Flower Season Fades Fast

It's cool this morning here in St. Albans, Vermont, cooler than it's been since early June. Fall is coming. The lawn is littered with a few colored leaves, the first scouts of an army of foliage that will drop onto the yard in the coming weeks.

Flower season is waning fast, too. Zinnias are still colorful at the edge of the vegetable garden. Sedum is turning pink. There's black eyed susans blooming, too. But the flowering season in the yard has largely passed.

It's time to start planning next spring and summer.  I'll figure out how to add more color to the gardens so that in subsequent warm seasons, I can enjoy something that isn't just bland lawn.

I've been carving out perennial beds for three years now. Every summer, there's a bit less lawn, a bit more flowers. This fall, I'll probably make the yard look even more like a construction site, as I remove sod, prepare dirt, and wait until spring when I can happily plant as many more perennials as I can.  

Yup, I'm always looking forward to more gardening. Even if it means waiting through the upcoming long months of Vermont cold and snow to get there.

Meanwhile, I'll enjoy whatever flowers last into the fall. And dream of next spring.