“Everything changes and nothing remains still . . .  you cannot step twice into the same stream.”
–Hereclitus

I think this is one of the things I love about gardening. However, I must admit that there ARE times when a rock garden or a bed of vegetables is at the peak of perfection in how it looks – and I wished it would stay just like that. But the part of me that loves the constant doing in the garden, and thrives on change, would be deprived, I fear, and ultimately not be happy with the situation were that ever possible. It just occurred to me that many landscapes are created and cared for in a way that works to keep things looking the same for years! Think of shrubs pruned into ball shapes year after year…

A garden is truly such a non-static thing (no matter how hard you may work to keep it looking the same)! A couple local garden clubs want to set up tours of my garden and when they asked when would be the best time – I find I am hard-pressed to come up with a good answer. Each season – each WEEK or even day – has its own glories and perfections. If you came here in spring you would miss all the glorious and almost decedent abundance of late summer and the rudbeckias and asters that bloom in masses all over my garden! But – then there are things that are over-the-hill and bug-eaten and on their way out scattered among the bounty of apples and grapes and berries… So it’s a toss-up.

A part of me loves spring and early summer when everything looks so fresh and new and SO many things are in bloom. But it’s a bit like only loving to see young people in a movie – and not appreciating the qualities that age brings. Now that I have reached the “autumn” end of life I am learning to appreciate the things that it brings to the table. And so it is with the garden… I love the apple tree laden heavy with fruit and the tired-looking squash and cucumber plants still pushing out wonderful food.

And then there are the little wonders that begin their season in late summer and fall! Every garden should have a few of these. Little pink cyclamen flowers popping up here and there and the licorice fern unfurling small green masses of little fronds – looking so fresh and alive after a summer of dormancy. They will be with me all winter, bless them!

It seems that nothing in our world was meant to stay the same – and no matter how hard we try to MAKE it do that – eventually things crumble and decay. Those among us who struggle so to keep change from happening have set such a hard and truly impossible task for themselves. Nothing, it seems, is set in stone. Not truth – which changes as we evolve, or anything constructed by man or god… it all changes. So, it seems the best we can do is flow with it, appreciate the new vistas and experiences as they come to us – and not – whatever we do – fight it!