A is for Acer B is for Bee Skep

Chessie & Me - "Quaker Summer Sampler"

The good news is that my frogging is done!  I frogged out and then restitched the "capital" alphabet A-L; and it is now perfect (or better anyway).  I then moved on, and stitched my initials and the year (incentive to finish it up!), and began work on the "lower case" alphabet. 

This week Jami is ending her Garden Party @ An Oregon Cottage with a "Best Of" compilation of previous contributions.

I will miss posting and reading the posts of other gardeners. 

Monday was lovely so I went outside.  This time of year, I look at gardening on a larger scale - the trees that we've planted on our property.  

I don't think the Sweetgums have ever looked prettier.

Our young Crabapple is beginning to turn - the fruits are a wonderful feature.

  

The Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum) is one of the last trees to turn color.  Its vibrant green leaves make a great contrast to the rusty colored peeling bark.

 (The cage around it keeps the deer from rubbing their antlers on the bark).

Our young pines shed a few needles, but otherwise Autumn exacts no toll on them.

I don't know the name of this maple, but it is remarkable how much it has grown in the five years since it was planted.  It must be 25'-30' tall now.

   

I like this picture.  The Sweetgums explode with color in the foreground.  The young Douglas Firs in front are lighter and brighter than their older (and taller) brethren in the back.  And the ubiquitous Blackberries in the underbrush are beginning to turn yellow.  Autumn in Oregon!