Patch Blogger: Enjoy Autumn's Last Gasp in the Garden

Compared to spring and summer, my fall garden is subdued to the point of minimalist. A lone stand of white mums, the now-fading Autumn Joy sedum and the spectacular purple of the common asters along the front fence catch my eye. Bright red dots of berries on the flame bush, winterberry and holly add a festive touch. The warm sun won’t last. But while it does, I revel in the excuse to linger and root out quack grass and errant tree seedlings that escaped notice in the garden’s lusher, plusher flowering season. Bloomed out campanula and rudbeckia (aka blue bells and brown-eyed susans) are putting all their energy into the leaves now—tight-cropped patches of green carpeting the beds. Time soon to dig in those daffs I bought on a whim while replacing a trowel last week. Semantics, maybe. Still, I like to think of my garden as getting ready for spring, not shutting down for the winter