Wednesday 13 November 2013

Autumn Colour

Mid-October, when this photo was taken, is the time for autumn colour here. It is principally provided by the Parthenocissus spp vines (Virginia Creeper and Boston Ivy) which cover many houses. They are not native, but thrive in our temperate climate. It doesn't get cold enough for the native trees in the forests to put on much of a display, but these members of the grape vine family can be relied upon.

You do have to keep them under control or they will end up in your house as well as on it, but there is a modern school of thought that encourages their presence as added insulation. The way they cling to the walls is less invasive than ivy and causes less damage. The down side is that you have to kill the plant in order to remove it should any building maintenance require it.
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Loire Valley Nature: a new entry for Digger Wasps Crabronidae has been added.

A new entry has been added for the Comma butterfly Polygonia c-album has been added.

Photos have been added to the Common Blue butterfly Polyommatus icarus entry.

Photos of the distinctive and easy to identify (for once!) Cylindromyia bicolor have been added to the Parasitic Flies Tachinidae entry.

Photos of Downy Oak Quercus pubescens have been added to the Oaks Quercus spp entry.

Photos of a Little Egret Egretta garzetta have been added to the Herons and Bitterns Ardeidae entry.

Photos of a 'wild' flower meadow have been added to the Gardens Habitat entry.

6 comments:

Sheila said...

Wonderful meadow.

Susan said...

Sheila: yes, they re-sow it every year with a slightly different mix and it is always really beautiful -- much nicer than your bog standard jachere fleuri with way too much cosmos in it.

Stuart said...

Now that's dramatic fall color !

Susan said...

Stuart: It's rather splendid, isn't it.

Aussie in France said...

We have a barn whose roof is getting more and more damaged by creeper but we want to keep it so JM is going to have to cut it all back, redo the roof to make sure that the creeper can't damage the tiles, then grow it back again. Mammoth job. But it's so beautiful in autumn.

Pearl said...

wonderful red. all our lush reds have been shed. that grey middle bit, waiting for snow.

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