A stunning Acer in one of the courtyards at the music school.

 There are lots of trees at the music school so lots of leaves to sweep and rake during 'the fall'. But that's ok- a pleasing activity on a chilly, sunny Sunday morning.

 

 Wain Wood carpeted with leaves.

In open countryside the fields are fallow.

 

 Bulbs want to grow even when they aren't in the ground. Case in point this Narcissus February Gold. Today I planted various bulbs that I had not got round to planting in early autumn. Mid-November is a bit late but it hasn't been too cold and no frosts as yet. 

 An emerging stem is sometimes evident in bulbs that have been sitting around for a while. A bulb is bulbous by virtue of being a storage organ for nutrients and moisture during a period of dormancy. There is enough pent-up energy in the bulb to initiate growth even when out of the earth. Soon however the roots at the base soon need to draw sustenance from the soil or the bulb will shrivel.

 Finally some sun. The past few weeks have been very dull. I don't mean existentially, I'm talking about the weather. For whatever meteorological reason we have had day after day of low grey cloud without a glimpse of sunshine. So it's been a relief to see the sun this week and some blue sky. I've even felt the warmth of the sun on my cheek from time to time!

 As noted in my previous entry flowers are few and far between at this point in the year. Midsummer's Day (remember that?) is more or less the peak and the beginning of the decline. Most sun=most plants. Gardeners have long tried to fight the inevitable by sourcing plants that will flower in the latter part of the calendar.

 Generally that means using plants from other hemispheres that are hardy or at least half-hardy in UK conditions. Despite the relocation their biological clocks tell them to start flowering when others have faded. So it was nice to see pale sunlight playing across this border at the music school.

 The pink flowers in the foreground are Hesperantha I think, possibly one of the H. coccinea cultivars? This is a southern African genus. In the background the crimson spikes are one of the ground covering mat forming Persicaria. Probably a cultivar of P. affinis which hails from the Himalayas. 

 Flowers are few and far between till spring arrives. Nonetheless the occasional wild flower may suddenly appear out of season for no apparent reason. This looks like the annual 'weed' Nipplewort (Lapsana communis) on a bank that is covered with them during mid to late summer. This solitary specimen is very early (or very late). 

 

 

 The 'woodland walk' at the music school is really only a fringe of the grounds but it feels secluded. On a grey day like today it conjured a walk in the woods. The air was cold, still and damp. Plenty of greenery and the russet tones of autumn. Fallen leaves underfoot, squashy and scrunchy.