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Autumn

Many side issues have been disturbing my
private life in the last few months but
events are quieting down now and I felt 
like writing and telling you about the wonderful
Autumn that we are enjoying this year.
I can hardly remember stronger colours, the
golds, the oranges, the reds and the pinks
are lighting up the gardens and streets
everywhere.
I wonder why this year is so good for
autumnal tones?   Perhaps the dry late
summer or a sudden drop in temperature
one night that stopped the sap flowing 
abruptly.   I am pleased with the country
garden, the young trees have now reached
their teen years and are beginning to come 
into their own.   
The native flora of Australia has very few deciduous varieties.   In Tassimania
the Nothofagus Gunnii, found in subalpine
rain forest and alpine heath areas on the
wettest mountain [hardly medit] is one native
that transforms our wilderness at this time 
of the year.   It rarely exceeds 8m in
height and blazes up the hill sides with orange
red leaves.  Non Aussie gardeners often find our
bush dull, being on the whole all green.  But
I think that they haven't taken the time to
look at the enormous variation in trunk colourings, and the many shades and
shapes of leaves in our gum trees.
Lots of the streets of Hobart are planted
with the Claret Ash.   I have a small group
of both the Claret Ash and the Golden Ash
planted together - looks good now they are
growing up.   The thousands of claret ash
growing throughout the world, all come from
a chance seedling found in a Nursery in South
Australia in the 1930s or 40s, I think.
>From that tiny two leafed tree that looked
different to its siblings and the sharp observations of a nursery man, the
Claret
Ash has become a favorites in many gardens
throughout the world, a blaze of dark red
in a moderately sized ornamental tree.
As you rush home from work to see how many
more Spring bulbs have opened their flowers
to welcome your garden's new beginning, spare
a thought for us on the other side of the
world still trying to find the time to weed,
dead head, cut back, shift and replace our
gardens with our day light hours shortening and 
our days changing to only 20 hours as we get
older and our rheumatics telling us that 
winter lurks around the corner.
But then, we may have the time to observe the
bare bones of our gardens and admire the patterns
of the branches, silhouetted against the pale
blue skies of winter.   And I saw this morning
the swollen buds of the Camellias and the furry
sheaths covering the blooms of the Michelias
and even daffodils pushing through the brown
fallen leaves, so we are not far behind after
all.
regards,
Gay Klok, 2 Red Chapel Ave, Hobart, Tasmania - "Kibbenjelok", Middleton,
Tasmania
http://members.tripod.com/~klok/WRINKLY_.HTM 
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