Category: Today’s Flowers

“The days may not be so bright and balmy—yet the quiet and melancholy that linger around them is fraught with glory. Over everything connected with autumn there lingers some golden spell—some unseen influence that penetrates the soul with its mysterious power.” ~Northern Advocate

 

  

Autumn seems a much maligned season coming right on the heels of summer.  Summer, a season, we do not wish to relinquish especially if we know winter will soon be upon us with cold winds and snow.  Many of us wish summer to go on forever, but alas it too has to have time to rest.  So autumn comes in with its changes forcing us to switch gears.  

Of course there are many people who love autumn.  I do.  It is a season with amazing splendor.  Cooler days and nights highlighted by stunning changes to foliage, where bright colors makes magic in the trees.  For me autumn does not spell the end of something, but the beginning.  And It comes whether I want it to or not.  Even now the trees and shrubs are shifting and fading their green to wear bright yellow, and even some rust reds.

So I have come to accept its arrival, this season of autumn.  The critters are already preparing.  Many are taking wing to their winter homes or getting ready for the long journey.  It is quiet in the garden come autumn.  A few birds and frogs break the silence.  And all about me insects still nectar and pollinate until the steady cold has them seeking refuge and hibernation.

The garden is not stopping yet.  That will take a series of frosts and freezes which I hope are a long way off.  I have always said autumn is a strange time.  An in-between time.  A time to ready us slowly for the bigger changes winter holds, when here all will be covered in white for many months.

When I get that first whiff of the decaying leaves, something stirs in me.  Bubbles up and brings about a joyousness.  I am renewed in autumn with an energy to see the changes in the landscape on a grander scale.  To let its splendor wash over me.  To rejoice in each bloom still pushing its way to flower.  Each leaf still trying to hang on.

And I feel a connectedness to the earth during this season of change.  Where spring brings renewal and an awakening, autumn brings me a spiritual connection that fires my soul giving me a rush of ambition.  Some have called it a preparation for the restful time in winter, and maybe it is.  But regardless, I am rejuvenated.  There is a fire in my belly to work more in the garden, complete chores and connect with the soil, the bark of the trees.  To see great beauty in the decay….and admire these plants for all they gave me and still give in their decline.

So with autumn coming soon enough it is time to celebrate this change in seasons. 

 

My autumn mantra:

I found this wonderful quote that has ignited my celebration of autumn:

 

“October is a fine and dangerous season in America. It is dry and cool and the land is wild with red and gold and crimson, and all the lassitudes of August have seeped out of your blood, and you are full of ambition. It is a wonderful time to begin anything at all.”  – Thomas Merton

 

Summer’s lazy languishing days are no more when autumn rolls around.  Instead I feel revived by the cooler air and the busyness of the wildlife.  I take my cues from nature, and connect on a deep level to nature at this time.  If my health and body allow me, I plan to do some much needed work in the garden with my hands deep in the soil.  Spend more time outdoors soaking up the sun and misty rain.  To sit in the declining garden and let it penetrate into every pore and through each of my senses.  I hope to garden long into fall, as long as the snow stays at bay.  And we are planning many field trips.  As a student and teacher I always loved field trips.  To get away to a place I have not visited at all or for a long time.  I plan to take many visits and share them here with you.

I hope you will join me in my celebration of autumn (even if you are not a fan of seeing summer go), or whatever season you will be experiencing soon.  Details on how to join in are below.

 

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The vase in this post was prepared with autumn in mind.  I went around and found seed heads from Aruncus dioicus, oregano, Queen Anne’s Lace and sunflower.  Then I added some of the dark burgundy foliage from Diablo ninebark also know as Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Monlo’, and a few sprigs of perennial Helianthus pauciflorus ‘Lemon Queen’.  The vase gives me the sense of the harvest of fall, and what the garden is readying for soon.  To take the seeds and scatter them about on the soil, covering them with snow and awaiting the new growing season come spring.

 

I am joining in with a few memes this week as I prepared the autumn vases you see here:  Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful meme, In a Vase on Monday, Today’s Flowers hosted by Denise@An English Girl Rambles and Judith@Lavender Cottage who hosts Mosaic Monday.  Please check out these wonderful blogs and link ups.

 

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Join In The Seasonal Celebration:

As I feel autumn’s call, and celebrate this new season coming soon, I hope you will join in the celebration. I welcome those Down Under who will be celebrating the coming of spring to join in too.  

All you have to do is write a post between now and September 23rd  telling me how you are or will be celebrating the new season.  Then leave a comment on this post with your link so I can include your link in my summary post on September 28th.  

I do hope you will consider joining in the Seasonal Celebrations meme as we celebrate the new season arriving soon to your corner of the world.