fall

The lack of rain for over a month has meant that the leaves have started dropping slowly. The forsythia and hydrangea shrubs around the townlet have a terrible stressed look to their leaves. The ground is still quite hard.

So one senses that this is an odd season.

Till this morning. The maples are turning color, and suddenly the hues of green are lost to the autumnal tints of yellow and orange. My poor asters, already on the downside of their blooming, suddenly look rich and just right amid this new color palette. Same for the brazilian verbena.

Tasks for this weekend: cut back dead plants, gather hollyhock seed, water.

It won't be long before the big box hardware stores deplete their outside stock, meaning that the opportunity to buy cheap bags of composted manure will close before this important planting/replanting season is out (the caveat being that we will eventually get rain before the hard freezes set in).

My autumn song: best time to plant, best time to transplant. Get it in now, and it will have all winter to get situated. Come next summer, it will be ready for the heat.