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Do you find yourself a bit blue when the gardening season ends? Do you actually mourn its passing? If so, you’re not alone.
Over the years, many gardeners who live in areas with distinct seasons have written and spoken about their melancholic moods during the fall. In writing this article, I'm no longer an exception.I came across a quote recently that really spoke to me about this issue and is, I think, worth noting here:
"Autumn's melancholy is...nostalgic, revealing time's passing, revelling in loss. It is legitimate lamentation, admissible misery, where the passing of Summer's effusiveness can rightfully be a cause for sadness.... Decay, mould, collapse.Dead heads. Autumn's poignancy is so-called ‘proper mourning', where the subject accepts the passing of the object, and is able to resolve this loss, accepting that it ‘no longer exists.' ".(posted by Jacky Bowring at blog.com)
I was particularly struck by the fact that this quote comes very close to describing my own feelings and experiences.I'd like to share with you a poem I wrote some years ago that not only reflects one of those blue moods, but also addresses the resolution of loss mentioned in the quote.I take the process a step further, though.I reach beyond accepting the loss as something no longer in existence to making that loss a positive memory in anticipation of the next growing season.See if you agree:
Summer Treasures
But a pale shadow of its summer glory, leaf askew and seed head heavy, the garden hunkers down to brace itself against the bluster of cold and ice that is winter.
Was it not just yesterday that I caressed the soft-petaled rose in passing? Savored the sweet scent of honeysuckle drifting over the sill? Plucked a determined weed amidst the mossy stones?
I can still hear the cicada as it drones its raspy song from a nearby oak, still feel the heat of the sun-baked soil on my bare feet, see the firefly in my mind's eye as it performs for me its luminous dance on the breezes of a soft summer night.
These are the treasures of summer that shall sustain me, that I have harvested against the coming chill, until once more the brightening ray brings news of earth's awakening.
The poem unfolded quite unexpectedly in my head one late fall day as I was walking along the banks of the Iowa River during my lunch break.I don't know exactly why it came to me.I certainly wasn't making a conscious effort to compose a poem, and my mood was anything but chipper!
By the time I got back to my desk, the poem was complete.I typed it into my computer, still mystified by this amazing experience.I noticed that my mood had mellowed considerably.Then I realized that the closing lines of the poem already reflected the onset of that mood change.The memories I had of our beautiful summer gardens had become treasures to sustain me rather than memories that made me sad. And the reminder that another growing season was on its way was exactly what I needed.
I keep a copy of this poem not only in my computer, but tucked in the folds of a fall gardening journal, and in a closet containing my winter gear.All are locations where I'm bound to run across it sooner or later. And it always brings a smile.
I'd love to hear of your own experiences.If you care to, you may leave me a note about them--or any other comments you'd like to make--in the space provided below. Please contact me if you'd like to copy the poem.
Spring is just around the corner.Happy gardening!
About Larry Rettig
An enthusiastic gardener for over 50 years, my first plant was a potted Meyer Lemon tree ordered from a comic book ad at age 15. I still have it, and it’s still bearing lemons! My wife and I garden on 3/4 of an acre, both flowers and vegetables. Although our garden is private, it's listed with the Smithsonian Institution as a national heritage garden and is on the National Register of Historic Places. We garden organically and no-till. Our vegetable garden contains a seed bank of vegetables brought to this country from Germany in the mid-1800s. An article on our gardens appears in the Spring 2008 issue of Country Gardens magazine. For more info: http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/m/LarryR/. Photos that appear in my articles without credit are my own.
Posted by MegOntario (from Dundas, Ontario
(Canada)) on March 3, 2008 at 11:20 PM:
I enjoyed reading your poem. The bitter-sweetness of it reminded me of the descriptions of the Japanese Cherry Blossom festival where people both revel in the beauty of the blossoms and grieve at their transitory nature. Over 20 years ago, I lived in the Menlo Park/Palo Alto area (now I'm outside Hamilton which is outside Toronto). I remember a California gardening friend telling me she hankered for a good long winter so she could rest and not worry about the garden. I think I actually prefer gardening in a four-season climate. The contrasts are more vivid and exciting. And perusing catalogues, planning for the spring, is fun.
