Colors of fall

 The sunlight this morning was especially nice, making even dry and withered plants look more golden than brownish.  In the bright light of midday, the mullein is more the color of a cigar.  The goldenrod still looks golden, though.  About the only flowers left are the tiny fleabanes that are nearly lost in the yellowing grasses.

 This isn’t a true fall color change. It’s more a drying of the forest from lack of rain. Perhaps that lack is forcing the leaves to change sooner than the temperature and hours of daylight would indicate.  I just hope some leaves are left to produce the prettier fall colors.

Not much longer

Daisy fleabane

This little patch of daisy fleabane likely won’t last much longer. Neither will the four brown-eyed susans I saw this morning, nor the very last of the evening primrose. Tonight will come the first freeze of the fall season. Not merely a frost, either, which would be more common this time of October, but an actual freeze.

I am hopeful the freeze will also spell the end for stinkbugs, mosquitoes and ticks, though I’m probably overly hopeful about that. The freeze should also move the color change along a bit faster. To my eye, the forest looks more dry than colorful at the moment.

In fall, the trees “bloom” with nature’s color, like giant flowers. Spring’s colors are beautiful, too, but on a much tinier scale. Tiny rue anemone or wild geranium dot the forest floor with small spots of color like well-hidden Easter eggs. In fall, the color is all encompassing. That part just hasn’t happened here yet.

A Pretty Little Flower

Sometimes plants have names they don’t deserve. Daisy fleabane is one of those. It doesn’t keep fleas away at all, not even the least little bit. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a pretty little thing.

Almost 400 species have been found in the U.S. The color varies from white through purple and yellow. They are found almost everywhere but prefer drier landscapes.

People too often think of this plant as a weed, but then a lot of people seem to think anything they didn’t plant is a weed. I sure wouldn’t call it that. It’s quite a useful source of nectar for many species of bees and butterflies.

In my area, the fleabane is common, starting in, well, now. I guess "now" qualifies as late spring. Fleabane isn't the first of the spring bloomers, and it will bloom through mid-summer, at least. I've seen it this weekend in white and pale lavendar.

I fully intended to post to my Ruminations over the long holiday weekend, but the weather was so nice that I pretty much spent it outside and down in the woods with Dog and/or Baby Dog. After 16 or 17 days of rain, the weather over the holiday was sunny and beautiful, and I just couldn't stay inside long enough to blog.