Autumn Fruit and Flowers

In my part of the world the winter has moved in. Oslo has seen its first snow and the minus temperatures. Today we are measuring -5 degrees Celsius. Last week the Christmas lights and decorations were installed and the Christmas markets opened. As for me, it is a bit early to start the whole fuss five weeks before Christmas. On the other hand, those lights and cozy turmoil make these cold and dark days a little bit brighter. With sunsets at 15.40 and sunrises at 8.30 the days are so short. If all the dark hours were considered night, how long the night would be, we wondered. 16 hours right now – and more to come. Thus I justified my sleeping for more hours 🙂 Anyone else here feeling like  hibernating?

In my own fashion of belated posting, I decided to share my finds of this autumn. In October I was looking forward to a photo walk in the botanical garden – and here are the treasures I collected there. Autumn fruit and flowers.

Isn’t it amazing how much beauty the nature creates in autumn? This beauty is so fragile and it will soon fade away. Usually I am not fond of taking nature shots, but the autumn nature enchants me and I stop breathing while I am taking a photo.

autumn color scheme

and still green

tiny fruit

let’s sit and listen

changing color

Also the autumn makes it all so clear and visible that while spring is about flowers, autumn is about fruit. And there is time in our lives when we blossom like the spring buds – and time when we harvest what we sow. Autumn is more mature, it asks us difficult questions, it makes us look back – has it been a year well lived? Are we content with the harvest we are picking, the results which seeds we have planted? And it reminds us that every season is equally beautiful.

flowerless and pretty

autumn blooms

fading beauty

red hues

fiery and passionate

One of my favorite parts of botanical garden – the vegetables pots.  I am transported to my childhood, to my grandmother’s garden. I look closely, touch, recognize. I remember myself to be a little botanist, observing plants and flowers, loving my books about them – and in this moment, in front of vegetables and berry bushes, I become that child again. Recognizing them – and recognizing myself. This cabbage makes me particularly fond. We, Ukrainians, are great cabbage eaters (think borsch, for example), so for me it is so native and Ukrainian, this cabbage. And isn’t it pretty, bejeweled with the rain drops? That violet and yellow combo is another reminder that the nature is best at mixing colors.

like a rose

perfect color scheme

almost a flower

Hope, your autumn is lovely and beautiful. How do you feel about autumn? Let me know  if one of the images is your favorite here.