The lead photograph -- a composite shows:

*Sweet autumn clematis that sparkled in our backyard for over two months – during late summer and early autumn of 2021 – photographed on September 8th,

*Our neighbor's maple tree with its golden leaves – a result of cool nights and a few sunny days -- shining in full glory in the early afternoon sun on November 12th, and

*Jefferson Park with a thin covering of snow that fell on November 14th -- a good five weeks before the official start of winter on December 21st, 2021.

 

This post is a story about clematis, leaves changing color, and the surprise snow sprinkling of November 14th. There have been a few sprinkles since – but no measurable snowfalls.

 

A. SWEET AUTUMN CLEMATIS:

This year as in past years our backyard and our double lot sparkled with sweet autumn clematis from August 21 when the first flowers appeared, to around September 6 to 8 when the flowers peaked, and to the last flower that was photographed on October 24 – a period of over 2-months – from late summer to early autumn.

 

Note: Of the nearly 60 houses around Jefferson Park -- our neighbor’s and ours are the only two houses with double lots. The second lot serves as extra space for more trees and shrubs and grass for our pets to romp in – very much like a personal miniature park.

 

The sweet autumn clematis known botanically as clematis terniflora is a perennial flowering vine that can spread on the ground and also cover shrubs, fences, and Christmas trees.

 

The vine can grow up to heights of 30 feet and has sweetly fragrant flowers that last from late summer well in to autumn.

 

The white flowers have four small petals shaped like a Greek cross.

 

The second photograph taken on the evening of August 26 shows Smokey, the mother, one of our two outdoor cats (Gingy her son is in the third photograph) sitting in front of a shrub with thorns (looks like a blackberry shrub but this year there were no flowers or berries) covered with the sweet autumn clematis. The covered lilac shrub is on the right. A few of the clematis flowers can be seen in the background.

 

Gingy, our second outdoor cat (Smokey his mother is in the previous photograph) is relaxing on the morning of September 2nd in the concreted driveway with sweet autumn clematis in the background, as shown in the third photograph.

 

The sweet autumn clematis nearly enveloped the small Christmas tree in our double lot as shown in the fourth photograph taken on the evening of September 6th. Looked like Christmas in late summer. Not a surprise that we got our first sprinkling of snow on November 14th – slightly over 2-months later.

The following photographs show the sweet autumn clematis at its peak on September 8th –about two weeks before the official start of autumn on September 22nd:

 

Fifth photograph showing the covering of a considerable portion of the concreted driveway in front of our 2-car garage (no cars and no driver’s licenses either).

 

Sixth photograph showing the covering on the lilac bush.

 

Seventh photograph showing the covering on the same thorny shrub as shown in the previous second photograph.

 

 

Eighth photograph showing the covering on the rhododendron shrub.

 

Ninth photograph showing the covering on our lily plants.

 

The sweet autumn clematis also covered other plants and the fences that border with our neighbor on the west.

 

So the 2-month period was spent admiring the sweet autumn clematis.

 

And every day it was not raining -- I would sit out in the evening in front of our garage, after a game of solo tennis in Jefferson Park, and enjoy vegetarian meals surrounded by the sweet clematis flowers in front of me and on our garden chairs and flower pots, the stars above, and Smokey and Gingy at my feet to keep me company as the tenth photograph shows.

 

The eleventh photograph shows the lone sweet autumn clematis flower that survived until the afternoon of October 24th – over a month after the start of autumn.

 

Looking forward to a replay of the sweet autumn clematis show next summer!

 

B. AUTUMN GOLD:

 

The leaves on trees in and around Jefferson Park changed color this year as they do every autumn – needing only sunny days and cool nights.

 

The third reference listed at the end: AUTUMN GOLD, 2020 -- IN AND AROUND JEFFERSON PARK is a detailed account of the changes in color observed last year. It is worth a read if you love trees as I do.

 

Not all the leaves have changed color so far – we have two maple trees (photograph nos. 28, 35, 36, 38 to 46 in the third reference listed at the end) facing our house on the south side of the park on Cooley Avenue that were late in changing color this year (November 24th). Last year (in 2020) they changed color by November 8th.

 

The 12th photograph shows one of the four maple trees in the front of our neighbor's double lot as observed on the afternoon of November 12th. The four trees have been described in the third reference in photographs nos: 13, 16, 20, 23, 24, and 27. The four trees were trimmed later and now are not as bushy as they were in 2020.

 

C. SURPRISE AUTUMN SNOW:

The sprinkling of light snow and rain that we got in the morning and afternoon of Sunday, November 14th was a surprise. Our two rain gages registered a half-inch of precipitation – mostly rain. The 13th photograph shows a view of the south lawn of Jefferson Park partially covered with snow. The branches of the twin maples (as mentioned earlier) had not yet changed color. The snow was all gone by the next day.

 

D. A NICE AUTUMN DAY:

Tuesday, November 16th was a nice cold autumn day -- sunny with a high of around 44 deg. F. When I am out – I have layers and layers of warm clothing so I don’t feel uncomfortable during the cold weather.

 

In the evening I went out to play solo tennis. On my way to the courts I saw a red Ford sedan parked in front of our house. The 14th photograph shows a nice color composition -- our neighbor's glowing maple trees (there are four of them), the red car (not mine – I don’t drive), and the setting sun reflecting off the western face of our house with a white siding.

 

The park was abandoned. Most folks don’t show up once the temperature drops below 50 deg. F. At 5:00 p.m. I turned on the lights in the courts – they brighten up the park. Seen from a distance – the bright lights look like stars in a galaxy.

 

The twin maples were late in changing color. They were photographed (#15) on the early afternoon of November 24th, 2021.

 

The 16th photograph shows a 12-course Vegetarian meal that I prepared for the 2019 Thanksgiving celebration. This year I celebrated the occasion at a friend’s house. Details are included in reference #4.

 

Today (November 26, 2021) with the temperature around 32 deg. F -- we got a light sprinkling of snow.

 

The last photograph shows Smokey, one of our two outdoor cats (see #2 and #3) in our front porch, the twin maples in front of our house (see #13 and #15) and our house with the Christmas lights photographed today (November 26th, 2021). I turned our lights on today and sang: “We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

 

Of the nearly 60 houses around the park – our house is one of about 15 houses that display Christmas lights. I love the lights – they brighten up the dark late autumn and winter evenings.

 

Enjoy the rest of the autumn season.

 

Winter officially arrives on December 21st. Once winter starts – spring is never far behind – arriving officially on March 20th, 2022.

 

 

 

1. A GARDEN WALK on the First Day of a Wet AUTUMN 2021 http://realneo.us/.../garden-walk-first-day-wet-autumn-2021

2. Hi! I’m Ramona Clematis – Soooooo Happy to be Back! http://realneo.us/.../hi-i%E2%80%99m-ramona-clematis-%E2....

 

3. AUTUMN GOLD, 2020 -- IN AND AROUND JEFFERSON PARK

4. A 12-COURSE, HEAT & EAT, VEGETARIAN THANKSGIVING MEAL (2019) http://realneo.us/.../12-courese-heat-eat-vegetarian...