Tag: fall

Seasons

Fall Garden Wrap-Up

GeorgiaLeave a comment

IMG_2067Welcome to fall, time of transition and preparation. The weather cools and softens, but there is a hint of the wild winter yet to come. The sun is bright but not baking; the clouds are gray but not ominous. Occasionally, a gust of wind whips up and whisks the leaves off the trees but then dies down quickly. Just a test. In the gardens, flowers and vegetables respond to the change. Some, like the alyssum above, put on a final big show, offering blooms that are bigger and better than anything put forth all summer. IMG_2061IMG_2062Impatiens, roses, lavender, and wild asters also seem to thrive in the cooler weather, surprising us with amazing late-season color.  After the long hot, humid summer, fall refreshes and energizes. And it’s a good thing, too, because there’s a lot to do before winter sets in.

Other plants have made their winter preparations early. Yarrow, coneflower, compass plant, columbine, and many others have finished their flowering and readied their seeds. We gather some seeds, leaving most to germinate in the spring.

The vegetable garden has ceased production except for a few peppers and some Swiss chard. This chard is amazing stuff–it’s colorful, tasty, super-nutritious, likes the cooler weather, and grows even better after deer come through and chomp it down to the ground. I like resilience in my garden.
IMG_2071Speaking of color, our young sugar maple, Schroeder, is doing his best to add to the fall palette. He doesn’t quite have the bright scarlet of more mature maples yet, but he still looks stunning. And like the chard, he’s a “deer survivor.” Two years ago, we awoke one morning to find his outer bark just about completely stripped away by a young buck. Quickly closing the barn door, we wrapped some wire fencing around his trunk and hoped for the best. The prognosis didn’t look good. When spring came, I stared intently at his branches almost daily, looking for signs of life in the tightly-closed buds. But I shouldn’t have worried. Schroeder made it through, and in fact, since his deer encounter, seems to be growing bigger and stronger than ever. Even so, each fall he gets his wire scarf, just in case.

Seems a little (just a little!) adversity makes you stronger. Resilience.

 

Gardens · Seasons

Sights of Fall

GeorgiaLeave a comment

As the summer winds down and fall draws near, I always notice the changes in the light. Somehow the sunlight takes on a different hue; it’s more golden, warm in color if not in temperature. I’ve often wondered if I’d notice the difference if I didn’t already know what time of year it was. Maybe not. The change in seasons is multi-sensory. You smell it; you see it; you hear it; you feel it. It’s hard to know how much one sense affects the others. And, of course, the brain processes everything and puts an emotional and cognitive wrapper on every experience.

This week, the weather has been perfect. Cool, crisp mornings; warm afternoons and evenings. In the gardens, many things are still blooming, but much is starting to fade. I’m making plans for gathering seeds and taking a few things indoors. Most mornings, before leaving for work, I take a quick garden tour. I keep hoping to see a monarch caterpillar, or any butterfly larvae; but no luck. This year was not the year.

Here, though, are two things that did flourish this year. First, some beautiful purple asters. These were originally a gift and came to me in a small pot. For a while, they were a lovely table centerpiece.  When the blooms faded, I planted them outside and they have thrived!

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Then, there are the tomatillos. They started the summer season strong and just keep coming. If only we could figure out exactly what we’ve done this year to please them. It’s a mystery. Next year, it might be an entirely different story. For now, thought, they continue to produce their little green Japanese lantern fruit and pretty much take over the place. Kind of look like Christmas ornaments, to me.

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Soon, these will fade and dry up along with everything else. We’ll try to save seeds and see what happens in the spring!