September has always been a special month for me. Growing up it was a time of family walks across fields and along quiet Devon lanes, picking hazelnuts and sloes or making collections of scarlet hips or bright autumn leaves to sketch when we got home.
Later, without a backward glance and eager for London I left all this behind, but now years later nothing makes me feel more connected, both to the past and the present, than a day spent outside in early autumn.
At this turning point in the year there is much to savour. The vivid colours of autumn foliage and the last, lingering flowers of Rudbeckia, Persicaria and Blackcurrant Sage are dramatic in the soft autumn light and even the most mundane garden tasks seem infused with significance.
There is much to be done - bulbs to be planted, beds to be tidied and new schemes to decide on for the year ahead...
time for looking forward, too. |
