Another crystal white frost preceded today’s sunshine, touching the vivid garden colours with a wilting chill. Autumn is in transition here. Heavy pink hydrangea heads have now evolved into lacy beige puffs atop bare stems. Protected under those globular skirts are tiny buds, securely tucked away for the winter.
Delicate ferns are now pale, uninteresting fans and the daylily spears are folded and brown, sinking to blend with the soil. Coneflower leaves have become dry wisps, leaving only their seedheads against a backdrop of brilliant red blueberry bushes. And strawberry plants show off green, red and brown leaves along with nubbins of green berries and surprising blossoms.
I wandered the gardens with camera in hand, delighting in the remaining fall foliage. I can’t recall the colours ever being so varied or glorious! One Japanese maple tree is luminous orange while another is ruby red.
There are crimson, scarlet and yellow dogwood leaves, and golden speedwell (although I’m not entirely sure that’s what it is… it has spikes of pure white in the summer).
At the beaver pond the summer’s grasses have been replaced with a haze of gold. Soon even that will die down and once again there will be a clear view of the water.
Today there was a heron there, waiting patiently for his breakfast, gangly but efficient as he snatched unsuspecting morsels.
Days like this are treasures, their moments of beauty to be savoured and stored in memory to ensure my survival during the coming winter months.
MUSINGS 
The foliage here in Indiana is unusually vivid this year–although it may just appear that way in contrast to the gray skies we’ve had for the last few weeks. This is the wettest October we’ve had in years.
It seems like we’ve also had more birds visiting than usual this fall. The turkeys are wearing a path through my backyard, and today the crows (I think) we’re feasting in my front yard all afternoon. The geese have been passing overhead, too. Makes it hard to get any work done since I’m constantly running to the window to see what’s going on outside.
I honestly didn’t get much done today… no writing, at least. But the weather forecast said it was going to be the only nice day all week so the gardens beckoned irresistibly. I imagine your landscape is quite different from mine but obviously fall is coming there, too. Aren’t the colours wonderful?
Absolutely stunning photos, Carol. Breathtaking.
I jumped the gun a bit too fast. Meant to tell you that I grew up in Maple Ridge just across the river. I remember the Dogwood tree outside my bedroom window showcasing the most stunning colours in fall. I lived in Langley in the early 70s, worked for GoodBrand Construction as a flag girl. My trips across the Langley ferry to visit my parents were the most beautiful drives. Miss those days. Not the traffic you have now tho.
Thanks, Joylene. I take pictures every fall and they probably aren’t much different from year to year but I can never resist. There’s lots of gorgeous colour around right now but it’s soon going to be on the wane. Heavy rain is in the forecast for the next several days and will likely pull a lot of the leaves down.
The new Golden Ears bridge between Langley and Maple Ridge (at 200th Street) makes the commute a lot faster but I do miss the beauty of those Albion ferry trips across the river. BTW, the new Pitt River bridge into Coquitlam opened last weekend… all seven lanes of it… and construction on a replacement for the Port Mann bridge is underway (it won’t be ready until 2013). We’re beginning to get too much like a big city out here.