Rose Hips

Rose hips begin to form in spring, and ripen in late summer through autumn.

They are particularly rich in Vitamin C, and are used for herbal tea and soup etc.

The Rose

Gold Turning Silver

Goldenrod – Lat. Solidago – Sw. Gullris

Goldenrod and Rosehips

City Rock

 

A rock covered with ivy is among the first views to meet you when you arrive by railway or bus. This time of the year you get a particularly colourful greeting.

The name of the sculpture is Tornado; if you’re following my other blog The Island of the Voices you might have seen it before.

Mosaic Monday: September Leaves

See more Monday Mosaics at Mary’s Little Red House.

Autumn Market

 

 

 

 

PS. More Autumn Market pictures at my blog The Island of the Voices.

Skywatch Friday: Over The Roofs

See more views of the sky from all over the world at Skywatch Friday.

Soft and Fluffy…

… But what is it? Scroll down and the last picture will give the answer…

Four months ago (21 May) it looked like this:

My Clematis Alpina (growing in a pot on my balcony).

Unidentified

I don’t know what kind of shrub this is. Could it be some kind of privet (ligustrum)?

Mosaic Monday: Mushrooms

We had a very rainy week last week. One of the effects of the wet weather was mushrooms popping up in the most unexpected places. You might think I’d have to go out into the woods to find all these. As a matter of fact I found them all (except one) in a patch of grass along a town street - see the background photo in the collage below. I took all of these photos  (and more) within five minutes or so.

 

 The exception is the mushroom in the middle of the first mosaic.
That one I found growing out of the gravel on a grave in the cemetery
(on the other side of the hedge to the left in the picture above).

For more Monday Mosaics, visit Mary’s Little Red House.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea paniculata (I think…)

We sometimes call these “autumn lilacs” because they remind
of lilacs, but they bloom in the autumn instead of in the spring.
They can be shrubs (like below) but also the size of trees.

Raining

“The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Skywatch Friday: Break

 

For a while, the rain took a break.
For a while, the train took a break, too;
stopping just under the bridge.
For a while, all was still.

.~.~.~.

To watch the sky from around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

Sunny In The Rain

Shrubby Cinquefoil - Dasiphora fruticosa - Ölandstok

This flowery shrub, ~1 m tall, is one of the plants that still bring colour to this time of year, shining like little suns even in the rain. The flowers are small, but they are many.

The Swedish name is connected to the island Öland, off our East coast.

Looking For Colour

Sometimes on a gray day, you have to really concentrate to see colour.

Mosaic Monday: Himalayan Balsam

Compare my post from 20 August: Love Has Many Names.

For more Monday Mosaics, visit Mary’s Little Red House.

Bloggoversary

It is one year today since my first post in this Picture Book, and this is the 360th post. Not quite one post per day… but more than one photo per day, since many posts have more than one picture.

Thanks to my Followers for all encouraging comments!

~ Monica a.k.a DawnTreader ~

Town Allotment

First Autumn Colours

One of the signs of autumn is the Berberis bushes changing. What fascinates me is the variation in colour. On some branches the berries have already turned red. On other branches the leaves have turned red but the berries are still yellow. Many branches are still green.

“The berries are edible, and rich in vitamin C, though with a very sharp flavour; the thorny shrubs make harvesting them difficult, so in most places they are not widely consumed. They are an important food for many small birds.” (So do birds not have problems with the thorns?)

Reading the Wikipedia article I was sort of amused by the comment that Berberis is a popular garden bush not only because of its colours, but also valued as crime prevention: “being very dense, viciously spiny shrubs, they make very effective barriers impenetrable to burglars. For this reason they are often planted below potentially vulnerable windows, and used as hedges and other barriers”. (True I suppose but goes a bit beyond the “usual” kind of facts one expects to find.)

We had a hedge of these bushes at one the houses we lived in when I grew up.

Skywatch Friday: Last Day of Summer

31 August, 2010

http://skyley.blogspot.com/2010/09/skywatch-friday-season-4-episode-9.html

The Red Admiral Again

I finally managed to get closer to the Red Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta). This is a butterfly I don’t think I ever saw (noticed) until last summer, and it has been difficult getting close enough to it to get a good macro picture of it with its wings spread.

The wing span is 45-50 mm. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates north in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. The caterpillar feeds on nettles, and the adult drinks from flowering plants like the Buddleja and overripe fruit. In northern Europe, it is one of the last butterflies to be seen before winter sets in. (Wikipedia)

Following the link to Buddleja, I also learned the name of those flowers in the park. It includes roughly 100 species. The generic name honours Reverend Adam Buddle (1662–1715), who was a botanist and a rector in Essex, England. Several species are popular garden plants. They are commonly known as butterfly bush due to their attractiveness to butterflies; they are also attractive to bees and moths.

I think the white ones below must be Buddleja too.

Fountain in the River

Apples

Old apple trees in dad’s garden still bearing fruit.

Damaged Beauty

This poor Peacock butterfly (top picture) was missing one of its wings, but still managed to flutter about and enjoy the flowers together with the other butterflies in the park. (I wonder if it feels pain, or just a slight imbalance?!)

Purple Cone Flowers

 

Purple cone flowers - and Peacock butterfly.