As I look out the office window, the lawn is covered with a layer of golden leaves. I can't help but be thankful that it is only leaves, and not debris. The photos of all the hurricane damage in the South lay heavily in my mind. I wonder if there is anything left of the beautiful gardens at Bellingrath. I think of the hard-working gardeners at the New Orleans Botanical, who were just finishing the planting of a gorgeous new area when I last visited. I worry about all the fish and sea life that were in the devastated aquarium--such a lovely building, now crushed.
Autumn is coming to central Indiana, and we should be counting our blessings, and enjoying all that we have. The crew finished the new shadehouse and recovered the greenhouses, so that big job is done. I'm replanting a redesigned area in the woods, and taking cuttings as fast as I can of anything that is ready to propagate. Of course, we're still deadheading, collecting seeds, and weeding, too. It is a joy to be able to work in the gardens in such beautiful weather. The butterflies are tanking up on nectar, getting ready to start their migrations. I'm finding it hard to believe that the season is nearly over!
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