“Just before the death of flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season
When nature is all aglow.”
– Author Unknown
Finally the weather has shifted. There is a coolness to the air as it touches my skin. I welcome the cool dew on my bare feet as I walk around the 
garden. I am reinvigorated by the fresh lighter air. Even the clouds have shifted to the lower, grayer clouds that herald more rain that will be coming. We had a half an inch of rain last Friday, the most we have had in one storm since May. More on Tuesday, about an inch, and some more forecast for the weekend with temps topping out at 65. Definitely fall weather is here to stay.
The bird song is soft. Calls overshadowed by out of town visitors now gone. The resident birds can finally be heard. The sweet scent on the cooler air energizes my soul and creative spirit. The warm glow of morning sunlight catches plants and lights them up in a special way that only happens in fall. And the many frogs that inhabit the garden are calling again at night.
I love the changing of the seasons when summers heat turns to cooler fall. There is a peacefulness to the silence, the lack of blooms. A time for
rest and reflection in the changing light. With this slower time comes a brilliance in my garden of bright colorful foliage giving the feeling of a party celebrating the end to the growing season. And yet I have mixed emotions as with the fall, the winter follows, and I will not see my garden or many critters for months as they hibernate and rest.
But autumn awaits, reminding me to slow, take an assessment of my life and the garden and then relish the moments that are to come each day no matter what they may be. As I move through this busy fall in the garden my mantra will continue to be:
“But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head … The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on.” ~Robert Finch
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As I lament the end to a garden, the southern hemisphere is celebrating spring as they warm and blooms burst forth:
Let’s check in with Christine@The Gardening Blog in South Africa as she celebrates the seasons. Her days are sunny warm and full of plants growing and flowers showing themselves after a long chilly winter. She is enjoying her Cherry Blossom tree as the flower petals drop all over the garden creating a pinkish snow. Christine has the loveliest azaleas blooming right now as well. I offer this year’s only blooming dahlia in my garden and its dark pink blooms for a Happy Spring down south.
Here are some gardeners who are celebrating fall here in the northern hemisphere:
Karin@Southern Meadows loves to celebrate the seasons with fall flowers like the asters above. As a matter of fact I know she loves asters. And with the asters come the monarchs as they leave me here in New York and venture South to more milkweed. I wish them luck, and am thankful they are in Karin’s hands. And what a perfect time to view nature than fall at a nature area. It is one of my favorite past times and Karin’s.
Holley@Roses and Other Gardening Joys loves coloring outside the lines this fall as she completes a major project in her garden. And isn’t the coolness of fall a perfect time for these chores. I know it is my best time, and I am excited to finally get started as the weather shifts. As Holley’s garden is full of roses, I offer up my fall roses in celebration.
Rain has finally come to the garden of Michelle@The Sage Butterfly which has her seasonally thinking. Her garden is springing back to life and flowers are reblooming as they are happily soaked. I hope to see more reblooming here now that we have had soaking rain as well.
For Beth@PlantPostings, fall is the time for celebrating the sense of smell. Her description of a walk in nature just outside her back door was intoxicating as it brought back memories of autumns past with leaves, pine cones and the changing colors of leaves…oh and the smell of apples ripening on the trees….mmmm!
Down Washington DC way is Angela@Bumble Lush who is joining in for the first time as she is celebrating fall. As she laments the loss of a fine tree recently, she is celebrating all the fine things fall brings us like the freshness of the air and oh those warm soups that we can make from our veg gardens. I am celebrating soups and yummy foods with Angela as much of our veg gardens end this fall.
Jean@Jean’s Garden has two lovely gardens, but she is celebrating fall in Maine at the Common Ground County Fair. This fair has me intrigued and excited as it is the annual fair for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. And I am all about organic vegetable gardening. So in celebration, here are my organic pumpkins albeit a bit small, but perfect for a little garden display or pie!
And across the Atlantic, B-A-G@Experiments With Plants continues observing the London Plane Tree. I never tire of reading the amazing observations of this blogger as they share these unusual, strong and precious trees. For fall we are introduced to one of the older trees through a series of beautiful photographs. I am sharing with B-A-G one of my precious ash trees as it starts to change into its fall colors early this year.
So how will you be celebrating the new season? I hope you will join in next season as we enjoy the solstice. I will be posting about this new season on December 1st. Please remember to visit Beth@Plant Postings as she reveals the Garden Lessons Learned from this past season.
How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. ~John Burroughs
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Next up on the blog: Monday will be time to share another favorite native wildflower for my Simply The Best series. The first Monday in October will be time to assess my September garden as we move into fall.
As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.
I hope you will join me for my posts once a month on the 3rd Tuesday, at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. The latest post is up now about an unusual pollinator.
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