Fall Color!!

Oooo it won't be long now and that mushroom is the poster pic for the word mushroom. Very neat.

Mums are looking promising.

Nice Celeste. What's the one in the woods? Dogwood?

Not sure Victor....there are ticks, spiders and who knows what else between me and those woods. I have a landscape zoom setting and I use it! LOL I will venture out there more after DS takes the tractor through and makes me a path. The field at this time of the year has grass and weeds that are taller than me....knowing that the bugs are head level creeps me out really bad. Have to put bugspray on and then mentally psych myself up for it.

Edited to add: Pirl..I don't mind if your redundent and thank you very much!

This message was edited Aug 24, 2007 1:30 PM

Yuck - I don't blame you!

Yeah, ewww, gettin' the creeps just thinking about it.

That's a beautiful mushroom Pixie. It looks like the top of it has been glazed. Ticks......ugh!!

It belongs on the cover of a food magazine.

What if it's poisonous?!

Even eating the cover of the magazine probably isn't poisonous.

If lead paint from you know where was used...

OK Victor, tell us the truth: have you been eating food magazine covers again?

Guess he needs more fiber.

Learning to cook so I try to digest all the cooking info I can.

Poor Victor.

Victor - I finally have something that is fall-ish to contribute!! I picked up some maple leaves in our front yard. After I took a pic, I put them under the glass on my workbench in my potting shed. That way I can see them all year when I am working there.

This means it's official folks......fall is really here in New Hampshire!

So lovely! I sent a box of fall leaves to a first grade class in Dallas, TX. Most of them had no idea leaves change colors.

Wow, Louise, you already have leaves that color?!!

You betcha, Victor! But only a few on the ground. A couple of our maples are 200+ years old now and it's not a good sign that they are throwing their leaves down this early....a sign they are stressed. But they are pretty, huh??

Very pretty. The only turning leaves I have so far are on one of my Blueberries. Have to get a pic.

Oh wow Donnie so early. I have a birch that has a few yellow leaves too.

Sending leaves is fun to do. When my youngest son lived in Florida for a year, I sent him waxed leaves for Halloween, he said everyone wanted some. Do people wax leaves anymore?

Ngam - how do you wax leaves? That sounds interesting! Does the color show through? I might want to do that.

Put them under waxed paper and lightly iron.

Impressive, V. Do you do this??

Not since I was a kid but I plan to with my kids this year.

Yep that's it. I usually make a sandwich of the leaves and two sheets of wax paper to cover both sides at once. Also use an old dish towel or handkerchief on top to protect your iron. You can feel the wax on the leaves when you have ironed enough. Doesn't take too much. Wax paper is harder to find than it used to be and I don't think there is as much wax on it as years ago. It just puts a thin coat of wax on the leaves to preserve them. I imagine you could melt paraffin wax from a craft store and paint it on in a thin layer too.

Paraffin is HIGHLY FLAMMABLE so take care if you do it that way.

Thanks for the info, Ngam and Victor. I think I'll try that. Last year when I put the leaves under the glass on the "desk" part of my potting bench, they stayed pretty for most of the year. This sounds like a fun project with the kids, Victor. What would you do with them, Ngam, after you finished waxing the leaves?

You can also do it in the microwave. You can google for instructions.

Oh my don't use paraffin then yikes, maybe an old candle or beeswax on low heat? The wax paper is the best way. The kids would hang them in their rooms for the fall as decorations. I think one time we strung them with a needle and thread like a garland. You could use florist wire and make flower arrangements. I'm sure most of you are more creative than me. It is just a fun tradition to gather the prettiest leaves with the kids and then treat them so that the leaves and the memories last longer. :)

ngam - I remember how waxed paper used to be and I could scrape the was off with my nails. That doesn't work anymore.

Are both sides of the waxed paper waxed?

Seems to me one side was always thicker than the other but like you say it isn't so thick as it was, so the last time I did it, many years ago now, I think both side were the same, at least I couldn't tell one from the other.

Here you are, this has directions for iron and micro etc. http://archive.tri-cityherald.com/HOME/GARDEN/garden10272.html

This message was edited Aug 26, 2007 9:37 PM

I remember one side being much waxier than the other. Haven't seen it for years now.

Sounds like fun - then what do you do with them? I've used dried/pressed leaves in collages and on handmade cards.

You paste them on the windows when that white fluffy stuff starts falling.

Nice to have them around the house.

Great ideas, everyone!! Thanks for sharing the info!! Gorgeous, gorgeous day here today...mostly green everywhere, but we saw a few things changing color near the lake on our morning walk today. Right now it is 80 degrees here, but no humidity....just lovely! Enjoy!

We have 78 right now with a light breeze. It's glorious.

Blueberry from yesterday.

Beautiful, Victor.