The morning air is crisp and the sun is rising just a bit later and a tad to the east each morning. The equinox is but a few days away signaling the coming of Fall and the shutting down of garden growth. Yet each day, I find new signs of life.
The morning glories have come into their own with their elegant trumpet-shaped flowers opening to greet me every morning as I head down the driveway for the newspaper. Their tendrils weave in and out of the fence covering it with thin ribbons of green.
Nearby, the Montauk daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum) has started to flower out. Its long stems are collapsing under the weight of the buds, more numerous this year than any other prior.
Tiny shoots of miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata)emerge from the cold frame. The arrow-shaped spear tips point toward the sun, looking for a leg up in the months ahead. Not to be harvested now, they will become the makings of salads in the early Spring of next year.
And as I watch over the garden, a large American toad watches over me. It avoids me, playing coy against the cold frame. The sun and morning heat has brought it out to bask and warm itself. I leave it be, continuing to search for other signs of new growth.
