Love a leaf, Love Life

"Anyone can love a rose, but it takes a great deal to love a leaf. It's ordinary to love the beautiful, but it's beautiful to love the ordinary."  - Unknown

I came across this quote, and it expressed what is close to my heart. If one can love the common things, life will be full of riches; and to see the beauty in a leaf is to be open to the magnificence of the Creation.

The most amazing thing happened this past week. September 23 was the first official day of autumn, and when I opened the door that morning, autumn had arrived! When does the weather ever follow the calendar around here? September 22 was hot and humid and still decidedly summer, but a storm that night blew summer away and deposited autumn in its place. I walk around in a reverie, breathing in the fresh air and watching leaves turn before my eyes.

Dogwoods (Cornus florida) are among the first trees to start turning:

Alabama croton is a rare native plant with very interesting leaves:

Hydrangea ''Lady in Red' is noted for its red stems and lovely flowers, but it also has striking fall foliage:

Acuba japonica 'Variegata' adds spots of color to shady places:

Pieris japonica 'Cavantine' is putting on a pretty flush of new growth:

I love just about all variegated plants, including this variegated holly fern:

Another plant with wonderful variegated leaves is Hydrangea macrophylla 'Variegata':Years ago I planted a rhododendron in the woodland garden. I admire the large deep green leaves and like the shrub's structural presence, so I was not terribly disappointed when it did not bloom. But, look! This year it is producing buds! I guess it just needed time to grow up. I long ago forgot what color the flowers should be. I look forward to a spring surprise:

Euonymus americanus, otherwise called American Strawberry Bush and (my favorite) Hearts-a-bustin, has lovely fall foliage that becomes translucent white, washed with tints of gold and pink. Its fruit in this image is not quite ripe:

Tamopan persimmons have not yet ripened to deep orange, but the tree's large leaves are quite remarkable, especially as they being to turn.Some hungry bug apparently appreciates the leaves even more than I do!

This is the first Tamopan persimmon leaf beginning to assume its fall colors.I love individual leaves, and I also love how myriads of leaves blend together to create tapestries like the following views of the front garden:

With all these leaves, my life is truly rich. But just wait till they all start falling. We will be knee deep in treasure! 

Autumn Leaves and Other Things I Love

The autumn garden has such gladness when the sun is shining. Leaves upon the trees turn into stained glass wonders, if only for moments with the passing rays:

This dogwood gives promise for next spring as it holds flower buds above its beautiful fall foliage.I love this season, not for the dying, but for the aging glory and for the celebration of winter's rest to come. I love the details of an autumn leaf — still fluttering on the branch, or fallen to the ground, or twisting in the breeze, caught in a crafty spider's web:

Dried Trident maple seed pods, still clinging to the tree, look like delicate parchment paper blooms:

The rose tints of a fading hydrangea bloom linger on into the season, and other flowers put out fresh buds, despite the chilliness of fall nights:

These mums beside the parking court have spread from a single plant, purchased long ago from a grocery store. They are just beginning to open their blooms. Nandina 'Firepower' grows in front.I have moved this Ipomoea carnea, or bush morning glory, three times. It is tall and skinny, and I finally found a good home for it beside this birdhouse. The bush morning glory seems to like the cooler temperatures of fall.

A few years ago I banished most of the Nandina domestica plants from my garden for their aggressiveness, pulling them up by the scores, but leaving only a couple, for I cannot part with their berries completely. I cut them off, when my eyes have had my fill of them.

Stump World knows no season, as its slow decay nourishes life throughout the year, but moss, fungi, and lichen are particularly lovely during fall:

 May you take time to reflect upon some of nature's finest details, and have a great week!  Deborah