Saturday, September 17, 2011

Going, going...



It is the same every year and every year it surprises me. The signs of change are all around - leaves look like once bright curtains left too long in the sun. They droop, tired and faded and still in the windless afternoons. A few young maples and older, diseased trees flare bright red and orange amongst the green. My flower gardens, rife with bright blossoms just a few weeks ago, now sport more empty stems than blooms. The pink lilies, the papery hollyhocks, the bee balm’s riotous red flowers are all gone. A few brave fairy roses hold small pink and red faces up to be admired but for the most part the flowers’ season has passed. Next month I will plant a few iris corms, bank the beds with grass clippings from the last lawn mowing and hedge them with raked leaves. All that beauty and brightness will sleep through the cold, waking when the world turns warm again.



14 comments:

Reya Mellicker said...

I expect the seasonal changes, I love them, and yet they always surprise me, too.

Beautiful beautiful post.

Out on the prairie said...

I still have lots of blooms, but see the colors in the trees changing.

Brian Miller said...

nice...i love the turn of the season, this one especially...autumn will be here soon and i love it...

Barbara said...

I love fall. It's the perfect time of the year. I love the last gasp of color before the winter sets in. It's nice not to be sweating any longer.

Judith said...

What a lovely farewell to arms ---

Kerry said...

I love autumn, the changes that come with it, and maybe also the fact that my birthday is in October.
Lovely post.

molly said...

I know I'd feel like an icicle if I had to live where there's real winter, but when I read something like this, it makes me miss the rhythm that seasons give to life...

JeannetteLS said...

I'm with you completely. I may complain about winter, but I would miss it if it missed Connecticut entirely, if only for the contrast as we melt into spring. This change is my favorite as well. Isn't it a marvelous thing that we allow ourselves the surprise of these changes? No Fall is ever quite like the one before. Beautiful entry in every way.

steven said...

this is such a beautiful post! i welcome autumn each year - it's my favourite time of year. letting go of the freedoms of summer is always hard and i feel it in every way, but there are special qualities about the colours, the air, the moving indoors that i also love. steven

Marion said...

It's my favourite time of year and this is such a beautiful post. I love living where the seasons are so different. We have had frosty nights, and there are few flowers left, but the ones that are able to brave the cold have a special, luminous quality to them. Their colours deepen and glow.

I like your idea of planting Iris corms...think I'll do the same. xx

Hilary said...

It always takes me by surprise too. Autumn has a lot to offer but I'll just cling to my last few days of summer, thank you. Lovely photos.

Joanna Jenkins said...

Living in Southern California, I miss the real changes of seasons.... This is a lovely reminder.
xo jj

Frank Baron said...

The changes have been happening here for a couple/three weeks now and will accelerate over the next few. I surveyed my "garden" (for want of a better word) today and noticed a wee spot of red among the goldenrods. I wandered over and parted the yellow sea to find a small, solitary red rose.

I felt gifted. :)

Pauline said...

Thanks, Reya - I love summer, I love fall - so I'm happy and sad at the same time

OOTP - the mums are in their glory but the summer flowers are gone :(

Brian M - the cooler air is most welcome but I didn't mind the heat...

Barbara - I agree, and yet there's something so wonderfully lazy about the hot summer days...

Ah J - thank you

Happy pre-birthday Kerry!

Molly - I love the seasonal changes for that very reason

Thank you Jeannette - and yes, each season has its own loveliness

Steven - yes, yes!

Thanks marion - I forget most years where I've planted some things and so spring is always a delight

hilary - I want to cling, too and yet...

JJ - any time :)

Frank - those little unexpected gifts are the best!