November 6, 2011

Precious, Fleeting Fall

Shi-Shi Gashira sasanqua

This weekend the weather was crisp and sparkly, as it has been around here for the last couple weeks. We’ve got quite a bit of fall color in the yard, which I’ve been trying my best to savor. There are red sumacs and pink roses. The Georgia asters are blooming bright purple, and the leaves of the Chinese chestnut are as golden and glowing as jars of honey at a sunny roadside stand.

On Saturday we did a lot of gardening as usual. I was working on filling in the pond garden (the area inside the picket fence). I put in more ferns (royal, chain, and Southern wood), and I planted a rusty blackhaw to replace the ashe magnolia that died. I also planted three Henry’s Garnet iteas, two coonties, and two dwarf leucothoes.

While I was planting, Rob was trying to armadillo-proof the vegetable garden. (The armadillos have been digging in there like crazy.) He made a little gate to close off the entrance to the garden, under the arch. He lashed some bamboo poles together to make a frame and covered the frame with chicken wire. “Hey, you should see how half-assed this gate is,” he was shouting. “The hinges are string!” But I thought it was a rather charming little construction; it sagged in the sweetest way.

We gathered bags of leaves from our neighbors’ trash piles to use as mulch around the pond. We found some great bags densely packed with sun-warmed black cherry, pecan, and oak leaves. “Oh, look at this!” Rob was marveling as we dumped a bag and spread it around our new iteas. “This is gold! How could you just throw this stuff out? Don’t people know that leaves are fertilizer? Look at these huge bags of fertilizer everybody’s just throwing out!”

Oh, here’s some good news. We’re going to be getting our “barn” (garage) painted barn-red soon. This has long been a big dream of mine. We spent Saturday afternoon testing colors, painting messy stripes on the south wall. In the end, we decided to go with “Country Redwood.” I can’t wait ’til the painters come!

Cute bird bath with a Korean mum in the background