Conkers & Autumn Colours

Our chestnut tree has certainly changed since the last progress report in June...

Unfortunately, at the beginning of July we lost the two baby chestnuts that our bud produced, & already there was another bud growing from the base of the flower stalk.

11th July

Like ideas some fruits do not ripen. Perhaps they show promise & flourish for a while, but for whatever reason they fall by the wayside. There were, however many more 'conkers' on the tree- plenty of siblings willing to be photographed instead!

30 August

Perhaps there were too many for all of them to flourish, or they simply were not strong enough to reach their potential, but already the new growth gathers strength...

12 September

Just as the Horse Chestnut is one of the first of the 'big' trees to burst into flower, so are the leaves some of the earliest to turn.... daring Autumn to show her face...

20th september

And what a face... who can fail to be moved by the colours of Autumn?

As one cycle comes to an end, another begins.... new seeds...
ready to put down roots for new growth... promise for the future...

26th September

I was wrong... we've got twins.... either its grown very quickly, or one was hiding, but I KNOW there was just one last week.... they're all growing very quickly.....

A Baby Conker!

(10th May)

Our little chestnut flower was a bit overshadowed by the leaves around it & never quite grew fully... the top few flowers never made it...

(17th May)

unlike some of its siblings....

(24th May)
as they developed the pinks in the petals became more intense....

(31st May)

the fading flowers gave way to new growth... wheras some of the flower spikes are filled with the swelling chestnuts or 'conkers' others have none at all...

(6th June)

our little one has one precious baby conker!

Chestnut Flowers

It was a delight to see the first flower buds open last week
(this was last Sunday)...

They began unfurling from the bottom of the flower spike, with new flowers daily....

Even these clematis buds seemed to crane their necks to see what's happening.

At last, today, we have a full head of flowers, only a few left to open... now we are close to seeing the individual flowers merging to appear as one bloom....

...a froth of creamy whites, yellow & peachy-orange, but sooo deliciously pale & muted, with that splash of pink sorbet in the centre of each (click to enlarge & see better). Wouldn't those colours make a wonderful background for a piece of work?

I wonder... the way this flower- these flowers develop & grow into one.... isn't that like our human consciousness? We set off from the same bud, or energy stream, then unfurled & grew into new buds branching off the stem... becoming individual flowers (or cultures, religions, races) all connected but with separate identities? Eventually to bloom into our full glory & merge as one glorious flower....

I'd like to think that we are on the verge of growing into one- as a race. At the moment the people of Earth are somewhere between these two pictures. Some are open, some unfurling, some still closed. Various pockets of society are opening in togetherness, in realisation of our conectedness, & whilst there are bunches steadfastly maintaining their separateness they will in time open & realise they are part of the one flower.... part of the whole tree...

The Bud Grows into a Flower

How it grows, that little bud will soon be a flower,
I have to stand further away to take the pictures now.

There is something so graceful about the horse chestnut, especially the mature trees with their sweeping branches. Sitting underneath them I hear the words "grace... a state of grace". That's something to aspire to! Calm, accepting, watching with wisdom, inspiring with a stately grace... that's what I feel the chestnut embodies. Here's the flower last weekend...

...and this morning, getting much taller now.
Those tight packed flower clusters of a fortnight ago are now growing into their own space, ready to bloom... and there lies a message from this glorious tree. We must give ourselves time... space... to grow with grace... We unfurl at exactly the right time for us... and there is a space there for us to grow into, ready to bloom into at each stage of our growth.

We can't hurry this process, this young tree is coming out much slower than others in the area, but we would never think of applying human labels such as 'backward' or 'slow'... it just 'is' & will be ready when it's ready... & will be no less spectacular because of it. A lesson from nature, I think!

Nature unfolds

Look how far my little chestnut bud has unfurled in the past week- I'll try & remember to take pics daily this week to keep up! The Horse Chestnut is usually one of the first "big" trees to come into leaf- & flower at the same time. There are others nearby that are further out & the hawthorn is already dressed in it's finest spring green here in N Yorkshire.

Horse Chestnut

What a difference a week makes....

These were taken exactly a week apart over the last 3 Sundays...

You can see the flower spikes forming...
it won't be long before they are out!