~
“Success is not final,
failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to continue that counts.”
.
Winston S. Churchill
~
November isn’t for the faint of heart.
As chill winds blow and birds flock up to travel to gentler places, a season’s growth shrivels before our eyes, and blows away. Much of what we have nurtured and admired for the past several months perishes in the short span of a couple of weeks.
The changes come almost imperceptibly at first, and then overwhelming in their inevitability.
~
~
The trees in our garden transform themselves from green to scarlet to brown or bare. More and more branches stand naked in the morning chill each day, and we know from our years of watching this that soon enough our garden will fall away to its barest bones.
Our lush landscape will soon be made mostly of brown and grey sticks, beige grass, bare beds.
~
~
November is when you feel deep gratitude for every vibrant green Camellia shrub you’ve planted, and wonder why you haven’t planted more.
You study the framework of evergreens; box and myrtle, Osmanthus, juniper, holly, Magnolia and hemlock. These are the stalwart companions that sparkle in the winter sunshine, assuring us of the continuity of life through the gardens’ time of rest.
~
~
“Have enough courage to trust love one more time
and always one more time.”
.
Maya Angelou
~
We dig into the cooling Earth, placing our faith in dormant bulbs and tubers; trusting that they will eventually awaken and strike new roots and greet us with fresh growth and soft flowers and bright color when the days have grown longer and warmer once again.
We know those days will come, despite the wintery months ahead.
~
~
November shows its two faces in our garden. Leaves fall as flowers bloom. Birds gather and fill the air with music. Buds swell on the Magnolias‘ newly bared branches, and berries redden among the prickly holly leaves. One day the sky is low and white, the next it’s deepest blue.
~
“You do not need to know precisely what is happening,
or exactly where it is all going.
What you need
is to recognize the possibilities and challenges
offered by the present moment,
and to embrace them
with courage, faith and hope.”
.
Thomas Merton
~
~
Yet summer lives in all the seasons of a gardener’s heart. We watch nature’s machinations in autumn, knowing that it is only a preparation for what is to come. We take courage in the sure knowledge of vibrant life in every root and limb. We look past the illusions of disillusion, putting our faith in ripening seeds and and expanding rhizomes, hungry earthworms, mycelium, and moss.
We take courage from our own determination to cultivate beauty in every circumstance. We trust November as surely as we trust May, and so breathe deeply; knowing that all is well.
~
~
Woodland Gnome 2017
~
Forest Garden 