Early Fall = get busy!

We took a misty drive across rural Dutchess County on Sunday morning and were stunned at how much autumn color is already everywhere. Saturday night we had watched the Bake-Off, also several weeks ahead of its regular Fall schedule. Friday evening, I took a pic of a redbud on my walk with 100% yellow leaves. But it all began when I woke up Friday morning and looked out the back window. We’d gotten a bit of much-needed rain in the wee hours, and literally overnight almost a dozen shrubs and trees had seemingly had a little chat and come to the agreement that it was time to start the turn — only 4 days into September. Our own junior redbud was yellowing on one limb. Nearly all of the leaves on the baby grey birch were gold, with a crispy brown edge here and there. The recently planted Viburnum lentago plants (two of them) were shades of gold and red. And so on.

It’s too soon, and it honestly made me feel the tiniest bit panicked. Don’t get me wrong: I love fall as much as anyone. But I am not ready to let go of the greenness just yet.

On the other hand, the garden is where I go to feel grounded for a moment (to the extent that’s possible) as the world literally loses its mind, and fall’s arrival means fall garden chores to focus on. Also, I learned years ago that what settles my nerves when they’re jangling is to instill some order, however I can — cleaning, organizing, planting, whatever it may be. (I recently made a pact with a friend to put away or dispose of 5 things per day, which has proven to be a well-timed challenge.) But one of the most centering tricks, for me, is a notebook — creating orderly grids and lists of things to do or track, specifically with pencil and dot-grid paper. So on Sunday afternoon, with fall threatening to race right past me, I took a walk around the garden and took some notes. (This didn’t take long, as there’s not much garden yet!) Then I sat down, pulled out my favorite former-garden journal, and started one for this garden, beginning with a September to-do list.

I have 5 newly arrived, wee evergreens out back in their gallon nursery pots (ordered online) that need to go into the ground (which I’ve prepared for them), along with a few clematis vines I got from an Ugly Plant Sale (for the second year in a row). There are a handful of other plants that have spent the season dropped inside terra cotta pots, which either will or won’t get put in the ground somewhere. There’s the whole driveway potager to deal with. And what else?

Here’s a condensed version of The List—

- Take progress pics of everything before it dies back, for the record, and for documenting and planning during the cold season
- Put the driveway potager to bed; figure out what to do with the dirt in the cloth pots (that may have blight)
- Plant the recent arrivals and anything in a nursery pot that needs to be planted out
- Identify any plant that might need any sort of tending before winter
- Find out when to dig up the dahlias and how to store them properly*
- Relocate a couple of things to friends’ gardens
- Find out when crocus bulbs get planted and decide if I’m doing that this year**
- Find out what I don’t know about overwintering a garden [I’m new here], particularly how to think about crop rotation with a container-based veg garden in a place where I can’t grow winter crops in the soil (can I?)
- Visit at least 2 of the public gardens I keep meaning to get to

Totally doable. But I do need to get started.

*Epic fail on my first stab at dahlias. Have I mentioned I'm not a flower gardener?
**I've never planted a bulb in my life, but I think I might like some crocus in the future forest floor.