A Gallimaufry of Autumn's Deliciousness in Maine

Autumn really is the most photogenic of seasons...I just can't stop taking pictures in Fall, especially here in beautiful Maine. The colours are delicious and luscious and so inviting, and the season itself makes me feel cozy and warm, looking forward to crackling log fires, toast with lashings of melted butter and steamed puddings galore!!
Above is Nepeta....the flowers turn a lovely pink and purple, and those colours against the green and yellow - isn't this a textile print waiting to be designed??

A perfect Pee Gee Hydrangea bloom...this year my Pee Gee is so laden with big, pendulous blossoms it is drooping to the ground....we will have some monumental bouquets this winter of the blooms which dry out to a lovely taupe and last seemingly forever.The apple trees bounty which will feed many a hungry deer and
turkey once the snow begins to fly.

A brave and tired Monarch...I have seen a few around whose wings are torn and broken but still they flit and fly around and about and look as beautiful as ever.

I don't even know what berries these are -I used them for a frozen ice wreath a couple of years and plan to do the same again this winter. Does anyone know what they are??

Another Monarch amidst the glowing goldenrod

...and a milkweed pod that has finally burst open...doesn't it look like a pine cone...
so neat and orderly..

Now here's a perfect Monarch, in more ways than one...before I found this particular butterfly I was running around the fields like a scalded hen and every time I was just about to get the perfect photograph the little rascal flew away...this good Monarch just sat and wafted his wings and allowed me to photograph as much as I wanted!! Thank you!!

Don't you love his polka dot body...I am assuming these are males but don't know for sure - they may be females for all my scientific knowledge on the subject...I do know there is a way to know but it escapes me right now. Sorry Monarch!!

and finally the surest sign of Fall...the Michaelmas Daisy or New England aster...this picture has not been enhanced in any way...I just cropped it a little but the colour is true to life right outside my window.

Michaelmas Day, September 29th, is the forgotten quarter-day. In medieval times the four quarter days were important, namely: Christmas, Lady Day, Midsummer Day and Michaelmas. It marks the end of the harvest, thus Michaelmas had special significance for agricultural societies in northern latitudes. Does this mean the aster is blooming early this year as so many other plants have done?