Our first light frost came two weeks ago and since then, there have been several more, slowly ending the garden season this year. While the annuals are the first to go, those near the warmth of the paved driveway and stonewall beds that retain heat have lingered a bit longer.
Gleaning what few blossoms that remain, I picked this little bouquet of jewel-toned beauties – Salvia ‘Black and Blue,’ deep pink Speedwell (Veronica spicata) and Hearts-ease (Viola tricolor) to put in a small silver antique bud vase. I’ve put it in the window above the kitchen sink where I can treasure these last blooms of the year.
Two chrysanthemums that I overwintered in the garage were planted out this spring and have produced well, so I picked a few sprigs to put in my little Lenox vase.
I thank Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts the meme In a Vase on Monday, for hosting another garden season of sharing arrangements each week with gardeners all other the world.
I’m joining Robin at Breezes at Dawn for her annual 
We parked in a road pull-off, leashed the dog and set off on the old road now primarily used for logging and snowmobiling. The woodland was strewn with fallen leaves, the path edged with with moss-and-lichen-encrusted stone walls, and everywhere we looked, high or low, was beauty.
An amazing structure, given that it was built largely with horse-and-man-power, without mortar, each stone snug to the next, built to weather the tides of time.
Last fall, I tossed my rotted pumpkin behind the compost pile, hoping a seed or two would grow this year. To my delight, I found six huge pumpkins growing amongst the weeds this week. The one above was the smallest. Isn’t nature’s generosity amazing?
Continuing the harvest theme, I’ve used my grape motif pitcher for a second arrangement containing Concord grapes from vines that were here when we bought the house nearly 30 years ago. As we are not fans of grape jelly, they sadly tend to rot on the vine. I tasted one and they are quite flavorful, so I might pick some for eating later.
The red maples (Acer rubrum) seen above are starting to show their signature colors as the cool temps of the past couple weeks have brought us an early fall, but luckily, no frost. We officially celebrate the Equinox today, ushering in autumn. However, Nature has given us a short reprieve these past three days with highs in the 80sF (upper 20sC). A cool front passes through this evening, so we’ll be back to more autumnal temps tomorrow.
Eliza Waters 