This year’s Fall colors were better than average, but might have been even more beautiful if they had been allowed to peak in full. Last night, we had howling winds and driving rain that orphaned many a colorful leaf; the high winds continue today to liberate the leaves and give them wild, final flights. Fortunately, we were out and about Sunday (October 14), a beautiful day during which most of the images below were taken.

One of our first stops, as usual, was the outstanding Maple at the North Sedgwick Baptist Church. This monarch will not be producing much shade when those leaves fall:

Fall 01.jpg

Some Maples still have not turned completely; some wild (abandoned) Apple Trees have lost all their leaves and now look like a jewelry display:

Of course, the best places for diverse and dramatic color locally are in the dark red native Blueberry fields and along their edges:

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The ornamental non-native bushes and grasses planted for their Fall effect also are spectacular, especially Burning Bush and Japanese Silver Grass:

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Along many country roads, there are spots where cars and trucks just stop suddenly as their drivers take time to visually digest a specimen tree in a showcase setting. Here we have a golden Sugar Maple, looking over the shoulders of a magenta Burning Bush, framed by an arch of still-green Oak leaves:

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The beauty can get quite thorny for those who like to get out and into it. Here we have Cotoneaster, Asian Bittersweet, Wild Blackberry leaves (the berries long gone), and Barberry:

Some of the beauty is found in humble field ponds, reflected in ways that would have made Monet say, “Quick, my brushes!”:

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Magical change continues in the garden. The Katsura Tree leaves become banana chips; the Viburnum bushes turn into wine, and the Hydrangea Trees offer cotton candy:

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In the woods, the Cinnamon Fern has been bronzed and is now in the process of sculpting itself into its own memorial, while the Red Maples turn into embers that fly away:

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A very few plants don’t shrivel and disappear in October, including large Montauk (Fall) Daisies and small Asters, which bloom through cold snaps:

Not all of the October beauty is in the month’s bright colors. Fall rains swell our woods streams, which become mossy-banked canals for leafy gondolas:

Fall 21.jpg

(All images taken in Brooklin, Blue Hill, and North Sedgwick, Maine)

For larger versions of the above images, as well as many additional images, click on the link below. (We recommend that your initial viewing be in full-screen mode, which can be achieved by clicking on the Slideshow [>] icon above the featured image in the gallery to which the link will take you.) Here’s the link for more:

https://leightons.smugmug.com/US-States/Maine/Out/2018-in-Maine/October-Colors/






Fall

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