Here we are, in early Autumn. Nature’s shifting.

The leaves in Connecticut are changing color, the temperatures are all over the thermometer from chilly to warmish and back to chilly again, and all of a sudden the days are tangibly shorter.

The sun is much lower in the sky than it was a couple of weeks ago and long shadows are beginning to appear where full sun reigned just a short time ago. Not to mention the fact that the sun is rising and setting closer to the south every day now. My roses and I are preparing for the cold weather to arrive.

Early Fall Roses

I always feel like nesting this time of year. Soon the humidity will drop and so will the windows. Time for fall cleaning and decorating and sprucing things up inside the house after spending most of the summer outside in the garden. Nature changing.

I still walk through the gardens every day and delight daily in a beautiful bloom here and there, but things are definitely changing out there.

Because the days are shorter and there is less available sunlight, my roses always stretch out pretty dramatically during September and October. ‘Liebeszauber’ (aka Loves Magic) throws out 10′ canes every autumn! Looking around the rose garden, you may think your plants have sprouted climbing canes…but it’s not true. It’s just a seasonal phenomenon.

Slowing Down for Winter Nature

I have stopped dead-heading the spent blooms in my garden. All spring and summer, we remove spent blooms to encourage our rosebushes to regrow and send up new blooms, but now I want to help them gently into dormancy by letting them produce some seed heads, or ‘hips.’ Growth will then slow, the air will be getting colder, the light will continue to decrease until the winter solstice in December, and my roses will fall asleep before winter arrives.

After keeping a pristine garden all summer long, it looks a little messy out there! It does every year, and it’s good for the roses. I pull spent petals off and shower visitors upon their departure! My grandchildren love to pull off handfuls and chase each other around the yard. When I get a good bunch of petals on the ground, I’ll rake them out of the garden and bag them for the landfill. Chores in the garden are easing up a bit.

I have also stopped spraying in my garden for the season. I’ll expect to see a little fungus from time to time, but it’s the end of the season and I can deal with some spots if they show up. This is the time to let nature take over. I’ll still cut some beautiful blooms to bring inside or to bring to a friend, but for the next month or so, I won’t be doing any pruning which might stimulate my plants to start growing again. The time for rest is drawing near!