Everything in it's time

EVERYTHING IN IT'S TIME

For most people ........Fall is an ending ......

...a time to harvest and to reap what you have sown .

For me ......it is the beginning of new ...

.....with The start of Nov comes the arrival of my birthday ......so for me it is a new year ....and a time to take  note of what has happened in the past year .
   I am forever, And always, grateful for the journey and for those that have traveled with me in the past year ..client's and friends .
  Thank you if you are one of the many!
    Like the gardens I work ......some people are here to stay ...and are going with me into the next year .....some just needed me for the moment ......and others ...have moved away or moved on ......

I count each person and what they have brought to me as blessings in my life in the past year .. like the gardens ....some interaction has worked ..some has been struggle 

 ..all blessings .....like the gardens I am privilaged to work in ......each attached to people ....and the people's souls .....

 for me  there is so much more .....

 As the gardens go to sleep one by one ..along with my past year of life ..
....I am able to view what has worked and what may need work ...not only with The people I have touched  ..but in each of the gardens as well ...
.Hopefully bringing the gift of that knowledge and insight to the following year!.
  What may appear in your garden as a desolate wasteland  ......with all the foliage and bloom gone ......is to me a delight .......it is like peering inside and seeing the bones of the garden .
    Gardens for me this time of year .... are like sitting with a quiet old man .....now .
.and enjoying his reminising  ...having personally known what a spunky, charming ,handsome, trouble maker he was along the way .....
With out the busy-ness of the leaves.....
....I  get to see the "support " system of the entire garden ..
.The hard scape ..statuary and focal points , sitting areas.. . and open spaces ....the evergreens and the edges and pathways ..as well as the branches of trees ..and view what is left as winter interest ..
..If after the leaves are raked and taken away ....the gardens look good now  in early Nov.
.........I have truely done my job as designer ! 
 In my experience as a New England garden designer ...there are two challenges ...( beyond the weather ) ....providing color in the garden in mid August when even annuals quit in the heat ..
 ......and being able to leave enough winter interest in a garden to please the eye , without making it a maintenance nightmare !
       So consider that rather than an end to the garden season ...that a new year has begun ......
...before you retire to the heat on inside and resign yourself to gloves and mitten weather ........take one more look at your garden . 
        Does it's bones and lines please you ? ........
    If yes .......then add some daffodils before you go ......so their color greets you in the Spring .....and have a glorious winter sitting by the fire and dreaming of the seed catalogues that will arrive in Jan .....
   If not ? .......There is still time ...!
....give deciduous trees a prune ....put in a walk ...or a patio, or  put up a lamp post or a new fence ....re -edge a bed ......and as long as the ground is not yet frozen ........buy discount trees and shrubs and give them a home!
   Late fall is also a wonderful time to light scape a garden ...!
    Don't forget to plant narcissus and scilla and tete a tete  bulbs ...now ....the tiny sub bulbs ..
    I love these often forgotten bulbs ... should they have to compete and bloom with the peony .and rose in summer ...they may be ignored .....
...   BUT ...they do not .....they arrive at a time when all others are still dormant and can not handle the harsh Spring nights, often appearing in a warm area where the sun has just melted the snow away ....... 
.....they, the tiny ,  have a special place and beauty ..
...as ...they are the first to greet you in the spring .! When after months  of snow .....a tiny blossom .....is deeply appreciated . !
   Every thing in it's time .