Last Colours

Leaves seem to be holding onto the trees slightly longer than they usually do. Could it be because of the rain that has been falling relentlessly (as you can see from the water in the field below)? There are still some bright colours, but they will not last much longer. All these pictures were taken in the neighbourhood.

Stragglers

Several plants only bloom in October such as the unidentified variety of chrysanthemum below, but just now, most of the flowers left in the garden are stragglers that have not yet been killed by frost. Here are some of the ones that were still hanging on a few days ago.

 Chrysanthemum (unidentified variety)

Plant portait - Perennial sunflowers

The willowleaf sunflower  (Helianthus salicifolius ) is perennial. It is not very demanding as far as soil is concerned, but it requires full sun. It can vary in size a great deal and spreads by creeping rhizomes, covering quite a bit of ground over time.

Willowleaf Sunflower

Apples

As some of you will know from previous posts, Roche Fleurie is in a former meadow reverting to forest.  Most of the trees that have volunteered in that meadow are apple trees. These trees all come from seeds scattered by wild animals eating apples. They hybridize on their own, and all are edible. But most are too tart to be eaten raw, although the majority are good cooking apples. In fact, out of the lot some turn out to be quite tasty even raw. Here are a few pictures of some of these apples and what we use them for.

Unnamed apple variety