Fall in the Garden

I love spring in the garden, all the plants come out from their winter slumber, everything is new, green and pretty again. The summer is filled with blooms of all kinds, butterflies, bees, birds and, unfortunately, weeds (sigh!) I devote many hours each week to tending the flower beds but it's a labor of love. After spending hours sitting at my desk it's nice to putter in the dirt, prune spent flowers and enjoy nature's show. However,I think I exert the most labor in the fall. The perennials need to be pruned, soil amendments need to be done, dead plants need to be pulled and leaves are everywhere. As the summer flowers have come and gone I find that I plant a lot of annuals this time of year so that we can enjoy color in the garden all throughout the winter. I plant pansies, cyclamen, primrose, snapdragons. They all are colorful and last through our somewhat mild winter. My backyard garden was particulary pretty this morning, the morning sun highlighted the flowers. Birds were flitting about everywhere, singing their cheery songs. I thought I'd share!