A favorite Panicum

Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue'

 Most fellow bloggers are posting about the splendors of the fall, which makes me think that loving the fall must be one of the things that most gardeners share. Some friends dread the winter too much to enjoy the autumn. The fall is the most beautiful time of year for me, watching the colors slowly return to the earth. The intensity of the work also takes a turn, whatever I do not accomplish this fall will be waiting for me in the spring. Instead of religiously dead heading, by late September I am pretty much letting most things go to seed and leaving seed heads up for the birds and waiting for them to catch the snow. It is really a time to just enjoy it all, admire all those things I never staked or tied up, falling over into everything else. For me, there is nothing uptight about the fall and I like to let the plants really just be themselves.

In Vermont, we have many sopped in, foggy mornings. As the sun warms the day, the gray soggy air lifts to reveal those perfect crisp days. I like the plants in the clouds, drippy and heavy, covered in spider webs.

 

Thalictrum seed heads still standing strong, framed by the fall garden.