Appreciating the Autumn Garden

     The honking of Canadian Geese, winging their way southward, draws one’s gaze overhead. The geese are joined by Great Blue Herons, gliding above the treetops.

     The leaves have begun to fall. Where they still cling to the branches, they are changing color from lush green to shades of rust, gold red and orange. Nearer the ground, feral bees work the dwindling supply of blossoms, seeing that no grains of pollen escape their baskets.

     The same flowers that once enchanted us with their pastel color and soft petals, have transformed into dried brown seed-heads; a botanical interpretation of sea urchins, held aloft on wiry stems. Entire flocks of migrating birds – Goldfinches, and “confusing Fall Warblers” – alight in the garden to partake of the free buffet. There is a seed shaped to accommodate every beak shape and size.

     In the potager, Cherry tomatoes continue to form and ripen, as though unaware that their season has passed. The last of the (Bartlett) pears has been harvested and shared with appreciative friends.  The Collard Greens, Brussels Sprouts and other brassicas are flourishing in the cooler weather, and will extend our edible harvest into November, at least.

     That same cooler weather alerts us to the need to find space indoors for the tender, potted sub-tropicals whose sojourn in the open air is coming to an end – for this year. “The ferns’ swan-song is the mosses reveille,” as a poet once said. 

All text and photographs copyright Everett H. Scott, 2015. All rights reserved. No part of this blog or any of its contents may be reproduced without express written permission of the author or his designated representative.