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Changing Seasons
Here on the Carolina Coast the fall season isn’t such a drama king, yet, there are changes. Fall is known as hurricane season. Well, I guess that could qualify as dramatic! But more subtle changes appear in the garden. We aren’t preparing for the first frost for quite a while. Kids have gone back to school, although some students will be excused in a few weeks to help get the tobacco in. It’s still hot, but the air feels lighter, not so oppressive. The sky is still blue, but the thousands of blooming crepe myrtle whose colors have exploded against the sky for several months, aren’t so radiant. Many trees are mostly green now, a few colored cones still languish on the branches, unwilling to pass the baton to fall quite yet.
Pecan trees are pelting roofs and sidewalks. Our neighbor has a huge, ancient pecan tree dropping bushels of pecans onto their metal roof where they clang, bounce, and end up in our yard, clang off our roof, and end up on our porch. The squirrels are in a psychedelic euphoria and painful shards of nut casings are everywhere. Cars smash them on the roads. It’s a sign of the season.
On my walk this morning, noticing the absence of color from the crepe myrtles, I discovered a new color. Everywhere! I’ve heard them referred to as rain lily, resurrection lily, surprise lily, and fall lily. They’ve shot straight up – about a foot or taller – in lawns, in sidewalk cracks, under trees, on driveways, and even in flower beds. They have no foliage, which makes them look like balloons on sticks. They are coral-colored, and the flower is quite a bit like a spider plant. I’m assuming they are some kind of bulb (perhaps the amaryllis family?) but in the lawn? How do they survive the mower?
Fern and hosta are really looking pathetic. They’ve been boiled, broiled, stewed, and fried. I’m sure they are ready to be dormant. Perennials here in the Lower South/ Coastal Plain Zone have a very long season, and a really short rest cycle. I’ve been here for only one seasonal change, but what I observed was the summer to fall change, instead of an abrupt preempt, is more of a slow melting together; nothing very noticeable, until around January!
Last fall, Dave & I took Extension Service Classes on Gardening in the Albemarle. It was a great help in planning. This month I begin the Master Gardening Class, so I know it’s fall.