Stay In The Autumn Moment

People look forward to autumn color, when the leaves of the trees turn gorgeous shades of yellow, orange and red before falling. But sometimes autumn is seen only as a stepping stone to winter. I see autumn as a time for some flowers and plants to really shine and I like to stay in the autumn moment.

Preparing for Winter

Mid September and a time to be enjoying beautiful autumn flowers. However, so many people are already taking out bedding plants and preparing for winter.

In fact, some people I know are already focusing totally on winter, thinking about preparing the house and garden for the cold and snow. But I think it is important to stay in the moment and enjoy the riches that autumn brings to us. Or, as my Mum would put it, don’t wish your life away!

I should point out that one of my friends in Australia is getting excited about spring and the approaching summer – clearly this blog post is aimed at the Northern hemisphere.

Minor Changes To Allow For Weather

Yes, I have made a few alterations to things at my house as we go into autumn. My succulents have been moved to the front terrace from the back as the sun is now lower in the sky and there is more chance of heavy rain. On the front terrace we will get another six weeks of enjoyment from them before they are put away in a greenhouse for winter. This year I changed my planting to major on succulents and that has been very successful. I wrote about my succulents in an earlier blog.

The cats and kittens are now being fed under a covered area that will be sheltered from the rain (and snow – eventually). The sun umbrellas that provided shade for them have now been put away because of the storms that we are now experiencing – sun umbrellas can cause a lot of damage if they are caught by a gust of wind.

Checking Supplies

We have checked the gas to ensure we don’t need a refill (we have a gas tank called a bombola). We have looked at the pile of logs left from last year and the bags of pellets for our pellet stove and checked we don’t need to do any ordering. These are sensible activities as the prices are still cheaper now.

I won’t even think about the winter store cupboard until November. I always have an emergency store in case of heavy snow, which is usually in January/February. Rather than worrying about what might happen, I am enjoying seeing the change in foods available now as autumn progresses and recipes change from cooling salads to warm pasta dishes with pumpkin! I actually had a hot chocolate yesterday – now that was an autumn moment.

Staying In The Autumn Moment – Beautiful Autumn Flowers

Wild Italian Flowers

How glorious the countryside looks now, and still full of color from beautiful autumn flowers. The air is fresh but the sun is still warm. And my land has several patches of gorgeous wild pink cyclamen. They appear in small clumps but slowly spread and this year is a great year for them.

In this image, the cyclamen are surrounded by fallen damsons from our damson tree. I love how the blue of the damsons contrasts with the soft pink of the cyclamen blooms. Seeing this was, for me, a real autumn moment.

Cultivated Flowers

At My House In Italy

I am enjoying my hibiscus which are still flowering well. My geraniums are starting to look a bit sorry for themselves but they are still providing some bright red color. The succulents are providing some great shapes too which add an architectural element to the garden.

There seem to be a lot of butterflies at the moment which are lovely to see. There are also a lot of wasps and hornets attracted to the ripe figs on the trees. We have to turn the lights on the porch off at night as it attracts them and makes dog walking an interesting experience. I think getting stung my a hornet is one autumn moment I could live without.

I don’t have that many cultivated floral plants. But I know someone who does!

At My Mum’s House in the UK

Scented Tuberose

My Mum has a fabulous garden and she puts a lot of time into it. It is always enjoyable to visit and look around and at the moment her garden is full of flower. I can never resist getting out the camera of course.

For example, this fabulous ‘Scented Tuberose’ is by her patio door. I had never heard of these before but they are glorious flowers, the complicated white flower head grows on a tall stem.

These Tuberose are not just gorgeous to look at, they have the most wonderful perfume! Which of course is why Mum has it planted near the house. Pity I can’t share that scent with you, you will just have to take my word for it, heady and exotic is the only way I can describe it.

Floral Hanging Baskets

I was pleased to see that my Mum still has a wonderful display of petunias, as shown in this image of red petunias cascading down from a hanging basket. The UK has had a heatwave this summer so I was surprised to see how well my Mum had managed – she has quite a few rain butts to collect water which has made the difference this year.

I really struggle to grow Petunias here in Italy, they go all slimy and sticky and I end up getting rid of them. I don’t bother with those any more though I am envious of the balconies I pass with beautiful cascades of them. But my Mum has green fingers (or as they say in the USA, a green thumb) and she seems to be able to grow anything. Don’t those red geraniums look fabulous?

Some Flowers Offer A Double Treasure

Even the flowers that have finished can provide something special.

Clematis Blue Dancer

Here, again from my Mum’s garden, a clematis has finished flowering but now has these marvelous silky seed heads. This is ‘Clematis Blue Dancer’ a deciduous plant which has lovely bell shaped blue flowers with white centers in the summer. But as the flowers fade these incredible seed heads form.

The seed heads contrast wonderfully with the green leaves and the black metal support that the plant is growing up. What a great addition to the garden, providing summer flowers and something special for the autumn too.

It is amazing to think that it won’t be long before there is nothing left of this incredible plant than the stalks!

Oak Leaved Hydrangea

My Mum also has another plant that provides double the enjoyment.

The ‘Oak Leaved Hydrangea’ has beautiful delicate white flowers in the summer but just look at what happens with the leaves in autumn. Just a beautiful range of color, and the leaves are strongly veined and very attractive.

I must look out for this one in Italy! They are fine in dry shade and sun and I have plenty of that.

All in all I think I have made a good case for staying in the autumn moment.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

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Thank you for reading!