Those Seductive Sirens of Autumn

" Autumn the years'  last and loveliest smile."   

Bryant

 Fall equinox, literally means that the night is as long as the night.  As far as what it means physiologically, it means that the consciousness moves slowly inwards.  What this translates to me less time to putter around in the garden.   On the upside, this is such a good time to move the 'furniture around.'   (Meaning transplanting plants that are not thriving, or just don't look good together.)  It also is the time for reflection on what worked in the garden, and what didn't work so well.  This is a fabulous time to take pictures, especially of your containers and favorite garden areas to sustain you through the looooong winter.

TO AUTUMN

John Keats

"I.

Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimme'd their clammy cells."

Unlike the sirens in the Odyssey, the 'Sirens of Autumn' come in the form of a plethora of rich leaf colors of magenta, crimson, and ochres, and sunflowers and sedums that have run splendiflorously amok with blooms.  Unfortunately, the rocks that these 'sirens' are hiding are the gray drizzily days of winter.

Until then, go ahead and  embrace the 'Sirens of Autumn', because those rocks they have hidden are ultimately inevitable.

Cheers,

Laura