Witch hazel

We have a wonderful witch hazel in front of our garage that's now in full flower, with a few remnant yellow leaves. 

It has a wonderful shape (it's now a small well-rounded tree).

in fall 2009

Its fall color this year wasn't the equal of this image -- an early freeze hastened leaf drop.

But it was interesting to read what I'd written at that time. 

Alas, the huge red oak is now in major decline, post water line breaks and digging needed to repair.

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The beauty of apricot-colored tulips

Sometimes, my screen around "plants that work for a living" includes plants that bring joy.

Tulips are in that category. 

They're totally "useless" in their cultivated form for anything beyond that (not producing nectar, feeding insects, etc.), unless you count feeding deer.  In nature, species tulips undoubtedly had many ecological roles, but cultivated tulips, not many, except being pretty.

Nonetheless, I've loved them since I first saw the tulip displays near the Jefferson Memorial, in the Washington, DC tidal basin area, many years ago. 

And they were among the first plants I planted as a newbie gardener over three decades ago, not long after that.  I planted red tulips in a triangular block next to our gate to the backyard. 

And potted tulips have long been a Valentine's Day staple, although cyclamens have supplanted them in recent years.

So these lovely apricot-colored tulips, grown in Virginia (which count as regional, I guess), appealed to me and my gardening companion yesterday.

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Late afternoon snow melt

As the snow melted from the leaves of trees this afternoon, under a still lead-grey sky and intermittent flurries, the trunks and branches of the trees in the ravine glistened with remnants of the overnight snow.

As I was putting dinner together, the view was striking.  Now, as the oven hums, the wind howls, and with mid-30° F temperatures, the snow echoes are almost gone.

view from the kitchen window

the big red oak through the deck door

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An unusual early snow

Overnight snow on November 1 is highly unusual, much less the soft fluffy snow that fell, clinging to leaves still on the trees and furrowed bark.

The contrast between the glimpses of fall color cloaked in snow with the vibrancy of a couple of days ago in clear light -- remarkable.

November 1 snow

scarlet oak, red oak, and ginkgo with snow

snow out the window

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A lovely morning walk

Beaver Lake in mid-morning

There's a human-created lake (Beaver Lake) in North Asheville that's truly magical. 

It's a neighborhood lake, supported by the surrounding community, with the only "fee" being for boaters and dog-walkers.

I admit that we've been scofflaws, bringing Woody for walks without the annual permit for dogs (but always picking up after him, when needed!)  

But we'll be happy to contribute to their permit program when we're up here full-time.

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Fall colors

I'm grateful to have two wonderful places to enjoy fall color and inspiring views.

The views from the windows in our small mountain house are glorious right now - at their peak.

Black gum from studio window

kitchen window view

view from the deck

view from my small studio

The views from the windows in our older house are enchanting, too, created by enveloping plantings of natives, punctuated by a few special non-natives. Here's one from the front.  And a view from our bedroom of a wonderful gingko that we planted, that's gotten quite large.

We have a gingko in the mountains, too, that's just started to turn to yellow.  

Transitions are always lovely, with bittersweet overtones.

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A long fall season

This is a magical time of the year. In the Southeastern U.S., we have wonderful fall colors, spread out over many weeks.

In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the Southern Appalachians, where I live, it is a time of both senescence and renewal.

Yes, the leaves are turning color and dropping, but it's also a time for reinvention, as we move towards the quiet time of winter.

A post about a full moon, a number of years ago, has reminded me of its magic.

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