Fall Colors in Fading Light

David and I have guests arriving from Amsterdam on Monday. Half-Dutch David has known Seth for 33 years, since his two years in Amsterdam after college, and they used to visit each other when David flew regularly to Europe for work. They’ve not seen each other in six plus years since David changed jobs, and I’ve never met Seth or his wife Dorothea. We’re all excited for this synchronously manifested time together.

From Monday, September 16 through Sunday, September 22, we’ll use our house as home base for all sorts of day trip adventures, and they’ll pass through again later the following week. All of which means I will have no session availability and very minimal email time for the next week. I will check emails at least once per day, and people can schedule sessions for later this month and into October. I won’t be blogging unless something really nudges me to do so.

I thought I’d leave everyone with a taste of Autumn beauty before the coming Fall Equinox. I know many clients, friends and myself experienced a bittersweet week — a time of rich growth and harvests, but also recognition that with growth comes change. I spent many sessions comforting sobbing clients during the Pisces Moon. Some felt embarrassed or confused by such powerful emotions, while others know they carry multitudes within them. To me, it all felt perfectly timed with the changing seasons here in the Northern Hemisphere.

“This, too, shall pass” is always true, whether joy or pain, spring blossoms, summer fruit, or fall colors and frostbitten plants. When the land goes to sleep in winter, it regenerates itself for spring. Meanwhile, I invite you to enjoy the moment wherever you are. Here’s how things look and feel this late afternoon at Dra’Faven:

Wishing you all a gorgeous week! Enjoy some of that Aries Moon vigor. That Pisces phase was intense! Much love and catch you on the other side of the Equinox …

Garden Update ~ Less Work, More Fun

2019 remains my lowest maintenance garden year yet. While I have very few edible annuals growing, the herbs, flowers and fruiting shrubs continue to produce. Our bird and butterfly population keeps growing, too. With temperatures finally in the 80’s, the slowpoke basil took off, and frequent nighttime rains plus well rooted perennials mean I’ve only needed to water the garden three times so far!

I’ve been waiting forever for these Casablanca lilies to bloom. I love how they contrast with the butterfly friendly liatris.

I thought the Polar Vortex claimed all my hummingbird mint,

Garden Update and a Whirlwind PA Trip

On Wednesday, I returned from a whirlwind trip to PA to help my mom, aka “Momma Jane” prepare for another move — this time from a standalone house into a 2BR apartment in an active retirement community where many of her friends live. She’ll hire packers and movers, but my 5-day trip laid the legal, financial, insurance and emotional groundwork for her shift. Big mountains (of paperwork!) moved. The weather in PA was hot, hot, hot to this Michigan gal, but on my last full day there, we remembered to take a sweaty selfie:

I came back to a raucously blooming garden that needed a bit of deadheading but otherwise maintained itself. Here’s some seasonal red, white and blue:

Red bergamot “fireworks” with a bumble bee up front

Madonna lily in bloom

Delphiniums on the Fourth of July

… and pinks:

Garden Update ~ Pollinator Paradise

So far so good on the groundhog front! Since I removed all kale, lettuce and red clover, they’ve not been back. Or, if they have, they still don’t like chard, herbs and all my super fragrant flowers. Our yard is pollinator central for the neighborhood, and I love it! So many bees of all sorts, wasps, butterflies, and moths. The birds are more abundant, too. Just thought I’d share some beauty:

Garden Update: Perennials in Containers and Mid-May Blooms and Growth

Tomorrow marks the supposed last frost for Kalamazoo, MI. I’ll need to find a new motivation to do squats now that I (hopefully) won’t need to haul these lilies and ranunculus into the garage a couple nights per week! The almost blooming chives in front love the cool spring nights, but I bought the more tender flowers on the first warm day we had. Six frost warnings later, I admit, I got a bit ahead of the weather. 🙂

Our backyard redbud knows the right time to blossom. I love this tree, and the photos never do it justice:

Hostas, rhubarb, vinca, and strawberries know it’s time to go green:

Autumn Renewal

As we move further into autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, I can’t help smiling at the instantaneous replacement of whatever falls away. I see this most obviously in the garden, where hibiscus leaves turn yellow and burgundy for fall, while two of our four bushes sport an unexpected second round of blooms:

Making room for new food in our chest freezer the other day,

September Pretties

It feels like Autumn right now — grey skies, blustery winds … fall clematis, nasturtiums and sedum in bloom. Here’s a little garden beauty to start your week: