On my walk yesterday I had a first sense of Autumn/Fall approaching*... Even if summer here has not been as persistently hot and dry as further south in Europe, it's still been very dry for this area. We've had a few showers lately, but not really a whole lot of rain in total - so the ground is still very dry, and many wild grassy areas have turned brown.
*Meteorological autumn starts on September 1, while astronomical autumn begins with the equinox on September 22, 2026.
Goldenrod is in bloom now in many places, along roads, or like in the photo above, on the slopes along the railway. There used to be a lot of Goldenrod growing in the "wild corner" of my grandparents'/parents' garden (my dad's childhood home, which then served us as summer cottage for a number of years, before my parents moved there to live in their own retirement years). My mum used to take in some to dry, which she then put in vases for winter decorations - sometimes together with other dried flowers.
In the old cemetery, one can already wade through "fallen leaves" in some places - although I think most of what we see just now is not really leaves, but remnants of tree blooms or seed pods (above, linden trees). After a few windy days, a lot of them just now, though!
Rowan berries are turning red (even if still more orange than properly red).
And flower beds keep on changing and "maturing"...
The two top flower bed photos are from mid July, the next two from 1st August, the last two from 9th August.
These flowers are gorgeous! And your first photo should be on a calendar. No such luck with any signs of fall here.
ReplyDeleteGinny, it's more how things "look" than the temperature that gives me the sense of already being at the end of August rather than the beginning.
DeleteYou are very observant. I wondered what "goldenrod" was and then I realised you were referring to solidago. I don't think I have ever used the word "goldenrod" before. You taught me something.
ReplyDeleteYP, I suppose I chose Goldenrod among the names that came up because that comes closest to what I know them as in Swedish ("gullris"). :)
DeleteBeautiful flowers. I have forgotten what Golden Rod looks like so will google to see.
ReplyDeleteRiver, I should have included a close-up, but those I saw growing just by the roadside weren't in a good spot to take photos of (from traffic point of view...)
DeleteYour goldenrod is our Goldrute :-)
ReplyDeleteThis year, autumn can not come soon enough for me! But I know that what I see right now in the woods and out on the fields aren't signs of early autumn but of draught - trees turning yellow and dropping their leaves well before its time, and the rowans we came across during our Black Forest hikes on the weekend were all in a very sorry state with tiny half-shrivelled berries and dry leaves.
Meike, no doubt it's heat and drought that have hurried things along here too, even if to a lesser degree than where you are. The temperature just now is probably rather normal for mid August. Cooler nights means it doesn't get so unbearably hot indoors, for which I'm grateful! - Schools here will be starting again next week and that sort of counts as start of autumn for most people, I think. Even us who are no longer involved in the school world at all!
DeleteThe rich golden colours of autumn are coming to the fore now. It does seem early, though.
ReplyDeleteI do like the rowan berries.
Janice, early (and sunny) autumn is really my favourite time of year - except for knowing that that will inevitably in turn be followed by winter... ;)
DeleteIn the eastern part of the US goldenrod is found abundantly. I've not been walking much yet here in the southwest however. I did learn that those of us with hay-fever (allergies from pollen) react not to goldenrod but to a similar plant known as ragweed.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite photo in this post shows the path with the metal fence or gate at the end. We call those flowers Goldenrod too. I am enjoying summer and not thinking of fall yet. Temperatures have been in my favorite range of the 70s. Or up to 82. Love it. Workers are in my front yard digging trenches and putting in new water pipes, my front yard pipes had a leak.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that when the seasonal change is going on, you still have lots of lovely colour, liking the goldenrods, have a nice week.
ReplyDelete