Last Day in Dawyck

Today was our last visit to Dawyck for this year. The garden closes for it's winter break till the 1st February next year and we have renewed our membership so will be back there then. The sun was shining this morning and it seemed a good idea to leave early and make the most of our visit. We spotted even more fungi than last time and the berries too were still going strong. In fact I can't remember any autumn like it since we first moved here some 19 years ago. It will be quite a shock to the system when the cold weather finally gets here. At least we had our winter tyres installed so we are sort of ready. Now we just need to fill the two freezers with food for ourselves and the dogs and winter can come, if it must.

Here are some random pictures of our visit today and to confirm just how many plants are still looking great in their autumn colours.

 There was still a wealth of berries about too.

 My task for next year's autumn is to get to grips with names for all these different fungi. I have bought a book (The Kingdom of Fungi, by Jens H. Petersen) that has both lots of information as well as gorgeous photographs to inspire me.

 Once I've mastered that it's on to lichen!

This toadstool was big, some 6" diameter and was full of fascinating detail that just had to be captured in a series of photographs.

And whether we looked up into the trees or down onto the ground there was something interesting to see everywhere!