“We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” ― Aldo Leopold

Beginning the fall corn harvest.

Fall is my favorite season.  This wasn't the best year for fall color.  It was so dry, many of the leaves went from green to gone. Still I love:  Crisp, cool weather; Gold and red leaves; My favorite sweaters; Hot chocolate in the morning; Apple cider donuts; Bugs are gone; Long walks down country lanes.  
                                               

Maple leaves turn black in the courtyard.

Light drives lower and one bluejay crams

our cold memories out past the sun,

 By Annie Finch

 Every day the Jays show up shouting for their peanuts.

Queen Ann's lace and chicory on a bright fall morning. 

Every twig, every branch, every blade of grass Every surface that one can see Has been adorned as though from high above As though diamonds are now given for free.

Poem by Wisconsin poet Christine Kysely



Hard freeze last night.  Sad to see the flowers die  back for the season.  I won't complain.  Some people have 5" of snow and other people have waist  high mud flowing through their homes and burying their cars.

I went out before the freeze and gathered armloads of blooms and shoved them into vases.  A couple more days of summer indoors.

This is a shot of the last day of the 2015 garden,

Good old iris Immortality looked fantastic this fall.

I still have lots of garden pictures that weren't published.  I think I'll just continue to show them through the fall.  Nice to revisit the garden in the cold months.  

How sociable the garden was. We ate and talked in given light. The children put their toys to grass. All the warm wakeful August night. - Thomas Gunn

The garden is winding down.  Another week or two and we will see a killing frost.  I love the cool, dry air of autumn.  I will miss the fresh tomatoes and sweet corn but I'm not sad about the end of the season for flower gardening.  I'm ready for a change. 

Below are a few shots of favorite plants that bloomed in the late summer.

These are my first Magic Lilies.  There are so many affectionate names for this plant.  Surprise, Magic, Resurrection, and I'm sure others as well...   I found these at the Klehm plant swap this spring.  They were a mass of broken, limp foliage that did not look too promising.  Anyway, I caged the foliage to keep it up off the ground and it remained greenish for several weeks before it disappeared.  I had forgotten them completely when suddenly like magic they reappeared.  

What dreadful hot weather we have! 

It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.

-  Jane Austen  

Phlox is a favorite

  

The new varieties of phlox  are healthy and long blooming.  I love the impact those big, bright clusters make in my garden.

Tempest is on chipmunk patrol.  I wish he would catch a few.  My yard is like Swiss cheese.