Monday, August 29, 2005

There is a pre-autumn chill in the air these days. It stays dark until almost 7:00 a.m. now. I miss going out to the deck before 6:00 a.m. with my morning coffee prior to leaving for work. The container plants are fading fast and it won�t be long before the perennial beds are ready for their winter hibernation. Soon the humming birds & the monarchs will head south.

Today I snapped this picture of a tree at work turning its autumn colors. On one hand I am sad to see these signs. On the other, I will be happy to have the time to do something other than tend to plants. I give it my all for about three or four months, and then I look forward having the next 8 months off to focus on something else.


I have been making a few notes of what worked and what did not (I have a computer file called"Flops 2005"). I also have a file called "Moved or Changed in 2005" to remind me of where I moved plants so that I know what to expect next spring. During the winter months I will occasionally look through the pictures and make notes of what I want to do in 2006. All winter I will leaf through my dozens of gardening magazines and books. At some point I will make new throws and pillows for the deck furniture. By January, I will be getting antsy to dig in the dirt. I will start frantically searching the net for garden blogs in warmer areas so that I can get my fix.

The weeks will drag by-oh, so slowly-- until it is finally time to start it all over again.

I love gardening.

8 comments:

  1. Love your blog and will be back to visit often!

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  2. I really like autumn as my son and I are autumn babies.
    I can't believe the trees up there are changing in August. Geez.
    I agree that I like puttering around outside for 6 months or so, but I look forward to doing indoor things and using my creativity in other ways.

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  3. Thanks, Peggy.Looking forward to having you visit again.

    Yes, Dianne, I was a little dismayed when I came out of work last week and saw it beginning!

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  4. I love fall for it's leaves changing and the cooler weather, but I'm like you Zoey...until Spring/summer comes and I can dig in the dirt and make my property glow with color again...I'll be inside blogging, reading blogs, painting and setting up house in a new place (only two more months left here in Ontario):(

    Taracotta

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  5. taracotta, you will be one busy lady moving right in the midst of the holiday season!

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  6. I love the Autumn (Fall), too, as it's a relief from the hot weather. We can look forward to about six weeks of lovely weather before it even starts to get cold and, here in Canberra (Australia), there are many thousands of decidious trees both in gardens and along the streets. With the arrival of the first frost the colours in the leaves deepen and some of the streets look absolutely stunning.

    Whilst we have a lot of frosts, they melt by about 10.00am are usually followed by beautifully clear sunny days, that can feel quite warm (in comparison to minus 4degrees). We rarely get snow so we are able to work in our gardens on almost any day throughout the winter. But those of us who also like to indulge in other creative pursuits like crafts, painting, writing, etc. can convince ourselves, with a clear conscience, that it's too cold to work outside and we can enjoy our other interests.

    Zoey, I love your woodland area. It must be so lovely and cool to sit there in the summer. Can you tell me how big is your garden? It looks quite large in the photos.

    Is that a red-backed spider? Our's have a red stripe down the back rather than dots and their legs are just black. Either way, I would prefer them squashed flat!

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  7. Alice, thank you for the compliment. I have 2 lots, each 100 feet x 150 feet. So it is something like 200 feet x 150 feet. So far I have gardens on about half of the empty lot. And yes, it is much cooler there in the summer.
    That spider is a black widow. I prefer them squashed, too! I was even a little afraid to get so close to it to take the photo - LOL.

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  8. The best "bit" about reading blogs from all over the world, is that while my garden is bereft of flowers and colour, there is always some in someone elses garden. Like Alice, we too, here in Swan Hill Australia, can garden all year round. We have frosts and midly warm sunny days in the Winter, but sometimes it doesn't take much to convince myself that sewing in front of the fire in better than gardening. Although Mum and I have been known to do some serious planting in the rain. My break time from the garden, apart from watering, is the summer with tempretures hovering close to 40 degrees. Far to hot to do much of anything outside - unless you covert a dose of heat exhaustion.

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