Summer Lamentations

On October 20, 2014 by admin With 0 Comments - Garden Thoughts

20Oct2014 I surreptitiously slip in softly, quietly, gliding along the winds of spring. The last remnants of cold and winter soon become just a fleeting memory.

Spring O! spring! What a vibrant, multi-colored tapestry you have woven! I offer all this precious new life my protection with my warmth and long days.

Heraldry! No other mornings compare to the aubades sung with such fervor by the growing numbers of my winged followers.

My fiery sun glowing strong provides all the radiant heat welcomed by the earth below.

Days o’ days. They are long, lazy and meandering which is the intent. The rising moon graces the sky albeit briefly before my sun chases it away to bask the earth in glorious splendor.

Life is flourishing, life is everywhere, life is inescapable, life is alive with love, passion and energy. Emerge my children and let me cradle you in my warmth. Sleep in peace secure in knowing you are safe.

Days o’ days passing without care, breeding happiness, excitement and laughter all the while. My strength continues to grow as does everything beneath me. My personal flowers, O! Flowers of faith, you are bounding each day only to ready yourselves for your days of endless adulation.

sunflowers Helianthus annuus they have called you. You are the embodiment of the season. You reach higher and higher, yearning to be closer to me. We were once one, you and me and so we will be again.

SHEER JOY! The virtues of patience have paid off and the day has come! Your blooms have opened and with each passing minute, your face sways, turning and contorting so that we may look into each other’s eyes until I drop out of view.

Beauty is fading. Your days are expiring and as the finches come to feast upon your leaves, your precious blooms begin to wither. I am fading too it seems. The solstice has come and gone.

Preparations of moving on. My freshness of youth is transforming into something more mature as I feel myself losing my reign with each passing hour, day and week.

Soon there will be nothing left of me but a memory.

Your flowers are gone now but you have procured enough nutrients to gather seed. Prolific you shall be when a new season comes around again. A year. Annuus.

The dog days are here and in protest I shower all below with a heat not as yet known this season. Fiery blasts upon the earth as I lament my inevitable passing.

The earth turns are constant. Days o’ days. I am forced to let go. The dog days are over now. The footsteps of the autumn equinox are drawing nearer until the inevitable day when we meet face to face.

Grinning shyly, I bow gracefully knowing I must be off to bless another part of the earth as a new spring in a different land approaches. Perpetual motion. As I bid the northern lands adieu, I embrace the southern lands. Cycles.

The land ever coaxing prompts me to stay as long as I can but autumn is waiting patiently and with her arrival comes the much needed preparation for another type of solstice – winter. One of shortened days and much needed rest. Autumn’s hands are careful and intentional as her winds summon the northern winds. Colder nights, shorter days. She sees winter approaching and knows she has much work to do before her arrival.

I cannot maintain my protection much longer and with each passing evening, I feel myself slipping further. Frosts have already fallen upon the land like a blanket as if to say, shhhhh, it is time for sleep.

Life is fading, drifting wearily and preparing for protection against the cold. Shutting down. Life functions become slower, disciplined and minimized to the bare essentials.

The clocks, ticking in unison all point to my hour of departure and I shall leave grandly with a fiery exit. Your pleas have not gone unnoticed; O! Beautiful creations! Let this be my final gift in honor of autumn. The fiery colors of my palette I shall infuse into all the leaves of all the plants below. Emblazoned now below the autumnal sun are the tones of earth, fire and sun setting the world alight with an elaborate fireworks display. Take solace, breathe in the cooler, stiller air, reflect and prepare for rest.

As my robust, energetic, invigorating, warm days end and new days of frost, cold and stillness begin,

Summer has become autumn
Young has become old
Then has become now

I leave you with your memories.

Images of Autumn. Please click on any of the thumbnails below to start sideshow. Thank you.

[nggallery id=2]

Images of the Garden in Late Summer. Please click on any of the thumbnails below to start sideshow. Thank you.

[nggallery id=3]

autumn, autumn color, equinox, forget me not, kiss me over the garden gate, lamentations, solstice, spring, summer, sunflower, winter

Here Comes the Sun (Doodle Doodle)

On September 16, 2013 by admin With 0 Comments - Garden Thoughts

gj_date Hello friends. Before I get started I wish to thank Flora Jamieson over at Through the Round Window for her kind permission to use the photo for this blog entry. Please take a moment to check out her blog and her wonderful stained glass creations. You are a wonderful artist Flora and I thank you so much for allowing me to use this image for my blog post.

Unintended Miniature Pond

Here in the northern region of the northern hemisphere, there is a definite feel to the air that intimates autumn’s pending arrival. The winds are cooler and the recent heavy rain is something many in our state have never seen. Today for the first time in a few days, the sun meandered beyond the clouds and provided a welcome relief to the soggy ground below. My concrete bird bath converted to a planter looks now more like the actual bird bath it was originally meant to be. After taking this photo, I scooped out as much water as possible. It is funny to me that when you experience something for an extended period of time you long for the opposite. Take the rain for example. I have longed for it to rain properly all summer and then all it once it was here with a mission to make up for lost time. The clouds and damp have been constant so when the sun arrived I could immediately relate to those immortal words from John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

The rain aside, our growing season will be ending. Soon, we will have our first frost and not long after, our first snow. I can take a moment or two now to reflect on my successes and lessons learned this season. One major lesson since time immemorial for any gardener is that of creating a good foundation (soil) for which to garden. Why did that plant die or why did that plant struggle? A trowel plunged into the earth for which the plant sat languishing revealed subpar conditions. Whether it was a soil that was too wet, too dry, too many nutrients, not enough, etc., it seems I fell into the trap of not preparing enough before I planted. I thought I did enough. For example, the soil under the pine tree was meant to be good, rich soil only to discover it retained so much water and now it is no secret why I did not have daffodils or why other varieties of plants gave up the ghost.

Another victim of my carelessness was the cone flower patch. They sat in a soil too wet and too rich as well resulting in having to cut them all down to nothing and placing them in average soil with a nice top dressing of compost in hopes they will recover next year. Cone flowers are tough so thee is hope they will come back strong in the spring.
Beyond these lessons, I am pleased with my successes. First, I have Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate. I will write a feature on this in my next entry but despite hail damaging the leaves, etc., I have beautiful long strands of hot pink flowers swaying in the sun.

As I prepare for September’s tasks, I already am becoming sentimental about the inevitable changes that will transform all the greens, pinks, purples and yellows to brown and grey. The lawn will be fertilized with alfalfa meal now and once more before the first frost. Plants will soon be cut back and soon it will be time to place straw around the tender perennials such as a newly purchased cardinal flower and a salvia greggii. Their slumber will soon be here but before that I will take joy in every communion with all my garden has to provide.

The garden creates so many memories and memories are like starlight: they go on forever. I thank you all so much for reading and until next time, happy gardening and blessings to you all!

Articles to look forward to!
Patience Rewarded (Success with impatiens)
My Personal Harvest
Flanders Poppies

Now for some images of what has been blooming since my last post.