September - again...

"There is no gardening without humility.

Nature is constantly sending

even its oldest scholars

to the bottom of the class

for some egregious blunder."

Alfred Austin

I did use this quote in last month's newsletter but it is so relevant today.

I have some whining to do, so please be patient. Humility is not just in the garden, but also in writing about it.

I spend a lot of hours each month, doing something else I love...researching, thinking, taking photos, writing, sketching and planning my newsletters.

Did that a few days ago.

Today was my day to take all that and put it into a template that becomes a newsletter - thanks to SoloBuildIt.

BUT, after 2 hours of diligently resizing photos, transferring content and hopefully making it look good -

POOF !

GONE.

I asked Lucy in the middle of my rant, if she knew where it went ...she merely gave me "THE LOOK" and went back to sleep.

ONWARD...coffee and chocolate... good to go.

Thanks.

And a latte from my thoughtful daughter...another blessing..

 “Try to remember the kind of September


When life was slow and oh, so mellow.


Try to remember the kind of September


When grass was green and grain was yellow.


Try to remember the kind of September


When you were a tender and callow fellow.


Try to remember, and if you remember

that kind of September,


then follow, follow.”

Thomas C. Jones

Goethe knew that ...

“Beautiful is greater than Good,

for it includes the Good.”

Let’s all aspire to live a more beautiful life.

One step at a time...one blessing, one sunrise, one flower

at a time....

“Hope is the thing with feathers


That perches in the soul,


And sings the tune without the words


And never stops at all.”


- Emily Dickinson

Little bird singing to make the sun rise... sketch from my book

"The Little Bird Who Fell From the Sky"

Why Leaves Turn Red...

Leaves also produce Carotenoids (the yellow, orange and brown colours in fruits too)... as well as water-soluable pigments called “Anthocyanins”… which are also found in red, blue and purple flowers and fruits.

Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants which protect and repair damaged plant cells from the stresses of prolonged hot sun or drought - helping leaves to conserve water.

Cooler weather signals plants and trees to start sending those chemicals down into the stems and roots to strengthen them for the cold and prepare them for the next growing season.

When the Chlorophyll (green) especially, starts to leave, the colours remaining are reds and golds.

It is also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple and one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America.

Wikipedia

Reasons to NOT prune in Fall...

...because many woody plants need those chemicals - the carbohydrates and anthocyanins to go back down from the leaves into the stems and canes of trees and roses to strengthen the roots.

If you prune in the fall - it interrupts that process and makes the plants think they need to send out new growth when instead, they should be saving and storing that energy.

Pruning encourages new shoots and those tender bits can be killed by an early, unexpected frost.

Pruning is stressful and Fall is not the time to add more stress.

The only thing to cut off?... any dead or broken bits.

Leave the rest until Spring.

The Vascular System carries water and minerals from the roots up to the leaves, and photosynthesized food back down to the rest of the tree and its roots.

So please protect this valuable system and let it do it's thing this fall.

Fall is the Best Time to Plant...

1. Fill empty spots in the garden with full-size, mature plants - often on sale

2. The soil is warm, the weather is cool and fall is often semi-rainy 3. Plant successfully until late October in zone 5 (I have transplanted roses from one house to another in late November with snow falling and the soil still moist and viable… they all lived !!)

4. Plant sales, nursery sales or garden friends who share = best prices 


1. Know and meet your plants' needs: zone, sun, shade, space, dry or wet

2. Find creative ways to protect them from small critters (bulbs - “chicken 
poop” or old lampshades fitted with chicken wire etc.)

3. Think about the shape, texture, size and colour and where it will fit 
best... and, green is a colour - from dark to lime 


4. Plant in 3’s or 5’s to create an impact

1. Bulbs, perennials and biennials do well planted in Fall

2. 
Divide daylilies, sedum, iris, phlox etc.: make sure you get as much root as possible and water well for a few days

3. 
Some annuals will self-seed like Cosmos, Coreopsis or Bachelor Buttons etc. so leave some bare soil for them (they won’t grow in mulch) or mix seeds with some compost and spread on top of the soil 


4. Save seeds to plant next year (be sure to label them)

5. Top growth of woody perennials slows and roots spend energy forming new ones for winter so don't prune. Provide some root protection for tender plants

ROOTS this time of year are well established so check to see if purchased plants' roots are pot-bound

And....Water well… even if it rains.

Speaking of Seeds...

Bees, Bees, Bees...

All bees still need pollen and water.

...old bees will sleep on a flower

and some will die there.

Happy, I hope

Grasshoppers and Crickets...

Dead plants can take a long time to decay, giving nutrients back to the soil, but both the grasshoppers’ poop and the plant clippings they drop as they feed are quickly broken down = aids nutrient recycling.

And, Grasshoppers are a vital part of the diet of birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, spiders, robber flies, and other invertebrates.

These insects make up 30 to 90 percent of the diet of grassland birds

No wonder this guy looks surprised....(my sketch of a grasshopper from a friend's upcoming book - more later)

I could tell you how they make their sounds, but if you are curious, look it up... I am feeling more appreciative than scientific today.

I hope you find their sounds as soothing as I do.

A Little Tidying to do...

When I do this, I try to be very careful because in the centre of that dead material are new buds waiting for sunshine so they can bloom once again before the final end of summer.

Here they are (below) before cutting back.

After cutting back.... (with larger clumps try to cut in a ball shape. . .. looks less spindly)

New little bloom buds... ready for some sunshine.

New Book this Fall...

W.W. Norton & Company - 2024 ISBN - 978-0-393-88200-1

“There would always be things to do, to change……but I finally understood that a little untidiness was far more fertile than perfect borders.” Olivia Laing “The Garden Against Time”

What a great read !!!

Until next time...

I love this idea, and when the chipmunks are hungry - they too pray.

Please, Oh Jenny, the seeds are all gone...

Until Next Time, Lucy says...

Always make time for a massage....

...and a good haircut when you go for your "fluff and puff"

Spend as much time outdoors as you can. The days are getting shorter and cooler... We need as much outdoor love as we can get. and when you are indoors... rain or??

Please take a look at the rest of my site

.... here a few links you might go to first.

garden-journals.html

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