Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)

What a beautiful weekend. After some cold weather last week, it’s returned to 70°F temperatures and blue skies. We did some work in the yard early this afternoon, pulling up weeds that have managed to thrive in the dry months of August and September. We also cut back some of the things that we have planted but that are spreading faster than we’d like. I took a little time to take pictures, as well. I tried to get pictures of leaves falling from the trees in the back yard but they didn’t turn out as well as I’d have liked. This picture is of a few dogwood leaves and berries, turning their traditional fall colors.

An Enchanted Wood

I took a bit of a hike today. Well, a walk, really. Possibly a stroll. Anyway, I went to Little Bennett State Park and parked where Clarksburg Road crosses Little Bennett Creek and walked along Hyattstown Mill Road to Kingsley Schoolhouse. From there the road turns up a very steep hill and then levels off, leading to a camping area for the park. I passed a couple on horseback heading the other direction. Beyond the camping area is a path that leads into an enchanted wood.

I don’t actually know that the wood is enchanted. This is a picture of the path, leading off into the woods. I didn’t actually see any elves. I’m not sure that I heard any, even. But then, I’m one of the clumsy folk that they tend to avoid. So, even if they were there, they would have stayed out of sight. SO, maybe this wood isn’t enchanted, but it sure looks like it might be. It was enchanting, anyway.

Lake Needwood

I took the long way home today, stopping where Needwood Road crosses Lake Needwood and spending a little time taking pictures. The sky was a remarkable blue and although there may have been years with better fall color, the trees were quite lovely today, lit by the afternoon sun. The water was mostly calm, reflecting the colors beautifully. I’d love it if the growth on the causeway leading to the short bridge over the lake was cut so there was an unobstructed view of the lake, but by standing on the guardrail, I could get a reasonable picture.

A Cathedral of Wood

I had jury duty today, which was interesting. I can’t remember how long its been since I did that but it’s been a long time, 20 years, at least. I didn’t end up being selected for the jury but of course if I had been I would have served as best I could. I was dismissed after the one jury was seated and after stopping briefly at home I decided to go out into the woods.

The woods around here are not as thick and dense as some I’ve been in. They are not particularly ancient with most trees being less than 100 years old and only here and there a really old oak or beech tree. They also are not as impressively tall as some I’ve seen. There is not much that can compare to the Douglas fir or the coast redwoods of the northern California. Still, the eastern forest, when allowed to grow relatively unimpeded for a while, can be very pretty in its own way.

The tallest and straightest trees here are the tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera). They tend to yellow and brown in autumn. That’s what most of the trees are in this picture. Of course, they are not alone. The woods here are quite varied, with oaks and maples of many types, which take much longer to get really massive, but which provide deep rusty reds and bright orange-red colors in fall. There are also many beech, sycamore, cherry, locust, walnut, sweet gum, tupelo, sassafras, elm, willow, ash, catalpa, hornbeam, hickory, alder, poplar, dogwood, and occasional stands of white pine and red cedar (to say nothing of introduced species, such as various spruce and fir, paulownia, and ailanthus. What our woods lack in size, they make up for in variety.

Maple Leaves in Fall Colors

The autumn hasn’t been as colorful so far as some years. I think that’s mostly because of the relatively dry August and September we had. One of the two remaining maple trees in our back yard has turned red, though, and it’s quite beautiful. It isn’t a very shapely tree and I would have a hard time taking a picture of all of it, in any case, but here is a small piece of a branch against the trunk, showing the leaves to good advantage. Here’s to more color yet to come.

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) Bud

We had our first frost overnight. It wasn’t a particularly hard freeze, although any very tender plant not near a house or under some sort of cover was probably killed or severely damaged. We moved most of our indoor plants back indoors yesterday, so they were alright. Cathy put sheets over others and that protected them well enough. In the lawn, especially in open areas, there was a good bit of ice riming the blades of grass. This little wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) still had some buds on it and one little red fruit, which was frozen, I’m afraid. So, fall has arrived.

Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower)

I didn’t have a lot of time for photography today. I did manage to get out into the back yard for about ten minutes between work and somewhere I needed to be. I got some more good spider pictures but once again I’m going to hold back. It’s hard but I like to safe that for really good pictures, new spiders, or when I really have nothing else to show you. This is blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum). It doesn’t look very blue, at this point, though. It has gone to seed, and close up, the seeds are pretty little helicopters the are actually all over our back yard now, especially in the spider webs that I’m not showing you today.

Burning Bush (a.k.a. Winged Euonymus)

Because of the semi-drought we had over the latter part of the summer, the fall colors may not be as spectacular this year as in some years. There will be exceptions, of course. Some plants can be counted on to provide good color in almost any conditions. In this case, the drought had less effect that it might have done because this is growing in a pot at the top of our driveway and was watered somewhat regularly. The winged euonymus (Euonymus alatus, also known as burning bush), is one of the more reliable plant for fall color. It is considered an invasive weed and its use is discouraged in many and even banned in some jurisdictions.