Hello, I’m Rachel. I write about nature and creativity to encourage connection and wellbeing. This is one of my regular posts about the natural wonders I see when I’m out and about. To read more of them - go to my homepage and click on the noticing nature tab.
September - back to school, fresh starts, cooler nights, sunny days. What does it conjure for you? Two years after leaving teaching I still get that back-to-school feeling a bit, but it’s mostly the series of birthdays (including my own - probably why I love September!) and the shifts in nature that are reminding me of where we are in the calendar.
If August was about the fields turning yellow and the garden just starting to go over (mine at least due to poor succession planting!) then September brings the next stage with hedgerows, trees, and verges starting to show their gleaming wares for all to find. Blackberries first, slowing the progress of walks, leaving tell tale stains on fingers and lips! Soon sloes and bullace will be ready - if the birds leave us some.
A walk in the woods sometimes requires wellies, but that’s not so bad, I like squishing through the mud and splashing in puddles. Beech nuts crunch underfoot and I have been prematurely searching for conkers but only finding unripe green ones. Instead, look up and search for the spiky baubles amongst the canopy, both horse and sweet chestnut, and know that it will only be a couple of weeks before pockets can be filled with shiny baubles.
The rain is bringing the fungi out too, I rarely find anything exotic down here but look closely at dead wood, or amongst the leaf litter and there are tiny (and not so tiny) wonders to be found. I don’t eat mushrooms but after reading books such as Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard I’ve come to love them for what they do and what they tell us about the landscape. Their alien shapes and crinkly textures, especially those that grow on trees appeal to my creative brain.
But it’s not all pointing towards autumn. In the garden, my roses are still blooming, and deadheading the buddleia brought fresh blooms for late summer butterflies to have a buffet to feast on. This morning a Red admiral didn’t budge from drinking up the nectar as I threw bedlinen over the washing line next to it. Bees and hoverflies are constantly buzzing around the lobelia and I found a dozy buff tailed bumble on the sedum one morning.
But it is the ivy that brings my biggest smile. Ivy? Yes really. Because I have mostly left it to wend it’s way across my wall, it has now reached maturity and become a vital part of the late summer/autumn food larder. Getting into the compost bin below it means apologising to the crowds of buzzing insects feasting on the flowers.
Though it’s not all peaceful - I happened to catch this interaction between two bees! I found it hard not to squeak with excitement - I don’t think I’d make a good wildlife camera operator!
The first one was ok - you just see it come back up on the bottom right of the picture at the end!
If you come across some flowering ivy, you’ll probably notice the scent. I’m not sure it’s something to include in a perfume, there’s more than a hint of wee I think, but it’s still got a place in my signs of late summer bingo card.
So, there is still lots of noticing to be done, it’s not time for hibernating yet. I’m going to do a nudge from nature post next, to give a bit of encouragement to get out and find the tiny wonders nature still has to offer and how that can really help if you find yourself just thinking it’s all just downhill from here. I’m also going to write a marking the seasons post about autumn and the upcoming equinox for those who want some seasonal celebration and reflection that isn’t just about Halloween.
Thank you for being here, see you soon!
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Thanks for that Rachel.
Conkers in abundance here in Surrey!
A hornet was feeding on the grape vine yesterday, thankfully it was European.
Looking forward to your ‘marking the seasons’ post.
I love your observations and you are so right, it’s not time for hibernation yet. I spent the afternoon in the garden enjoying the autumn sun, listening to the birds pottering about the bird feeders and watching the bees on the sedums. I did some painting in my sketchbook and I said to myself ‘what a wonderful world’.