Various vividly colored plants I met by the roadside in winter

I walked along the narrow path through my hometown village for the first time in a while. 

First, though it's just a weed growing by the roadside, its leaves had turned red. It appears to be a type of evergreen succulent plant belonging to the Sedum genus. It has gone wild, though.

Moss growing on the roadside of the narrow path. It's a vivid green. It's pretty exaggerated, but it reminds me of "Moss Temple" famous for moss. Specifically, Saihoji Temple in Kyoto is known as the "Moss Temple" because of the beautiful moss it covers in the garden. The precinct of the temple is covered with over 120 different types of moss, creating a beautiful green carpet that is a sight to behold.

Here's what it looks like up closely.

An orange creature growing on a concrete block wall.

Here's what it looks like up closely. It seems like an orange-colored woolly hair.

This is a type of algae called aerial algae. These algae grow on the surfaces such as rocks, tree bark, and walls on land. It utilizes small amount of water supplied by natural atmospheric phenomena like rain, fog, and dew. I observed these algae on a shaded concrete block wall facing a waterway where cold groundwater flows.

A yellow organism appearing on the stone wall. It's a lichen, its scientific name is Candelaria concolor, commonly known as the candleflame lichen or the lemon lichen.

Here's a close-up photo.  Each small grain is called soredia in technical term, consists of large number of spores. Collect this yellow grain in quantities and mix them with melted paraffin prepared from ordinary candles.  Then yellow or orange pigment will be extracted into the paraffin, poured into small container, put a candlewick in the center, then let it be cool, you can make your original colorful candle. I'd like to try making one someday, but it's difficult because I can't just scrape the lichen off the stone wall without permissions of stone wall owner.

I visited my hometown village on December 18th, 2025. It locates in Maibara City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.