July 2007 Newsletter
Watering dry gardens on a late summer afternoon, many intimate events were occurring in my own Annamaranna gardens. A large cat-faced spider snagged a large shiny fly in its wide garden web. It raced to the struggling fly and deftly spun the fly around and wrapped it up into a nice, tight bundle. Then, in no great hurry, hauled it's fresh dinner up under a house shingle and began to dine. Wow… the drama of life and death. Nature is often small and silent. Other times it fills the sky and explodes with energy, witness to a thunderstorm.
Professional gardeners must wait to work our own gardens, some years until July or even August. Our expectant flowerpots wait quietly, patiently. We weed our flowers and talk with the herbs with what time allows. Having the time to frolic away in a personal garden is a fundamental connection that all gardeners need.
Autumn is coming. The new apple tree holds one solitary apple, it's companions long since knocked from the tree by violent hail. The last of the figs hang waiting to be plucked. Pumpkins are swelling and bringing on the familiar Halloween orange. Goldfinches and lesser goldfinches flock into the stands of sunflowers and lambs quarters. Their soft airy whistles call back and forth through the garden. The nuthatches and chickadees are busy stashing their seeds into the bark of the maple tree. Many plants are beginning their changes already. There are burning bushes burning and many leaves are beginning to yellow. Always subtle at first, then BOOM fall colors everywhere! It will be happening soon.
In the gardens the iris have been lifted. Lawns are being fertilized, while the gardens are not. August is when the plants receive the message that fall is coming. Fertilizers confuse that message. Of course having organic gardens means the soil and plants work to provide their own nutrients. We also stop cutting back the roses in August to encourage them to begin the process of winding down for the cold season. Bulb orders are being tallied. If bulbs are on YOUR list, please make sure your bulbs are on OUR list. Spring blooming bulbs are a joy in the early garden!
We hope you have been enjoying
this luscious growing season, with all the rain and cool weather. Truly, we
only had a few weeks of hot weather, the rest of the time we were as Seattle.
We gardeners have relished the coolness. The plants have responded and even
become decadent in the growth. Some plants have cascaded onto their neighbors
and the cutting back has begun. We are looking ahead to the fast-approaching
autumn. Enjoy the final days of summer 2007. Peace.
"Everything gardens."
Peter Bane, Permaculture teacher
Blue Planet Earthscapes P O Box 861 Manitou Spgs, CO 80829 (719) 685 - 0290