“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.” Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
And just like that we are deep into fall. First lake effect snow with bitter cold making roads messy, but not a lot of snow. Just enough to add a bit of beauty and magic for the season. And oh the sunrises right now are spectacular, greeting me on many mornings.
Starlings were gathering in the hundreds on the tall electrical towers. Murmurating periodically during the day before moving on to warmer weather south.
The wooly caterpillars are said to foretell the winter season. Black means winter weather, while the orange denotes a warming trend. This year, November was chilly with a bit of snow, while the weather forecast is said to be warmer through February. Maybe wintery weather in January or February. Sometimes even March and April. Of course, the forecasts change as the season goes along.
And these woolies couldn’t make up their minds either. This one was foretelling of a cold, warm trend with little snow and warmer than average temps. Not too far from the warm up we have been seeing in our planting zone. Less snow, warmer temps and more ice and rain than snow.
I found a few milkweed pods still letting go at the dead end pond.
So stark and brown and dead…so still with barely a sound except a crow. The foliage of the plants brown and dry. Waiting for the snow and rain to beat it back to earth where it will compost and make ready for new green shoots of life in spring.
The garden is still spitting out a few blooms as I left some plants to flower and see how long they could last this fall. These Calendula will bloom through many frosts and freezes if there are periodic warm ups, which we have had. These plants were blooming to the end of November.
I thought it best to cut off the buds, and see if they would open once I brought them into a warm house.
Aren’t they gorgeous with the dark brownish red-orange painted on the underside of the petals.
And indeed they opened, and I expect them to last a long time. In the Language of Flowers, calendula means joy, remembrance, grief. A perfect description of this vase as we go deep into fall. I’d say this was a very fortuitous vase of flowers from my later fall garden. I hope there might be one more surprise in my garden before it’s all done soon, and winter is truly here.
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.
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Your fall vase is lovely Donna – little surprises like that late-flowering calendula are wonderful, aren’t they! Winter has arrived in full force here – lots of snow and very cold.
Our snow melted in a couple of days with a warm up. But I am sure we’ll see more soon.
The Calendulas are gorgeous! And wow, you got quite a bit of snow. We’ve had some, too, but like you, the weather has been mild and the snow has melted quickly. The forecast for the months ahead is warmer than “normal.”
I do hope we get some snow though. The mild winters are concerning.
Your fall is so different from mine, Donna. Only the colder nights and shorter days mark the change in the season. Late fall and winter technically mean rain here but we’ve had very little of that despite periodic references to “chances of rain” from forecasters. We’re hearing that rain may be more likely in late December and January so it seems that Mother Nature is as undecided about rain here as your fuzzy caterpillar is about snow there.
Yes. One thing is for certain. No one knows.
What a lovely surprise for you Donna, and what a cheery sight for all of us to look at your bright and sunny little posy today – but wouldn’t the milkweed pods and their brown and dry foliage not make an effective vase too?
Yes they would. But I leave them in the Wild area for nature.
You’ve had a much better crop of calendula than I, barely 3 flowers all year. I need to try them again in a better location.
I planted my seeds spring if 2022 and then let them go to seed. Now I have dozens of self seeded plants. They get a good amount of sun and grow among the rocks and stones.
So lovely for deep fall.
Thanks so much. Nature is lovely in all seasons isn’t she.