Autumn Equinox Garden Stroll
Just when you think Summer is the most beautiful season~ Nature shifts into Autumn!
On this first day of Autumn there is so much beauty here at the farm. Let’s take a stroll…
It’s early in the morning. The sun is barely up and we’re strolling through the gardens of the nursery. Coffee & camera in hand we slowly meander through the gardens as birds sing in the old Maple trees. There’s Blue Jays,.a pair of Northern Cardinals and a very dapper Red-bellied Woodpecker high up in the Maples. Meanwhile Black~capped Chickadees, and White~breasted Nuthatches are twittering in the Ninebark and Chokeberry shrubs going on about their morning breakfast.
As we walk along the flowers & leaves have begun changing into gold… with whites and purple hues too
The Brown~eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) ‘hedge’ has been blooming since late July— it’s now 7’ tall and still a sight to see! The Yarrow patch has now transformed into pretty brown seed heads. Isn’t it so lovely mixed with the Blue Wood Asters (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) planted last Spring?
I visited this patch of garden yesterday afternoon. My goodness the amount of bees was astonishing! You could hear them buzzing in the Blue Wood Asters from 12 feet away!! And just look at the ‘clouds’ of Calico Asters everywhere. So dainty and yes they do look like tiny ‘daisy chains’
Oh goodness yes my friend… we will need to come gather seeds in November to grow more of these for the bees next year!
There is a request for an Autumn wreath…
She’s asked to pick the wreath up this Saturday. It’s 24” wide when finished so we’ll need lots of Autumn foraged finds for this one!
There are so many wonderful blooms and seeds heads to chose from…
We’ll pick some Ninebark, Crabapples and Smooth Hydrangea to start. Then pick and add pretty Monarda seed heads, Spotted Beebalm, Sneezeweed, and dried Echinacea too. Oh yes friend a few sprigs of Calico Asters are a must!
This wreath will shine with Autumn’s beautiful colors AND offer food for the birds!
And there’s tins of healing salves to make this weekend plus a little batch of oxymel for sore throats this Winter.
Let’s stroll along to the meadow walk for some Goldenrod (Solidago) blooms… there’s a whole field of golden wonders waiting for us!
The dainty Calico Asters are indeed peeking out from everywhere! Did you know they were the first seeds I sowed the ‘wild’ way? Yep— a few years ago on a cold January afternoon I gathered a few sparse stems of Calico Asters I’d saved in paper bags. Put on snowshoes and sprinkled the seeds EVERYWHERE on the freshly fallen snow.
A lovely way to spend a Winter afternoon! Highly recommend it for you this Winter!
Harvesting Goldenrod…
Before we snip a few blooms let’s give thanks for the beauty & abundance. Don’t forget to ask permission and only take what we really need for the medicine. You want mostly blooms that are budding up or just opening for best potency. Here you can add them to the basket…
Let’s head down to the ‘North 40’ where more Solidago has begun blooming in the shade of the White Birch trees.
I forgot to tell you…
Watch for little treasures as we go along like this tiny feather… isn’t it cute! Perhaps the bird stood on the stems of the Goldenrod preening their feathers in the sunshine! A great reason to NOT clean up the garden right!
Yes— I do wonder what bird might have left it. A goldfinch? Hmm I don’t know there’s that little bright orange tip on the feather… You’ll have to research more about birds later. (Tough job friend, I know- hahaha!)
Oh my goodness! Do you see that?!?
Hidden so well I didn’t even see it when I asked permission to snip the bloom— a large hornet! Do you see it? Sleeping away while we are over here admiring the pretty tiny feather STEM IN HAND. Oblivious that we maybe waking someone up from their rest under a leaf!
Talk about being woken up on the wrong side of the bed!
Let’s apologize as we gently put down the stem into the Goldenrod patch… we’ll just let the wasp start their day on their own terms shall we!
Perhaps its time we head to the barn for a cuppa tea… we’ll put the basket in the shade.
While we sip our tea, anyone else whose come along with us can fly away home.
The dew will have dried off the flowers soon. We’ll need some of those pretty Asters and Rudbeckia for this weekend’s bouquets. They really do dress up the dahlias don’t they!
What a lovely morning! Thanks for coming with me on my Autumn Equinox stroll.
Sharing the beauty of this little wildflower farm with you is something I treasure!
Let’s go dig and wrap some native perennials for this week’s ‘last call’ for plants. There’s a big patch of Foxglove Penstemon and a row of Wild Bergamot calling out for more room! Grab a garden spade and I’d fetch Tom the Wheelbarrow… this is going to be so much fun!
