Falling for Fall…Almost

Are you ready for this Indian Summer to end and autumn to blaze into our lives with its cooler temps, gorgeous colors, invigorating scents, and tantalizing tastes? This Farmer surely is! Wondering as I wander across the Deep South, little bits of fall keep teasing me of the decrescendo of the growing season and glorious end to the year. A cooler morning, the budding salvia, or the change in the sky’s color- I say all this as the September heat still lingers, yet these are glimpses of the coming season and ever present on my journeys. Triumphantly, the garden is brimming with the chance to explode into autumn.


“The day is dying in the west; Heav’n is touching earth with rest, wait and worship while the night, sets the evening lamps alight through all the sky.”

Now that is a mantra for the coming fall – light dimming earlier and setting the scene for the seasons’ change. This time change charges the plants to begin blooming, dehiscing, or preparing for winter and shed the luxe of summer with the elegance of autumn. A few plants that are beginning to bloom and show autumnal note now are:

• Mexican Salvia
• Asters
• Chrysanthemums
• Beauty Berry
• Joe Pye Weed
• Grasses
• Spider Lilies
• Swamp Sunflower

These late season bloomers are beginning the swan song of the season, and I hope each one has a place in your garden.

As this September period waxes and wanes, I am reminded of September’s style in the Deep South garden. This is a time of seasonal betwixt, of waiting and wanting, but a time to patiently acknowledge the world around us. A very September time of the year…not fully summer yet not fall…a time with winds of change breezing through the air, color and light metamorphoses abounding, and just a different feel to nature’s pace. With the aforementioned blossoms about to riotously bloom and make the Southern Garden truly memorable, it is fine to accept September as the entre into autumn and not be frustrated by a seasonal limbo.

I hope this September is time of appreciation for you. I have always been frustrated with this time of year, yet I am slowly coming around to appreciate this respite between fanfare seasons, thus building the excitement that is coming with the approaching season. From this Farmer’s garden to yours, Happy September!