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Subject: Your poem for my garden
Posted by azulverde (from Cleveland, OH) on March 3, 2008 at 4:45 PM:
Larry,
You're not only a talented gardener but a talented poet as well. As autumn is a time for melancholy when the plants fade into winter hibernation, spring is the time for glee when the plants revive into spring reincarnation. Some gardeners play music for their plants, I'd like to read your poem to my plants this coming growing season with your permission to copy it. If my neighbors wonder, a little explanation will do wonders. Thanks!
Ed
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Posted by LarryR (from South Amana, IA) on March 11, 2008 at 12:02 PM:
Hi Ed--Sorry for the delay in responding to your note. Thanks again for your compliments. I'd be happy to have you read my poem to your plants, the only condition being that you let me know the results :-) On the flip side of your strategy is one that my mother-in-law used. She scolded her plants and threatened them with annihilation if they didn't bloom! She used this mostly on her African violets, threatening them first with unpotting them and planting them directly into the soil outdoors. That usually worked (I think they liked the moist, shady site she picked) but if it didn't, she resorted to the annihilation option, threatening to leave them outdoors to freeze in the fall. I think she was only semi-serious, because she was actually a kind soul who would never leave her beloved violets to the deathly jaws of Jack Frost.
Happy gardening! Larry
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Subject: Thanks for your kind words
Posted by LarryR (from South Amana, IA) on March 2, 2008 at 6:24 PM:
Thanks, all, for sharing your thoughts! :-)
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Subject: Melancholia sweetened
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on March 1, 2008 at 8:27 AM:
Larry, what a lovely way to start a dreary Saturday. It will be a little easier to wait for spring now. Thank you so much for sharing this with we non-poetic mortals :0)
~ jan
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Subject: Larry, that is lovely!
Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 1, 2008 at 6:07 AM:
Larry, that is lovely. What a talented fella you are. Thanks for sharing, because you have captured those feelings we all have very nicely.
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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on March 1, 2008 at 5:22 PM:
Larry, that was beautiful - thanks for reminding me that Spring really is right around the corner :)
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Posted by Aunt_A (from Tulsa, OK) on March 1, 2008 at 11:06 PM:
Lovely.
Hope blooms as the crocus bloom. My crocus are blooming in Oklahoma...and I cannot wait for the RedBuds to sing as well.
Thanks for sharing.
Onward To Spring!!!!
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Subject: my mind sings songs of spring all winter
Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on March 1, 2008 at 5:09 AM:
I'm even less of a poet but at one time studied singing quite seriously. There are plenty of songs in making-it-through-the-winter category, and they play in my head. My favorite is below - I like the idea of trees and roses knowing that this winter stuff is temporary!
WHEN LONELY FEELINGS CHILL THE MEADOWS OF YOUR MIND,
JUST THINK IF WINTER COMES, CAN SPRING BE FAR BEHIND?
BENEATH THE DEEPEST SNOWS, THE SECRET OF A ROSE
IS MERELY THAT IT KNOWS YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING!
JUST AS A TREE IS SURE ITS LEAVES WILL REAPPEAR,
IT KNOWS ITS EMPTINESS IS JUST A TIME OF YEAR,
THE FROZEN MOUNTAIN DREAMS OF APRIL’S MELTING STREAMS,
HOW CRYSTAL CLEAR IT SEEMS, YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING!
YOU MUST BELIEVE IN LOVE AND TRUST IT’S ON ITS WAY,
JUST AS THE SLEEPING ROSE AWAITS THE KISS OF MAY,
SO IN A WORLD OF SNOW, OF THINGS THAT COME AND GO,
WHERE WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW, YOU CAN’T BE CERTAIN OF,
YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING AND LOVE.
--Lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman
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Posted by LarryR (from South Amana, IA) on March 2, 2008 at 12:24 AM:
I keep a copy of this poem not only in my computer, but tucked in the folds of a fall gardening journal, and in a closet containing my winter gear.
