We have been fortunate to have many sunny days this year but this time of year that is far from guaranteed. While we have had a lot of those sunny days lately, today we got a taste of what is to come over the next several months.
Heavy frost covered everything this morning. The temperature was 27ºF and clouds covered the sky. The frost eventually melted and temperatures did rise to the forties, but the clouds have stayed. That stick season you may have heard about has arrived.
Our flower garden beds thrived this summer. All that sun with the perfect amount of rain really did the trick. Flowers bloomed all summer, and lots of them. They are now done with that. In the past we would cut everything back–chop it all down and haul that vegetation to the compost pile. The past couple years, however, we have kept it all there and done the pruning and cleanup in the spring.
We have some Goldenrod in the beds, along with Cone Flowers and Black-Eyed-Susans. The blooms are gone. What remains are stalks with seeds. Not only will some of the seeds drop and propagate, but birds love those bad boys. Juncos and Goldfinches will be happy to snack on them once winter hits full-on.
There are still some trees with leaves. Across the valley there is a stand of aspen shining bright yellow on the hillside. Other hillsides facing north and east have leaves as well, although colors are more muted than they were a couple weeks ago.
Earlier I stood looking out at the back deck and screened-in porch. I took advantage of both of those this summer. I had coffee and breakfast on that porch most days while it was warm, and enjoyed the sun until it swept around and put the deck in shadow. I even thought occasionally how I much I would miss it once it got too cold. I kept it up in the morning until I was wearing a hat and draping a blanket over my shoulders, but I have now accepted that summer is over.
Winter can be long. We we will have many cloudy days, and those days will be long. There will be days when the snow does not fall and the wind blows and the sun hides. I would like to say that I will sometimes brave all that and sip coffee on the porch, but let’s be real. That ain’t happening. The Goldfinches, however, their own colors muted, will be happy we left all those deadheads. I will watch them through the window and think of them turning yellow and beginning to sing as spring comes. And on those dreary days, that will get me through.
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