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Tuesday 28 October 2008

Stormy Dark Skies ....... and a little Maple Relief

After seeing Yvonne's beautiful rainbow picture against those dark stormy skies .. I wanted to try and capture our Pacific Sunset Maple with it's slowly emerging colours .. I think because it is protected in the back garden it is changing colour much slower than the other trees in the neighborhood.
Even Number One son asked about it .. so you have to know it sticks out ?
Our skies are dark and stormy with weather fronts colliding .. a gust of Arctic air is sweeping in .. threatening wet flurries .. that makes me laugh .. it makes me say "as opposed to DRY flurries" ?? .. I'm so darn sarcastic at times it is silly .. good thing none of you are ever in my car when I am driving ... phew !!
In any case .. this remarkable maple is turning red from the outside in .. you can see the still lush green leaves further down inside the tree. It is such a pretty tree from Spring till winter .. even though it is battling something dark and sinister, insert sound of thunder rolling by ... creepy music too !

That dark gray sky is an amazing backdrop for Autumn leaves !

You can see variations of the reds and oranges literally changing on the spot .
See the green ? .. it is a wonderful transformation in my own garden : )

If you click on this picture you will see what the "dark and sinister" battle is for this lovely tree. Black Tar Spot .. the poor little guy caught it the first year he was with us .. it isn't terminal .. but it can be quite ugly .. I see beyond that though because the colours are still beautiful and the cycle for this awful "spot" is winding down finally .. the spots are much smaller now .. I think of them as black freckles for Halloween ?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Joy, thanks for that belly laugh. I am so into silly sarcasm. Your poor tree, but it does look lovely with the stormy sky background. I am also a sucker for dark and stormy. It makes my blood pulse faster, in a good way. ;->
Frances
http://fairegarden.wordpress.com/

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Frances .. I really think there is something quite magnetic (literally and philosophically) about dark stormy skies ..it makes you LOOK .. perhaps it is our primative SCARE button from way back when ? LOL .. and it is a gorgeous back drop to Autumn coloured trees .. you gotta' love it !

Anonymous said...

Spectacular color, Joy! There's nothing like the charcoal sky backdrops of Oct and Nov for making great photos. :)

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thanks Nancy .. it is amazing how beautiful it really makes a picture isn't it ? I love it !

Linda said...

The maple leaves are gorgeous colours. It sure is windy here and downright cold. But it is supposed to be nice for your favourite night of the year.

garden girl said...

SO pretty Joy! Our silver maples in the back yard don't have much in the way of fall color. But we have one in our front parkway with fall colors just like yours, and I love it. Wish the ones in back colored up like that!

Aiyana said...

Even with the Black Tar Spot, the colors are gorgeous and something I don't see here in the desert. We have some trees with foliage that turns yellow, but reds and oranges are very rare.
Aiyana

tina said...

You did a great job! Right up there with the rainbow!

kd said...

Aurghhh! The dreaded Black Tar Spot (sounds like it ought to get special mention on Sept 19th, aka "Talk like a pirate day"). We have it too in Montreal. This is the 3rd or 4th year that my leaf composting/mulching scheme has been foiled by those black plaques.

The photo of the reddish leaves agains the backdrop of the stormy sky is wonderful. The bright fall colours really do stand out against such an "ominous" background.

/krys

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi kd .. isn't it a pain ? .. no composting .. a general sprinkle of garden sulpher I'm trying before the snow really settles (we have some this morning on the ground .. Grrrrr ! pirate speak I hope it translates .. I love the pirate day thing !!
I was inspired by Yvonne with her photo .. that sky is something else eh ?

Tina ... thank you girl !! .. I'm always watching for sure now : )

Hi Aiyana .. I missed these dramatic colours when we lived in Holland .. their's sound like your colours .. variations of yellows .. but no striking reds and oranges .. I love these colours : )

Linda .. hi there ! .. I think a lot of people just assume if it is a maple tree it will be the striking colours show .. but there are so many different maples only specific ones are the striking ones .. I was glad I did some research before we planted this one .. phew ! LOL
Glad you get to see a good one girl !

Crafty !! .. we have snow on the ground right now this morning .. they said it will disappear but holy crap ! .. Halloween is supposed to be almost perfect .. hope so .. I have a lot to do yet ..yikes !

Brenda Pruitt said...

Yes, it is beautiful. I worry about you after Halloween however, as you love it so. Do you go into a mourning period? I love the season myself, more so than Xmas, with all the commercial crap. I don't know who would be scarier in the car. But since I know myself and not you, I have to say me.
Brenda

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Brenda .. maybe we should do a tape of each us in the car .. exchange them, listen for "quality control" ? haha .. then combine the two and publish it and make millions girl ! I bet we could ! ..
Yes .. I actually do get a bit depressed after Halloween .. but try to hang in there .... for .... NEXT HALLOWEEN !!!!! .. I sort of by-pass Xmas .. but the guys make me put up the Xmas tree and stockings .. and I have to watch the OLD Alister Sims "A Christmas Carol" in black and white .. almost as good as Halloween because it is scary !!! hehehehe