Fall is fickle weatherwise, and we go from rain to sunny, calm to windy, and warm to cold. Today it is windy and cloudy with rain approaching and a forecast high in the 50s. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for another windy day with a high only in the 40s and a low in the high 20s. Oh, and a chance of snow flurries! It will be a brisk ramble!
The leaves are getting more colorful each day. They are spectacular against the blue sky but sometimes stand out even more on cloudy days. The leaves on some of the hickories almost glow like golden lights, but I can’t seem to catch the magic with the camera. I am particularly fond of the many American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees in the Hollow, especially those near my house. They are still almost fluorescent green but beginning to turn yellow. The leaves will eventually turn to a coffee brown and will stay on the trees for most of the winter. (Today I am trying the slideshow feature of WordPress; I hope it works for you!)
Many of the smaller plants are also colorful, like this sumac—one of many in the Hollow—and the beautyberries (Callicarpa americana) I planted soon after moving here.
Especially on cloudy days, even the bare branches of the black walnuts ((Juglans nigra) and the fallen leaves and husks of a hickory are beautiful.
Here are the views from the gate
and from my deck late yesterday afternoon and early this morning.
French Broad Hollow Ramble 