Redcedar
Today, I have not felt well so I thought taking some lovely fall pics might help. This one is the Western Redcedar. I have mentioned it, in the past, as my favorite tree. Just look at that beautiful mix of red and green!
Dogwood
This is one of the Flowering Dogwoods I have in my yard. I guess I didn't get it in this shot, but some of the leaves turn a pretty, soft reddish color as well as yellow. These leaves are SO pretty!! I love their growth pattern. And I look forward to seeing it bud and flower again in the spring!!
Vine Maple
Here's the Vine Maple I have by my driveway. I have been waiting all fall to take a picture of its leaves turning RED. Come to find out, they don't turn red in the shade. They need lots of sunlight to turn red. The ones on campus are in the parking lots and are all bright red and beautiful. I must get a pic of them to post. But mine grows sandwiched between Redcedars and Douglas Firs so its in the shade. Its still pretty, though. The leaves are so cool! Quite a bit different from those of the Big Leaf Maple.
Big Leaf Maple
You can't really compare the leaves of the Vine Maple to the leaves of the Big Leaf Maple in THIS pic. But I took this pic because I love this view. This is the underside of the giant Maple I have in my front yard. It has lost some leaves so the branching pattern is clear and I think its beautiful! Plus, this pic shows how nice the tree looks as its leaves are turning. It also looks really cool in the winter without leaves so you can look forward to seeing a few winter pics of it this year.Maple Leaves
And here we have my front yard under the Maple. Of course, grass hardly grows because of those giant leaves that shade it all summer long. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow and can rake! Did you see how many leaves are about to fall? If I don't rake soon I'll be in real trouble. Gotta compost those! (And that's my sweet little thing, Kitty Kat, in the pic. She's my baby. :) Its rare that I catch her on camera!)
LEAVES! We don't ever get leaves in our yard anymore. Not since our Loquat died. I miss crunching leaves. I was too lazy to rake though--just mowed them on the mulch setting. Got a big ol' compost pile?
ReplyDeleteI do sort of... my compost pile is just the spot where I pile up all the raked leaves. The cats use it as a "litter box" and that pretty much does the trick. Things do grow from it. We also dump excess dirt used for house plants around it as well... *shrugs* it works. :)
ReplyDeleteComposting isn't rocket science, sounds like as good a system as any! Do you get mushrooms in it if it's been very wet??? Mushrooms fascinate me.
ReplyDeleteI have mushrooms all over my yard. They thrive here because of the rain. The giant maple leaves, rain, and moisture all collect and it isn't really warm enough to evaporate it all so, yeah, mushrooms thrive.
ReplyDeleteI have a mushroom field guide and my son enjoys identifying them. We also look out for them when on trails. There are so many!!
They are fascinating, I agree. Their symbiotic relationship with plants is genius and their varied morphologies are incredible.
You want I should take a few pics to post? There isn't much else growing out there to take pics of this time of year anyway. :p
I want you should!
ReplyDelete