Hint of fall

With a bit of color showing in the nandina leaves high in the branches of the invasive golden raintree,

amd the tiny seedcases ripening in the delicate umbel which is all that's left of the tiny white flowers of a vine that overhangs the back fence,

while the evergreen variegated hosta leaves reflect the brilliant August sun.

Wild Strawberries

Here is a photo of a wild strawberry in the patch of lawn under the massive old maples next door. And one of a wild strawberry bloom in the same patch, which is thick with the triplets of toothed strawberry leaves, mixed in with the grass blades and the heart-shaped leaves of wild violets.

The tiny yellow wildflower that I photographed on Sunday afternoon and posted to this blog at that time was in the same general area, but I could not find it again this morning. I think it may have been a wild strawberry bloom, too, though I'm not completely sure of that identification. Reason: It had 6 petals. And all wild strawberries normally have only 5 petals, and also, of course, 5 sepals. I could not find any fruits with 6 sepals today among the maturing berries. However, I think that the flower I photographed on Sunday afternoon was connected to the spreading runners in this patch and was a fluke, or perhaps a genetic mutation. Here it is again, for comparison with the photo of the 5-petaled strawberry blossom above.