Ferns and Forests: Back Home and somehow it's almost November. . .

Beech tree, late October

After two weeks of touring the Maritimes, we came back home to a decidedly advanced Autumn. The reds of the maples, viburnum and sumac are mostly on the ground. Who knew it was the week of The Beeches? I was so busy when we moved here last year, that I didn't have time to closely observe the autumnal changes, so this year is a real treat. This tree is one of many along our driveway. . .the beeches stand out now, because they're some of the last ones that haven't quite given in to senescence. I really love this tree. The leaves are held by tiers of branches, reminiscent of a layered flounce dress. The colors range from light yellow to a rusty orange. She is magnificent.

My beloved Copper Beech in front of the house isn't quite dramatic. She does her biggest act in the spring, when her leaves emerge coppery red, transition to dark red, and then to green. A slow motion magic trick.

Copper Beech

Now, she's hanging on to her chlorophyll with a little more tenacity, and is subtler in her presentation than the local beeches. I do remember that last year she was the last to drop her leaves, and that their journey to earth is more sudden. Seemingly final. Thank goodness we know that spring will come again, or this would be the saddest time of year. In fact, most gardeners are a little relieved when things toddle off to bed for a few months rest. Here in Maine we are particularly sequestered in the winter, and I find myself looking forward to some serious time in the studio. I don't seem to be able to do both the garden and the studio justice simultaneously.

A preponderance of smooth rocks

Once again, though, my chronology is off. I didn't take a lot of pictures while we were in Canada, but I did take some. We journeyed first to Acadia and Ellsworth (south of Bar Harbor). Acadia is an usual National Park. It's interspersed on Mt. Dessert Island with Bar Harbor and several other small towns, so that you're in and out of the park, and in and out of towns. I'm not always a big fan of National Parks because of crowds and the lack of dog friendliness, so it was lovely to find that Acadia is really quite dog friendly. The leash laws are always stated, but that gets silly when you're alone on the trail, and scrambling over rocks at 60 degree angles. I could write an op ed on leashes, dogs and people, but I'll save it.

Again, my chronology is off. These rocks are from Hirtle's Beach close to Rose Bay. We spent our last 4 days in this area, about an hour East of Lunenberg. Lunenberg was a quaint place. . very old world touristy (actually a world heritage center), and we had a great lunch on a deck over the bay with Jasper. The weather was mostly quite warm. . .not hot. Just warmer than we had planned. We needed more short sleeved shirts and fewer sweaters!

This post is getting over-long, so I'll finish up with some images from the trip, and continue in a future post.