People are always saying how fall is a time of change. And anyone who steps outside can’t argue this. But I’d like to propose another theme for fall as we move swiftly into winter, something that the plants are doing.
Around Sept 21, we experienced equal day and night. Since then, we have shifted from the long days of summer into the winding down of longer nights. I’ve observed the plants responding to this shortening of daylight by halting new growth and beginning the collection of energy for their preparations for winter. The garden seems to stand still in time, in between a growing time and a dormant time.
Can I pose a question to you? What if you took slower breaths this time of year? What would it look like if you followed the rhythm of the season by prepping for a season of dormancy and rest for yourself this winter?
This is what the plants are doing. They will soon look dead with brown leaves falling in the cold winds of winter. Yet, the plants are not dead at all. If there isn’t any snowfall, we water the plants about once a month. Why? Because beneath the soil, where we cannot see, there is growth happening. The plants are digging their roots deeper into the ground all winter. The kind of deep growth that sets the plants up for the wildest success once spring arrives.
Because the plants took that slow inward season, they can expand even more into their becoming as the wheel of seasons turns once more.
Sarah Armanovs is the Gardens Manager at The Arboretum at Flagstaff.
