Autumn shows it hand.

We planted a Japanese maple in our garden almost 20 years ago and it offers delight during every season.  Spring and autumn are the most spectacular times for this tree to display its beauty.  We have not enjoyed settled weather at all this year until late April.  Since then we have had some splendid autumn weather and perhaps chilly nights, no wind and warm days account for the amazing colour display we have been enjoying.  Members of the household agree that this has been one of the very best displays we have seen on this tree.

These photos were taken on 25th April 2017 and show the branchlets turning fiery red but the leaves a mix of green and coloured.

Three days later I took some more photos.  Look out for these in my next post.

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Sunday stroll

I live near the delightfully simple and beautiful Aotea Lagoon. It has some lovely grassy areas, a duck pond, a rose garden, fern house, children’s play area, barbeques to use for picnics, a petanque piste, a windmill and of course the tidal lagoon that you can walk around.

Aotea Lagoon

It is a very popular spot for people of ages. It is free and offers so much ordinary pleasure.

Today with spring in full bloom I snapped some photos on a warm and sunny October afternoon. It was easy to feel the gentle energy and soak up the goodness.

Wisteria

Japanese maple in verdant red

Frothy flowering cherry blossoms

Vibrant cineraria

No longer “in-waiting”

Our Japanese maple tree is no longer “in- waiting” for the autumn switch. The clear, crisp nights around and since the Super moon this week have seen a dramatic colour change on most of the tree and today the leaves are dropping in large numbers

At a glance, in the gloomy conditions today, the courtyard looks as if stars have fallen to earth.

It is as if the maple tree was like its owners, determined to hold on to any last vestiges of the Indian summer, but nature always wins and the seasonal shift is well underway now.

Spring in its fullness

We have had some welcome rain this week with some warmer temperatures and the garden is bursting with spring growth and beauty. It has been a very wind free year where I live and normally spring growth takes a battering. It is thriving without the damaging winds and I am really enjoying that.

Rock rose

Chatham Island For-get-me-not flower just emerging

New foliage on the Japanese Maple

Rock rose bushes