Slaying the Giants of Summer
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| Mammoth Sunflower Seed head |
...Fall is creeping into Ohio as I enjoy the warm sunny day here in Ohio. The trees are starting to show a bit of orange and gold tipping the leaves. The breeze carries a new fragrance that lets one know this is fall. I love September! It is also my birthday month. Johnny Appleseed and I share the day. I can hardly wait for the best of the cider to start flowing with the fall Ohio harvest.
Today I chopped down the dried and spent stalks of the mammoth sunflowers that I have so enjoyed all summer. Though they are gone I still have plenty of photos of their huge smiling faces. Carpe Diem, seize the day! Time to make fall displays of mums and asters! All my herbs are trying to finish up for the season. Sadly, all my basils are done for the summer. It was a season that was all too short here in Ohio. With the joy of harvesting fragrant herbs I realized that it was the last of the season to be enjoyed. When I notice the neighborhood crippled kitty sunning himself across the street on the neighbor's concrete steps, I decided to place my potted catnip plant on my deck floor where he could reach it. Slowly he crossed the street with care. Having learned his lesson the hard way after being hit by a car, he limped up to my deck. Making his was through the maze of my potted plants, he discovered the catnip. I had expected him to decimate the plant. Gently he nibbled the tender leaves. As if savoring a fine wine, the cat I named Binky, slowly ate the fragrant leaves. After he ate some of the catnip, he laid down next to the pot to take in the sunshine of the day. Enjoy yourself, Binky. This one is for you, a final gift of the season. Soon I will have plenty of empty pots to begin storing for the winter. The bittersweet task of putting the garden to bed for the winter is underway. The squirrels are busily looking for places to buy their storage of nuts. One neighborhood squirrel has chosen some of my potted plants to bury his prizes.
It is now October and it is as if someone flipped a switch on the temperature here in Ohio. From a muggy 80 degrees we have dropped to 60 degrees with high winds. October has brought with it the dreary gray skies we will see more and more as we progress into the winter months. There are still plenty of blue skies and sunny days yet to enjoy. Practically overnight the leaves have started a massive color change. Pumpkins and mums appearing everywhere. My grandmother always said that September was the month of purple flowers. Asters are the flower for September. If September is for purple flowers, then I would have to say the dominant colors for October are gold and orange. You can throw a bit of scarlet into the mix, too. I revel in the Mardi Gras of colors in autumn. Such intensity of color stirs my artistic creativity to the max. With the giants slain and the gardens put to bed, I move on to the adventures of fall. It is no wonder the Native Americans chose this time of year to gather for a final pow wow celebration before the winter snows began. Let the games begin!...
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