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October Falls Away

October left town on Friday, foisting the reality of November and the most significant election of my lifetime, November 5. I’ve kept busy all month with organizing clients and social engagements, spending time with friends and family, and trying to avoid the news.

Unseasonably hot temperatures kept me out of the garden the first week of October. It’s hard to fathom triple-digit days at a time when the angle of the sun says fall, not July.

I celebrated my birthday on October 2, and we had fun handing out candy on Halloween. Mike carved three beautiful pumpkins for the front deck. Soon, they’ll join the compost bin. The seeds are outside for the squirrels to enjoy or to plant a pumpkin for next year.

This year, I polished off the last of my Halloween paper and ephemera, making cards for friends, seasonal bookmarks, and craft-making kits next to the children’s Little Free Library. I offered seeds from my garden as well.

My friend Marcia gave me a treasure trove of vintage postage, so I had fun making a few pumpkins.

There are plenty of tasks in an autumn garden, and we’re finally enjoying the cool weather needed to get things done. I’ve been pruning where appropriate and removing spent annuals. The anemones grew tall this year, with the extra weight of blooms, bending them in a gentle arch to show off a snowy white skirt. I removed the flower stalks from the lower garden but left a pair of tall plants to go to seed. The hummingbirds will be along in a few months to harvest the seed fluff for their nests.

A second round of nasturtiums arrived on the scene, flaunting lovely saucer-sized leaves and a limited number of orange and red flowers. Nasturtiums self-seed in the spring and summer, dying off by the middle of July. The fall variety has proliferated in a section planted with freesia. They’re lovely.

This morning, I planted forty spring bulbs, a mixture of double yellow narcissus and grape hyacinth. I replaced the leggy coleus growing in a pot along our deck with cold-weather cyclamen. We enjoyed a light rain overnight, refreshing the garden and the stale air.

In the wee hours of Sunday, the US ends Daylight Saving Time (DST) or Falls Back. Here’s hoping this isn’t a metaphor for what could happen if this country doesn’t vote for Democracy. I’m cautiously optimistic for a better way forward.

“There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter.” – Barack Obama

33 thoughts on “October Falls Away”

  1. I can’t get over the differences in gardening seasons. Thrilled digit temps at this time of year, wow!! Mind you, we did have warm temps for much of Oct … our version of warm temps, more like 60-72! You flower beds remain glorious. I love that you’re expecting your hummingbirds. Our arrive pretty well exactly on schedule around May 24 and leave before Labor Day. Two different worlds! I’m praying for a rational outcome that preserves democracy, with minimal chaos. 🙏🙏🙏

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  3. I love your garden and all the crafts that you have going. I ended October nursing a swollen and painful hand, unable to knit, and watching way too much election news. I swing back and forth between optimism and fear; this is, as you said, the most important election in my lifetime. I never, ever thought that I would see a time when scientific knowledge was dismissed and vilified, public service sneered at, books banned, and democracy itself threatened. I have voted, donated, and even nailed a Kamala sign to my tree. I hope America does the right thing.

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    • Thank you! They both bring me great pleasure and a bit of calm in the storm.

      I’m sorry to hear about your swollen and painful hand. It’s hard enough being in pain, but doubly so when it keeps you from the things you love.

      Like you, I’ve donated, voted, and posted a sign and even bumper stickers for our cars. It’s sickening to have come to this, and frightening as well.

      There’s nothing left to do but hope for a positive way forward. The world is watching.

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      • I’m in the Cat Ladies for Kamala group and there has been a flood of memes and messages from women around the world hoping for a good outcome in the election. This is having more impact than I realized, and I think that women everywhere feel unsettled by the surge of white male supremacy we are seeing.

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        • I enjoy hearing about that kind of support. I feel women are comining together more than ever, realizing that a lot of our power comes from each other. Women supporting women who support women. If Kamala Harris wins this race, we’re in for a seachange of positives. I’m so ready to turn that page. I know you are too. Let’s hope that a majority of voters in this country agree. I voted by mail weeks ago. Now the day is finally here.

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  4. Our state had its own elections a few days ago, and while our parties are not as polarised between red and blue, we still took what I consider a retrograde step. Fortunately, this is only statewide, not national, so nothing is too final. I wish you a reduction in heat, stress and political posturing.

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  6. Happy Belated Birthday! Those cards are wonderful and it does stay warm there into the Fall! I too have been avoiding the news. I listen to a wonderful NPR jazz radio station all day – KUVO – it’s online too in case you like classic and contemporary jazz as well as cool world music, etc. shows on the weekend – and as soon as NPR news comes on I temporarily turn the radio off. We’ll see what happens…

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    • Thank you, Tierney. Our local NPR is all news, I’m afraid, but I should make more of an effort to listen to music and not news. I keep meaning to try various podcasts, but I never quite get it together.

      Today is the day…or at least the start of it. I hope this country votes sensibly. The alternative is to horrible to contemplate.

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  8. I love seeing the things you have made Alys – beautiful cards again! And putting little packages of seed out for friends and neighbours is such a lovely idea! Beautiful Nasturtiums so late in the year. 😃🍁🌻💕

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    • Thank you for all your good cheer, Cathy.

      I’ve always liked the idea of seed-sharing, but I tend to forget about it. This year I purposely gathered many seeds, and bought glassine envelopes to hold them. I’ve had that garden stamp for years, so it all came together.

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  9. I love “October left town on Friday”. Such a wonderful image. Farewell, beautiful October.

    Those pumpkins are fabulous, and your creativity is always inspiring.

    But what heat you have been having! Very warm in Maine from time to time, too, but only in the 70s. Record setting for us.

    Finally, oh this election! The historian Michael Bechlos maintains it is equivalent to the ones in 1860 and 1940. I think he is right. It feels as though this country is on a knife’s edge. Which way will we go? I will be writing about this today on my blog.

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    • Thank you, Laurie! That’s nice of you to say.

      Mike has incredible patience when it comes to carving those pumpkins, and it’s so nice when the young candy-seekers notice.

      These record-setting heatwaves continue to raise alarms. I hope we still have time.

      I’m off to read your post. Thank you for stoppingn by, Laurie.

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  10. You are so creative, Alys! I love all your paper arts. But more than anything I like to follow along with what you’re doing in your garden! Sometime in 2025 I hope to see it in person! 😉 We had that horrible heat, as well, and now that it’s cooler I have plenty of catch up work to do! Love your photos, my friend.

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  11. Hi Ays! Your garden is so lovely–and a shady retreat. I still have fall crops in mine and am looking forward to eating them in the next few weeks. Otherwise, it’s cleaned up and put to bed. I’ve been reviewing my social media, moving to Bluesky from Twitter and thinking about writing in the blog again! We’ve just started to get seasonal weather. Had a beautiful long dry, dry, dry summer with the consequences of California weather, California drought…but it’s finally started to rain again. Cheers to you!

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    • Hello, hello. Your post came through from “Someone” so I’m not sure who this is. I’m glad you commented though and I hope you will return to blogging. I just joined Bluesky. I dumped Twitter when Elon took over.

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