Weekends have become so precious. The Monday through Friday routine on Life's "Habitrail" feels faster and longer, but then that could just be me?
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What a GREAT photo - on the technology "habitrail"
(from the creative minds at Microsoft clip art) |
I look out the window today, on a cool crisp Autumn Saturday, and it makes me smile. The
Arabian Nights Dahlia continues to bloom
insanely, though the stems look more like abstract art? Winds and storms blow the plants to & fro, and then new growth points straight to the sun... (The stems are also very brittle, so 'note to self: plan a better support system next year'.)
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That 'baby' Shepard's Hook doesn't stand a chance
(trying to hold the dahlia up)! |
Now, my question is ... why is it one minute I want to conquer the world (in my gardens), then in the next minute I look disinterestedly out the window, denying the season clean-up work that needs to be done? Is that 'passive-aggressive'? Is that 'burnout' from work? ..or do I just need a few days off to recharge my batteries? (Never mind, I think I just answered my own question.)
In the meantime, I have been appreciating the Autumn foliage! My "$3"
Garden Mums from Lowe's have come back for the
3rd season. Their snowy-white blooms look amazing with the
Royal Purple Smoke Bush as a back drop. They also 'glow' in the night against the dark Autumn night.
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Awesome contrast:
Royal Purple Smoke Bush back drop to the Snowy White Garden Mums |
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| Up close and personal: talk about the best 'bang for your buck' |
Other Autumn 'pleasers', included a recent trip to pumpkin farm,
Sonny Acres. The entrance garden was fascinating:
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| Call me "Guppy" - I had to stop and check this out |
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| Coolest plant in the garden! |
And while the last of the season's blooms are out, some plants are throwing up a new growth, while others are done for the year - even without the 1st frost:
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| A snapshot in time ... 10/07/2011 |
As I toured around the gardens recently, I found a renegade
Maple shoot changing colors (it was so cute I couldn't pull it). The
Center Glow Ninebark is fully recovered from last year's powdery mildew, and 'dressing' colors for Autumn. The Cottage Garden is strategically placed near a
Sunburst Locus tree, that showered all it's yellow leaves last weekend - they should mulch in the yard nicely. The early Spring riser,
Crimson Pixie Asiatic Lily went dormant early. The new stone path in the Cottage Garden looks charming bathed in leaves, while the
Dark Red Hollyhock/Malva continues to push a few new shoots. And finally, the last dinner-plate
Rose Mallow bloom faced the setting sun, one last time...
I hope you aren't as conflicted as I have been about gardening. I look forward to visiting your gardens this weekend!
Peace in the Garden! ...
I think a lot of us lose our gusto in the fall. That's why I'm sitting here, right now. I have tomato plants to pull out, and entire squash patch to tear out, favas to transplant, garlic to plant, but honestly...today...I don't want to. I think after the enjoyment of our spring labors during the summer months, sometimes it just takes a little while to get back into gear. It's just not as fun spring planting!
ReplyDeleteShyrlene, due to heat, dryness, weeds and laziness, I have usually given up gardening completely by the time autumn arrives, so I'm going to reject "passive aggressive" and go straight for "perfectly normal human", if that's okay with you.
ReplyDeleteClare - It was SO much more fun to blog than do garden cleaning yesterday! Maybe this is the 'season' for catching up in the Blogosphere?! (I loved your feedback! Thanks so much!)
ReplyDeleteLyn - Not only am I 'okay' with "perfectly normal human", I am going to embrace it! Awesome! :D
I have the same problem. Sometimes my heart is just not into it (along with house cleaning, lol.) I'm just in denial, not wanting to face the fact summer is over. We all need a break from tending the garden now and then, right?
ReplyDeleteShyrlene, I can relate! It's been hard to get motivated this year but mostly I finish this season feeling grateful for the tough plants that have survived! There are some real troopers out there! Glad to see you back in the blogosphere!
ReplyDeleteI put off my autumn cleaning to this week. I probably will need to extend it to next week. Your autumn garden is lovely!
ReplyDeleteI am totally there. Had to sit on my hands all summer and now that I have other things in mind I should be enjoying the cooler garden time. It is nice we have another chance at gardening here in Texas. I go outside, move stuff around, think "I'll plant something there," and then go inside. Perhaps little bits of time to wean myself outside again.
ReplyDeleteI'm another one who can relate to the gazing out of the window at the jobs that need doing and then pointedly ignoring it all. Definitely a sign that a break is needed!
ReplyDeleteHello dear Shrylene! Passive-agressive gardener? What a thought! I think I'm a little too passive-passive much of the time :D Your Mums are amazing - what a bargain!
ReplyDeleteI think its like so many things, sometimes we are all think no action. :) But, also, lets face it, fall, even though its much cooler and nicer to work with, is an ending. Hard to get excited about that. Come spring, you'll be back trying to plant things before the last frost date!
ReplyDeleteKaren - I am so with you (especially the 'house cleaning' part)! I'm still trying to figure out how it got to be November????? :(
ReplyDeleteCat - Texas gardeners are my heroes this year; you all had the most intense conditions I've have ever heard of. 4 months of intense heat and drought - unbelievable; and yet persevered.
Sage Butterfly - you are so much more diligent than I, but it sure feels good to know I am not alone!
Tufa Girl - you all had such a grueling summer but I do have to say, I envy your 'second season'! ...I do not look forward to those days when "Jim Cantore" (Weather Channel) is broadcasting from Chicago, jumping out of his skin during "Thunder Snow"...
Janet - this makes my day! I had such a fit of the 'guilties' when I posted this entry; no 'get up & go' to do garden maintenance but plenty of motivation to just sit and while away the hours. Maybe that is what we are supposed to do sometimes - like a field resting 'fallow'?!
Gippy!! SO happy to see you back on the Blogosphere! I'm starting to feel like the 'passive/agressive gardener' might actually just be a 'season' that we *need* to go through? ;D
Jess - thanks for stopping for a visit! You are so right, Fall is an ending - and maybe we are supposed to just appreciate that. (I have loved the feedback from fellow gardeners, and know I am in great company.)