Sunday, September 13, 2009

after the party

In the late summer, our magnolia tree's seed pods turn a rich,
vibrant red in celebration of summer's end. As I swept up the dried
pods and leaves from the patio floor this morning, I couldn't help but
notice how beautiful they were. Don't you think the small dark green
leaf in the center looks like an ancient Trojan mask? Nature's confetti,
after the masquerade party of summer.


Here something stubborn comes,
Dislodging the earth crumbs
And making crusty rubble,
And looks like a green staple.
It could be seedling maple,
Or artichoke, or bean.
That remains to be seen.

from Seed Leaves by Richard Wilbur

mossy, late summer birdbath on the patio

48 comments:

  1. Yes, it looks like the leftovers of the end of summer faerie masquerade!

    (anyway, beautiful photo)

    Jen

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  2. You are a beauty finder. What most people ignore, you shine a light on. Lovely.

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  3. Really beautiful! Your question reminded me of "Doesn't this flower look like the head of an Indian?" tee-hee!

    Love the mossy birdbath! Is Miss Spider still living by the fern?

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  4. I clicked on your pictures hoping they would enlarge so I could see the detail more clearly! (Sadly they didn't.)
    Lovely post!
    Cass

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  5. Nature's confetti, indeed. I love a carpet of leaves on the grass. I leave them there; no raking!

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  6. Hi Willow

    It looks like nature has discarded her green summer mask...

    Happy days

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  7. I was watering the yard tonight and seeing all the old leaves and blossoms...fall is fast approaching. Your moss covered birdbath photo is beautiful.

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  8. Willow, right nice! And that leaf does resemble a mask of a sort, yes...

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  9. I've always like the magnolia seed pods. They shed so many but you rarely see a volunteer magnolia.

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  10. Nature's the best artist there is and the biggest benefit to us mere mortals is that her palette is all around us.

    Greetings from London.

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  11. What a magnificent red! A little like the seeds from our Coral trees. I see the mask!

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  12. Hello Willow,

    Vibrant seeds, mysterious mask and cooling moss. Great pics and all because you were sweeping up!

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  13. We have both of those - love the one, not the other.

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  14. The splendid spoils o late summer - beautifully captured!

    Happy Sunday! :-)

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  15. Memories of magnolia pods ... .
    so lovely, so far away.

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  16. We have a delightful 48 degrees here this morning. I thought yesterday was special beginning at 50 but this is something else today. Wow. What a nice day it was and there is more like it on the way. Leaves a falling and turning colors and birds putting on some fat fit for traveling.

    This colder weather is making the spider's joints stiff and one morning I will look and see him on the ground, legs drawn up in cocoon fashion, gone for the winter. My best spider friend, Gertrude, went that way last fall.

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  17. Betsy, you see Indians and I see Trojans...I won't go there. ;^)

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  18. Ellen, we were just talking about that the other night. Tons of seed pods from the magnolia, but never a new seedling tree, unlike the walnut trees the squirrels are planting EVerywhere.

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  19. Cass, why is it that sometimes you can click to enlarge the picture and sometimes not?? Does it have something to do with rearranging the photos once you've uploaded them into the post?

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  20. Willow, you seem to find beauty in everything which is a true gift! :)

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  21. hi willow - this post was so beautiful celebrating the beginning of the end of summer - "nature's confetti", mmmm hmmmm it's all of that!!!! i'm going to head out on my bike soon and see what i can see as the colours are appearing on individual whole trees now. woodlots have one or two sometimes even three trees that have bailed out early. yum yum!!! have a lovely day at the manor willow. steven

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  22. Autumn, with all the beauty that entails....

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  23. i love the red of those seeds.
    xx

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  24. while the cold is hard to take, this late summer foilage is too much to be ignored! Love the magnolia...how big is your tree?

    As for clicking to enlarge pics, i find that when choosing to place the pic in the center, it will not enlarge, just the pics to the left or right....weird.

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  25. Lovely closeups, Willow! Cameras are such perfect revealers of everday miracles of beauty.

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  26. great pics willow, tied together well with your words. beauty.

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  27. I love an established magnolia tree. Nothing finer.

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  28. I love that you found the mask in the leaves. I never thought of it as natures confetti, I usually just stuff it in bags and set it by the curb. Amazing what I can learn from you. Will have to check things out a little more before dismissing it all...
    thanks for a great sunday morning read...

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  29. I love magnolia trees, and this post!

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  30. I, too, love living where we get to see each of the season's gifts. There's something delicious about seeing the "old" season exit and the new unravel in its place. Lovely!

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  31. That was a lovely bit for Sunday morning

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  32. Beautiful! Love the "after the party" That is exactly what it feels like- then the clean up crew- the winds from the north- come howling in and sweep the place clean.

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  33. Lovely poem and photos. Our Magnolia trees are still in full bloom. Love your description of nature's confetti!

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  34. A bit scary that leaf that looks like a mask! Perhaps it belongs to one of the "little folk" I mentioned in my Toadstool post - I do hope so.

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  35. Weaver, yes, I think one of your little toadstool peeps accidentally dropped it in a hasty getaway!

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  36. Yes, that little leaf does look like a mask. You're obviously luckier with your magnolia than we are - ours didn't even flower this year

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  37. the light and colors are getting so wonderful.....as we ease into autumn - love it!!

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  38. Autumn, my favorite time of year. I love the way the air smells and the rustling of the fallen leaves on the ground.

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  39. Can you stop by my blog? I have something for you...

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  40. The title of this one makes me smile. Summer IS a kind of party, isn't it?

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  41. Yesterday I was noticing the beauty of our magnolia going to seed. The saturated red is such a beautiful contrast with the dark green leaves.

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  42. Right after you took the picture, did you rake those leaves up? LOL!

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  43. Willow...I did the SAME thing this weekend...cleaned up those seed pods and then marveled at the beauty of my Magnolia in bloom...but also that it has such GLORIOUS seed pods!

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  44. first thing i saw was the trojan mask! loved it all - great post, lady!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)