Listen: a hue and cry is being heard along the edge of wind 'it might be frost tonight', 'winter is coming'. This feels a very sudden change in the weather, last weekend was unseasonally warm but today there is an edge to the wind.
The signs of Autumn are around us, sunny weather or not, the rose hips have been ripening.
The berries on the Spindle Tree, Euonymous europa, are bright and shiny too.
The leaves on the Liriodendron are turning their butter yellow and agsing quietly that Winter is coming.
and the aster flowers are increasingly looking a bedraggled mess. Much as I love the colour they bring, they do not die back very prettily.
As I walk around the garden I realise I am saying goodbye to the more tender plants in the garden. I nod respectfully to the cosmos who have flowered well and flowered tall this year.
I whisper encouragement to the Amicia zygomeris, reminding it to sleep well and emerge again next year. You can see she is still producing foliage so a sudden frost could be a serious shock. The breeze murmers 'Winter is coming'.
The Cistus is flowering late this year, always a favourite shrub. I take contingency cuttings every year or so as they can be quite short-lived. This means they move around the garden giving me new looks and new inspiration.
The Tithonia has had a fabulous year, clearly it has had the right amount of sun and rain. It's been a few years since they have been this good in my garden. What is that I hear wiffling through the lessening leaves in the trees? 'Winter is coming....'
The Dahlia Waltzing Mathilda is looking increasingly raggy, but still flowering, still making me happy. Dahlias are a great signifier of the season turning, as soon as the frost reaches them their foliage blackens and in their last breath they sigh 'Winter is coming'.
and yet....
as my wanderings in the garden continue I pause to admire the fattening flower buds on the Edgeworthia chrysantha. They counter the Winter warnings with a definite sign of Spring. These buds are waiting their moment and will herald the Spring and decry Winter.
and yet and yet....
I find that running around in my head is the vision of Christopher Lee in his Lord Summerisle finest leading the pageant of characters singing 'Summer is Icumen in'. With this I smile, even as Autumn starts to suggest that winter is coming I know that the season will continue to turn around to Spring and around to Summer again. I shall embrace and enjoy my garden in Autumn, Winter and in Spring, Summer and Autumn again. Just remind of this is the cold grey mirky days of January......
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