Showing Off Their Finery

“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love—that makes life and nature harmonize.” ~George Eliot

I think I love the garden most as it wakes in spring. The fresh new life and growth. Different greens bombard my senses, and I am love sick. And then again that deep love returns with a bit of melancholy as autumn dawns and the garden fades.

New colors showing up again, but this time the foliage is a kaleidoscope of colors bombarding me again. Flowers hold on as the temperatures plunge and we hold our breath waiting for a killing frost or freeze.

And oh the new scents of crisp leaves mingled with that damp scent of decay. It quickens my pulse and tells me it is time to tend to the garden chores; buttoning things up. Letting go of annuals who gave their all, and the remnants of plant foliage now withering.

But it is those sunsets now happening in late afternoon, around 4:30 with the change of the clocks. I race to get outside on the sunnier days to catch the sun as it sinks low in the sky.

Walking the path along the pond and to the big meadow where the high electrical wires hang. This is where I watch the magnificent sky get brighter, light up in a blaze of colors as if it were on fire.

And then become glowing coals to help me drift back home as the lingering light is almost gone.

I’m not sure what pulls me, this call of nature. This need to say goodnight to the critters and the sun. To feel the stars and moonlight cast their magic down over me as I walk to my front door. It is primal and necessary and I find myself out after dark on many nights that are not whipped by rain or snow. It’s as if I don’t want the day to end. And I am connecting in to my ancestors as they too stood under the moonlit night many years ago.

In these pictures you can see my Japanese maple, ‘North Wind’ from Iseli Nursery (first 2 pictures), and coralberry bush (above and here) as they bring me autumnal delight.

And I chose some cuttings of the berries, the native honeysuckle vine together with calendula which continues to pump out blooms even after being frozen multiple times.

Mixed with dried seed heads of coneflower, agastache and verbena to bring in a perfect mixture of my autumn days as they dwindle down.

With this vase, I am joining in with the wonderful meme, In A Vase On Monday, from Cathy at  Rambling in the Garden.

All the pictures shared in this post were taken with my Nikon Coolpix or iPhone camera, and manipulated on my iPhone using the apps, Pixlr and Prisma. You can follow my progress with #the100dayproject in my Instagram and Facebook feed.

All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2023.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.