Now that it’s officially autumn, illuminated by an exquisitely timed harvest moon, blanketed in morning fog and wrapped in the katsura’s scent of burnt sugar, I am going to have to finally let go of late summer and start calling fall by name. I’ve been sort of  stubborn about acknowledging calendar shifts (all except winter into spring – I always jump the gun on that one) but I like to think it’s just my peculiar and contrary way of making sure I remember to appreciate the current moment, no matter what its name is.

In any case, it doesn’t behoove a gardener to be too resistant to change. Nature is ephemeral and capricious after all, and we’d lose interest if it wasn’t. Our gardens teach us to pay close attention and take nothing for granted.

Just like gardening, flower arranging is an excellent exercise in letting go. Yesterday, Blakely Szosz, one of our diva volunteer flower arrangers demonstrated the tips, tricks and a few of the rules (once you know the rules, you can break them) that go into making artful arrangements. Part of the beauty of an arrangement – and part of what is so fascinating and heart breaking (just like gardening) – is that it is a living sculpture that is going to fade, wither and die. You’ve simply got to enjoy it while it lasts. And then make another. I have to admit that I don’t have a natural inclination to bring flowers in the house or make arrangements. I’d generally prefer to leave everything be (and to the bees) in the garden. But as the days get shorter, I can begin to see the appeal of bringing parts of the garden inside for an extended period of appreciation. And now my frustrated inner artist is inspired too… There’s one more flower arranging demonstration in the Autumn Splendor series next Wednesday at 11AM on the mansion’s north porch.

Do you cut flowers to bring in the house? Any particular time of year more than another? Do you create a work of art?