Japanese maple

Somewhere we wanted to visit was Exbury Gardens, and today we had the opportunity to do it. We drove through Beaulieu and crossed the river, then headed south to Exbury, found the gardens, and left the car in the car park.

Acer palmatum atropurpureum

We bought tickets for the gardens and for the little railway that runs around parts of the garden.

Although the rhododendrons were mostly over, it's true to say there are other things worth seeing here. Most of the garden is woodland with extensive pathways and exploring was fun.

We interrupted our walk to take a train ride, but returning to the walks later, we spotted this lovely Japanese maple.

It goes by the grand Latin name 'Acer palmatum atropurpureum' which means it's a maple (Acer) with 'hand' shaped leaves (palmatum) that are a purple-red colour (atropurpureum).

As the sunlight filtered through these lovely, purple leaves, it made them glow a delicate luminous colour. It's almost a deep, autumnal amber, even though autumn is still far off. Just beautiful!

How amazing that a little corner of a garden in a tiny area of a little country on a small planet around an average star can be so beautiful. And when you think how fragile this beauty is and how it will all be gone forever by the time winter arrives, it's even more poignant and significant. And it would be here even if nobody saw it!

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)