Foggy morning

Foggy morning. The massive trees two blocks away, madrona, horse chestnut, Douglas fir, dissolve their edges in the mist, bleeding themselves into the liquid air.

I wanted to photograph my witch hazel from my upstairs front window, but expected the light would be too soft. The tree surprised me. Its citrus colors glow, acid in the syrupy air. I marvel and delight at the bounty of hues and vignettes my tiny front yard offers this morning, despite the fog. 

Witch Hazel

Each leaf of the witch hazel paints a different picture of transition, some nearly uniform orange, some grading from yellow edges into deeper and deeper tones, sinking red at the heart.

The saturated lilac mantel of tiny berries on the beauty bush (Callicarpa) contrasts with the Hinoki cypress’s bold evergreen-ness and, wispy thin whitish-green mounds of Carex ‘Frosty Curls’ that line the path beside the shrubs.

Callicarpa - Beauty Berry

Twin coniferous blue spires of Chamaecyparis ‘Blue Surprise’ frame a bright lemon marigold, still robust just days before All Hallows Eve. 

Chamaecyparis 'Blue Surprise' and Marigold

 

I have not yet had the heart to pull the annuals out of my pots, not while they are still blooming, even though their replacements are bursting in pot-bound anticipation. Soon. Soon.