9/22/08
It’s equinox time of year — day and night approximately equal, the official change of seasons from Summer to Fall. For gardeners in the higher latitudes, this generally means putting the garden to bed. For us in Vermont, it generally means the return of frost — which we’ve indeed had in the past week. No heavy killing frost yet, but enough to spend half an hour every clear evening covering tender plants.
I actually saw the equinox occur this year, so to speak. Our house faces due east, and yep, within the 48 hours bookending the official equinox, there’s the sun dead in your eye as it climbs over the hilly horizon. When I got up yesterday morning, I stood on the deck and watched light fill the sky while the moon, right behind me over the rooftop, glowed vivid silver-white. Day and night at the same time!
That, plus foliage suspended halfway between green and multicolor, and warm days balanced by chilly nights, and each evening having to choose which garden plants are allowed a chance to survive the night and which take the freezing hit, and the summer birds departing while the winter ones start moving in, well . . . it’s equinox on all levels.
Carolyn Haley
Author: Open Your Heart with Gardens
Posted by: Opening the heart — Carolyn Haley
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