I recently lamented how fast this season has gone by. I’m not sure if this experience is exclusive to those who garden. Aren’t all gardeners busy planting, dividing, editing, or simply puttering in the garden? Don’t we all look at the freshly fallen leaves in slight startled amazement that yet another summer in the garden has passed? Sitting still is not one of my talents. I suspect most gardeners like to keep moving. Even if we wanted to lounge about, a weed attracts our attention which we must remove forthwith, which leads to a plant that needs photographing, an open spot in the garden to be planted, a bed edged, or a garden expanded. There’s never a day when we say, the garden is done, I shall rest.

But today I decide to do just that.

I like to share which plants are attracting the most pollinators. Occasionally I can’t say what pollinators a plant attracted for I never took the time to just sit and observe. What a shame. What did I possibly miss? This morning I just sat in the garden for a while and was still. The constant whirl of insects and bird song filled the air. I noticed that many plants have put on fresh foliage, I can only guess due to the recent rain. The foliage of the Rudbeckia ‘Autumn Sun’ looks remarkably lush. New foliage and a few new blooms are showing on the Echinacea, too. Blooms linger on the Caryopteris– enough to draw in the honey bees. I was struck with how pretty Little Bluestem looks in the morning light, and how the Amsonia is still glowing in its autumn color.

What I can’t share is that my mind was calm and quiet. I started to look at areas to edit and replant, and I found the perfect spot for a new cactus-grass garden while compiling a plant shopping list. Ah, well. One can try to be still. But then again, if a garden planted for nature never truly rests, perhaps it’s fair that neither does its gardener.