Sweet Autumn Journey in Serendipity Gardens

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Red oakOfficially, fall  is upon us … and it is beginning to look like fall in Serendipity Gardens. The color palette is starting to change. One small oak tree has turned an early bright red, while other trees and shrubs have a little color at the top or in splotches. A few leaves have fallen early and speckled the lawn.

The sounds have definitely changed as well, from the songs and calls of nesting birds to the rhythmic music of fall insects.  Most of the birds that live here in summer have already begun their journey south. The ones we still see most often are the black-capped chickadees and cardinals that live here year round.

The journey from summer to winter through fall is slow in this garden, and often sweet. It is a season to enjoy, as the work of the garden slows and stops.

What Has Gone

  • The summer stars — bee balm, liatris, rudbeckia, and phlox — are pretty much gone. Birds are enjoying their seed heads, though, so they still have a purpose in the garden.
  • Other summer beauties — including such disparate things as roses and Joe Pye weed — are fading, not as robust as they were.
  • The hosta and daylily blooms are no more. Stalks with seed heads have taken their place.

What Is Going

Other fall blooms are still here but are going. This group includes September Charm Japanese anemone, hyssop, lavender, and most clematis. Morning glories are still blooming, but they are not as glorious as they were, nor as prolific.

What Has Arrived

Aster timeOther perennials  have just come into flower: cimicifuga, also known as bugbane; sweet autumn clematis; asters like the ones shown here; and toad lilies.

I am quite fond of toad lilies, though when I ordered them years ago, I expected to see a flower the size of a regular lily, based on the photos in a garden catalog. I was quite surprised to find that the blossoms were diminutive, though numerous. Nevertheless, I find the plant to be charming in the fall garden.

The annuals are adding their touches of much admired bright color. We still have snapdragons, zinnias, a few nasturtiums, quite a few wildflowers, and cleome. Our grandson planted the cleome Cleomein the first year of the garden, when he was 12. Now he is 22, and we have never sown another seed. This crazy plant comes up in droves every year, and must be thinned to a desirable level — but then it adds its spider-like beauty to the garden for months.

We also have marigolds, which, despite their commonness, we love. They are just so unfailingly  cheerful. I particularly enjoy snapping the dead blooms off by hand and getting their acrid smell on my fingers. Some people hate that smell, but not me. 

Looking out across the garden, we see that it looks duller than it did just a month ago. Yet many spots of color remain:

  • Black-eyed Susan vines are still crawling up our trellises, adding their cheerful bits of color.
  • The sweet alyssum is still blooming, offering beauty and a sweet fragrance to enjoy.
  • Lemon Queen sunflowers are still calling the bees. though not as energetically as they did at their peak.
  • The wildflower garden is a bit of a mess, but it is beautiful anyway. The vivid orange sunflowers with velvety stems entice me — and the bees, too.
  • The Endless Summer hydrangea is a “shrub of many colors,” like the famed coat of the Biblical character Joseph.

Hydrangea colorful

In summary, the garden is far from dormant and far from dull in early October.

The Animals

Frog 18The animals I see most at this time of year are late summer grasshoppers, frogs, birds, squirrels, and rabbits. The grasshoppers are hopping and feeding; the frogs, Yoda-like,  are sitting on their stones or hopping about the garden; the birds are busy finding things to eat. The squirrels are hoarding. I saw one in a flower pot the other day. He seemed awfully industrious. He scampered away when I opened the door. From time to time, I see a rabbit fleeing across the grass, heading for the safety of the hedgerow.

The Gardeners

The work of the garden has slowed down. Most of the weeds are no longer  a bother, so we have time to clean up some areas that were rather weedy all summer long. Leaves are drifting down from time to time, but we ignore them. We have no plans to rake any of them up. Most of the work we are doing is redesign. For example, we cut pathways through a thicket of perennials to make them easier to tend to next year, and we divided and moved a few plants.

Tasks on the To-Do List

We will cut down some of the perennials: the peonies, since they can harbor disease if left standing; iris leaves, and some stalks. All the vines except the Sweet Autumn clematis will come down, as will all the remains of vegetables and annuals. We have collected a good bit of woody debris this summer that we will burn before fall sets in. We will winterize the pond and put chicken wire around the shrubs that the rabbits damaged so badly last winter.

Plenty of work remains, but it is slow work, with little urgency about it.

Five Ways to Enjoy Fall in a Garden

While you do your fall work, we hope you will take the time to enjoy it as well. Here are a few ways:

  • Observe your garden. Notice the gaps, and think about what native plant you might like to put there. Better still, visit a native plant sale. Buy something new and put it in the ground.
  • If you have fragrant plants, be sure to sniff them. If you don’t, you might want to consider how you will add this gardening joy to your next year’s garden.
  • Take lots of photos, particularly in the late afternoon, when the slanting light is so lovely. Grass is particularly beautiful when back lit by the setting sun.
  • Eat in the garden as often as you can. The time when you cannot do this is just around the corner.
  • Spend an evening around a campfire. Enjoy its warmth and the conversation that a fire encourages. Toast some marshmallows, too!

Winter will be here soon enough.

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