The peak of color has passed in our neck of the woods and life is inching closer to the dreaded leaf raking season. For the first time since moving to New Hampshire, we did not follow the thousands of foliage watchers in the jammed motorcade to the mountains. Instead we traveled the seacoast area of New Hampshire and found the colors were magic right here. The only drawback locally is dealing with telephone poles, wires, billboards, fences, and especially a plethora of POLITICAL SIGNS that obstructed or took away from the full views.
Although our first hard rain has done a job on the leaves, it’s still common to spot a tree like this one that we passed by on our walk this week.
The fading maples are giving way to later and less dramatic oak tree leaves that have already shed their acorns en masse like marbles across the landscape… causing one to be very cautious while treading on sidewalks, parking lots, etc. over which they spread their canopy.
The view from our living room faces a woodland where one of my favorite native small trees grows along the edge. It’s the native Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) that turns an attractive apricot-yellow before dropping its leaves to reveal blossoms of pale yellow that hang like tassles from stems. I cut a few branches of tassels for a flower arranging workshop that I chaired last week and the effect in one arrangement was outstanding… adding height and texture and the right color for a pale yellow container.
Beautiful pictures. I’m another Virginian living in Exeter.
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Welcome to the neighborhood. 🙂
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Yes, welcome! Exeter is a pretty neat place.
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You are right. We have had enough beauty right here on the seacoast to not need to travel north. The acorns and chestnuts in our yard are unbelievable. I’ve never seen such a crop before. It is always a trick to decide when to rake. One neighbor waits until the very end so her leaves blow over even after we have raked. Oh well, we give it our best shot and then just live with it.
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I’m convinced there’s always one in every neighborhood, that person who allows their leaves to blow next door. The acorns are everywhere this year. I reckon the squirrels will be well-stocked for winter. You are lucky to have a healthy chestnut tree. Is yours an American chestnut?
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I wish. It is a horse chestnut and not that beautiful. We had to have his partner taken down last year and probably in hindsight should have done both.
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I can’t get over how beautiful that orange is
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Wonderful post and beautiful photos!
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