My Garden Notebook - November 2012

Stats


Gardening Zone: 7a
August High Temperature: 82 degrees F
August Low Temperature: 39 degrees F
Precipitation: 9.08 inches

We had a litte rain in October, but Superstorm Sandy dropped about six inches of rain in just a few days. We were very lucky to have had minimal damage from the storm. I hope all of you are safe and did not suffer much damage. My thoughts are with those that have  lost so much because of this storm.

Repose - Saying Goodbye

Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk has offered the word, repose, for Word for Wednesday. Repose is such an appropriate word for this time of year when the garden is slowly moving towards its rest period. We, as gardeners, are winding down our weeding, planting, and garden maintenance. Although I like the flurry of activity in the garden during the spring and summer, I welcome the shift to a slower rhythm once autumn arrives.

Although autumn is a time when things slow down, it is also a time for goodbyes. Nests have been abandoned and saved for next year's nestlings.

Hummingbirds make their annual migration south and say goodbye until next spring. With the cooler weather, they even seem to find time for repose.

These delicate, yet robust, creatures bring me such joy in the garden. I will miss their elegant beauty, that puff of their wings as they sprint by my ear, and that high-pitched and quick chirp they make as they dance around the blooms and the feeders.

Even the butterflies say goodbye as they search for sheltered spots for a chrysalis or they migrate south as the Monarch. Because I could not sufficiently support the Monarch when my butterfly milkweed plant was damaged in the hurricane, I was not sure I would even see any this year. How elated I was when one showed up to give me an autumn goodbye kiss.

A falling leaf landed on a branch of leaves to offer another form of repose.

Repose = restfulness, calm, leisure, peace, quiet, restoration...

Another goodbye to the Hope Grows Day meme. Hanni at Sweet Bean Gardening has turned Hope Grows Day into Hope Grew. She has decided to end this meme's run. Thank you, Hanni, for hosting Hope Grows Day. I will miss thinking about my garden hopes month after month. My hope for October is that the serenity and repose of autumn continues throughout the season.

©Michelle A. Potter

Summer's Epilogue - August GBBD

Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida var. speciosa

There are those that believe that flowers and plants feel, communicate, and even, speak. They speak in a language perhaps only a gardener can understand. Blooming plants obviously speak loudly and clearly with their colorful and textural flowers. What are they saying? 'Here I am!' or 'I am beautiful!,' perhaps. Their blooms speak to insects, to animals, and to people, saying various things that would seem appropriate to each.

Knock-out roses

They also say different things at different times of the year--speaking other words in spring than in summer or fall, depending upon their seasonal stage of development. At this time of year in my garden, they are speaking their Summer Epilogue, a last word before the preparations for fall.

Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida var. speciosa

Many summer blooms have gone or are going to seed. Even in their shedding of petals there is a beauty in the changing hues and growing seedhead. The singed edges curl up to give that last dance of shape and color.

Echinacea purpurea, Kim's Knee High

Some have chosen to wait for their epilogue, still transforming colors from white to pink to burgundy or white to green to green/pink. They take their brush and outline the edges to display a subtle surprise.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Vanilla Strawberry'

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'

Some are reaching their peak of color, waiting for this time to shout a vibrant burst into the sky.

Crape Myrtle

Mandevilla, Yellow

Caladium, 'Postman Joyner'

Penta variegata

Even the night bloomers are reaching their peak, sending out multiple blooms with heavenly fragrance.

Moonflower, Ipomoea Alba

The annuals are at their best at this time of year--full and lush.

Impatiens

The warm weather crops are slowing their production but are still sending out lots to pick and eat.

Tomato, raspberry, okra, pepper, squash

By this time, I am beginning to adjust to the changing of flowers to seed. I look forward to the cooler weather to come with a host of other colors of nature to cherish. I begin to welcome the end of the summer garden and the beginning of the autumn garden. Time slows a bit and there is less to do to maintain the garden but more to do to change or start a bed and to prepare for fall.

It is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens. Visit her to see what other garden bloggers have blooming.

©Michelle A. Potter