Signs Of Fall

The foreground shrub is Silky dogwood.  Its berries start out blue then turn white.  Somehow that seems backwards to me as the darker color is stunning.  In a moist location it would reach ten feet in height but here on the gravel deposit we are fortunate just to have it.

That Locust tree closer to our house grew from a pile of imported compost.  Its size is a measure of just how long we have been working here.  Twenty-six years is the actual count.  The pines behind the house were planted by a farmer's offspring long before we found this land.  We do not know if it was a 4H or FFA project that brought these trees here  We have two different plantings of these trees.  Both are on some of the steepest slopes that that were part of the original farm.

 
Our Red maple trees are still covered with mostly green leaves.  When taking a break from weeding what will soon be the garlic bed, occasional falling leaves caught my eye.  It is an unmistakable sign of what season is approaching.

Goldenrod and New England asters loudly announce the coming of Fall.  This color combination is among the most beautiful seen here and both are native plants.  Goldenrod is a tenacious invader so my plan for creating this combination in a garden is to give the asters several years to take hold of some ground before the Goldenrod is introduced.  The single survivor is well known but the Asters will likely persist for as long as we remain here.

My maternal great grandfather was a strong influence on my interest in plants.  His Eden like home was located in southwestern Pennsylvania and his Chrysanthemums were beautiful.  I have spent a small fortune trying to find plants that are hardy along the Unadilla River.  Only the Clara Curtis and Mammoth Pink survive.  We freely share these plants for those interested in actually growing mums rather than buying the potted ones widely offered for sale.  Our choice of color is limited but these are our plants.  Charles Wesley Felton would have approved seeing these hardy mums next to dry stone walls.

Yesterday when the day's work had ended, a loud group of disorganized geese  barely cleared the pines having just taken off from the nearby river.  As they passed over our meadows the energy efficient V formation came to be.  This is the time of year when the geese take their training flights to build up their strength and skill for the approaching migration flight.  This location is usually silent but the chatter of the geese while finding the needed formation was loud and unmistakable.  There was insufficient time to find the camera so imagination will be needed to see the geese barely clearing the pine trees.