Chilly weather postponed planting.

The modest flowerbeds were ready before I was because our lawn service needed the work. Chilly weather put a damper on spring mowing, and postponed planting, too.

However, visiting local farm and garden stores revived my ambitions to try again to plant and maintain a garden. Meandering through the aisles of perennials that I might relocate to the newly prepared beds . . . I daydream:

• An abundant cutting bed, producing flowers and ferns from June through October
• A proper herb garden, defined and flourishing
• Roses, four or five different hues and fragrances, an
• A vegetable garden with a section for tomatoes . . .

Then I wake up!

Wait! I’m not a Martha or an Ina!

I almost forgot what tending even one bed is like in July and August.Whew . . . How easily I can forget those hot, humid days! And the fact it’s me who is the gardener – not Martha Stewart , or Ina Garten.

In the meantime, the winter pansies revived, providing humor and color as I wait for the last perennials to venture out, along with some seeds I sowed.

And My Point?

We both know, patient reader, this blog is not a go-to site for reliable gardening information. Autumn’s Garden is modest plot on the information highway I cultivate because I have time to think about life.

That’s a privilege.

My thinking isn’t deep, or original; over the nine years, I’ve worked this space, I am thankful each day I can. So,

Go out by yourself, face the wind, hold up your head and thank God for this gardening year. Richardson Wright  

Aspirations

It helps also to have grandchildren who are young enough to think weeding is fun for maybe twenty minutes.

Children and grandchildren are the best things God ever planted in our lives!

The best spring scheme for our garden will  not be the hardy flowers, but the flashes of small people darting here and there, coloring the concrete, creating art with duct tape, and dashing through the sprinklers.

chalk art

NOTE: Black and white drawings from The Gardener’s Year, illustrations by Josef Čapek