Sunday, August 31, 2008

Do not go gentle...

...into the dark and cold nights of autumn. For indeed, the Met Office have decreed that September 1st is the start of autumn. Cue gardening magazines banging on about seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness.

But wait...looking into the garden, I see the flowers of mid-summer still flaunting their blooms. There are a couple of nods towards the changing season - the Schizostylis coccinea Major has just started flowering, and the crab apples are rosy ripe. But the later performers are still shuffling their feet in the wings, waiting to burst onto the stage. Whilst Aster x frikartii 'Monch' has been flowering for a month, the other asters (cultivars unknown - donated by a chap my father did some work for) are still tightly budded. Even the dahlias have yet to burst forth.

True, the robin is starting to sing his ode to the darkening nights, and the unmistakeable odour of the lush summer vegetation starting to rot assails the nostrils on a still morning. But still, until the first frost blackens the tender growth, I'll not acknowledge those mists or accept the mellow fruitfulness, but will celebrate the bean flowers, lilies, and all those other blousy summer blooms who don't listen to the Met Office. And I'll rage, rage against the dying of the light.
(with apologies to Dylan Thomas)

8 comments:

Julia said...

My garden is saying nuts to autumn too. My cannas are just starting to flower!!

NewShoot said...

Hear! Hear!

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

I am with you on this one. I love autumn but the absence of summer this year means that I am just not ready yet. However I have started the chutney making season so maybe it has sneaked up on me.

chaiselongue said...

I agree - let's keep summer going for as long as possible, but then make the most of autumn too.

Anonymous said...

I must say that as much as I hate the continuous rain the plants are loving it. Some that are still flowering would have finished by now if we'd had a hot summer.
Mind you I still would have preferred the sun!

marmee said...

just did a post on "eeking out the last bits of summer" let's take one season at a time!

Giddy said...

I quote Dylan Thomas quite often and at my age, will not go gentle either. Thanks for visiting my blog. I'll be checking back with yours more frequently when the snow flies and time permits, but now, it's back into the garden to harvest more cukes!

Kerri said...

Hear, hear! I'm with you! All the goings on about autumn will not shove me into the cooler season. I'm hanging on for as long as I can!
There are still plenty of blooms in my gardens and I'm enjoying them immensely. Like Giddy, I don't have much time for blogging while the warm days last. I must get back at it!
Thanks so much for visiting. I'd love to hear your english accent :) My dad was from Birmingham originally. Immigrated to Australia with his family when he was 8. I came over here at the tender age of 23, leaving all that lovely warmth in Australia behind! Oh, for long summers and short winters! But it's gorgeous here too, in spite of the long, cold winters.
Your pictures of the insects enjoying the flowers are a real treat.
Happy end of summer! :)