Autumn Equinox - Insects Hole Up Underground

These days are some of my favorite. Autumn has a way of reinvigorating or refocusing that I wish would occur more often. In the gardens it’s a different type of busy compared to May. A necessary rush to prepare and practice before the winter and waiting sets in, but it’s an extra pep of life all the same!

We have been making edits and plans this week, and one topic I would like to share centers around Anemone.

Star bursts of pink and yellow!

Last fall we supplemented Anemone ‘Pamina’ along a walkway, hoping to enlarge the existing patch to the neighboring proportions of the Calamintha nepeta ssp. ‘Nepeta’, Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’, & Aster ‘Twilight’. I sadly do not recall what failed or was taken out to open this opportunity. Well, we used the open area and planted enough plants to fit the proportions, but we supplemented with the wrong variety.

Nestling up within Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta.

I thought the timing between the two anemone portions differed as a matter of age. Possibly more ‘experienced’ individuals waking early to watch over the group or elders eager to welcome the younger ones to the space. Although kin, the early bloomers were in fact ‘Lucky Charm’. Still I am titer-tottering which variety I prefer and which suits the space and moment better. ‘Lucky Charm’ , with fewer petals gives off a sense of unpretentious confidence, befitting the overall gardens. Framed between calamintha and coreopsis, two topographic clumpings, this pronounced simplicity could be a comfort. Leaves are a deep bluish green, a hue that balances the brightness of the whites and yellows. ‘Pamina’ may possess the same flower color as the aforementioned anemone and a slightly lighter foliage color, yet the many flower petals produce more shadows. That may be the biggest observation: ‘Pamina’ catches slivers of shadows, whereas ‘Lucky Charm’ cups the sunlight.

Closer look at the two varieties found our example grouping: ‘Lucky Charm’ & ‘Pamina’.

This type of observation and study brings me wonderful joy that I carry with me outside of the gardens. I am encouraged to listen and respect my emotional responses when I am physically by the plants, however, comparing photographs and repetitious daydreams lend a valid perspective of their own! Plenty of other pressing projects to tend to, so this one has some time to ruminate and the bees have plenty of pollen to collect.

Here is to wishing these days would last forever,

-M-

‘Lucky Charm’ began opening weeks before ‘Pamina’ (group right of shovel shaft).

Honey bee and ‘Pamina’.

All together now! The pinks and whites are a wonderful autumn sight around the bluish hues of the stones on the pathway and house.