of new growth.
Bullrush - this one looks as if it has more chance of the seeds escaping.
Thank you very much for joining me.
Great photos as always - love the skeleton leaves and 'pompoms' Shame about the raindrops - but they make great photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you Helen. I didn't mind the raindrops though - I probably shouldn't have been creeping down the path at the back of the flower bed to get a closer look at the spindle berries!
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