December week 1

There was a little preview of winter this week with much cooler temperatures, but it wasn't too bad.

There's still plenty of fall color to be seen:

at William & Mary, a very tall dawn redwood,

and in Colonial Williamsburg, the mellow yellow of American wisteria

and the bright red twigs of a shrubby dogwood, either silky dogwood or gray dogwood.At my house, my royal ferns have taken on a nice rusty orange color.
There are even some blooms to still to be found:
in CW, tansy,

and this bush, which I had to look up. Its wintersweet. But you probably already knew that.
Elsewhere around town, you can find gaura going gangbusters,

and winter annuals like snapdragon.

There are lots and lots of berries and fruits everywhere:

In CW, a yellow-fruited variety of American holly,the bright red fruits of possumhaw holly,

winterberry with leaves remaining,

and yaupon holly.
Along Rt. 143, you can see Winter King hawthorns.

and back at W&M,
a Russian olive, its seeds just waiting to invade your yard.

You can see more of my December week 1 photos on Flickr.