The first week of October, I took to cleaning up the garden, which had become half overrun with the last of the year’s produce and half completely withered away. I always love trading out some of the wilted summer plants with colorful fall mums, kale, and pansies, and seeing them mixed with the blooms that are left standing from the summer. This year, a few dahlias and roses lingered until just the past week or so, the yarrow made a final stand, and the second blooming of lavender is still going strong. A few hearty herbs have withstood the first frosts, and the Brussels sprouts are ready to harvest.
This season of the garden is always such a blip. Next year, I hope to begin transitioning from summer to fall a little earlier, but with the scorching summer heat sticking around well into the end of September, so many cold-weather plants tend to struggle. I’m open to any and all suggestions for more plants I can incorporate that favor both seasons.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be tucking in our raised beds for the winter and moving all the patio furniture, terracotta pots, and other warm-weather pieces inside until spring, and while it saddens me to do so, I’m quite looking forward to this year’s season of rest—of wintering, if you will—alongside the garden, so we can both come back a little stronger and more vibrant next year.
I don’t do any in-ground planting in our front yard for the fall, but I do swap out all the summery potted plants for fall ones, and tend to go a little pumpkin crazy.
I hope my fellow gardeners had a lovely and fruitful season. Here’s to dreaming up lots of lovely garden plans for next spring!
—Aly