September is the month when we gardeners are pruning back the skeletons of plants that have nurtured us and that we have nurtured all summer long. Overgrown branches of the plum tree. Forsythia running wild. Trumpet vine shedding flowers, its seed pods drying in the Indian Summer sun, bees scurrying over them for some invisible treasure. True myrtle testing its boundaries, stretching into areas it does not belong. Blue geranium not offering any blue these days. Done. While engaged in all the activities Indian Summer requires I noticed and was intrigued by an equally strong urge, upon which I was acting, to scout out new plants, and to incorporate them into my home and garden. It began, I believe with the heirloom antiqued hydrangea, pictured above, which I annually find impossible to resist when they come into the market. This one begged to be accompanied by the green pumpkin, true harbingers of the fall season now on the horizon.
Most likely this urge to fill in with beauty stems from a reluctance to resign oneself to the end of a summer season, and why should we? Even those in colder climes can resort to investing in a few houseplants to carry us into the holiday season and beyond. My second acquisition, following this impulse, was this jade, now comfortably living in a red pot in the kitchen, keeping the Dog Cookie Jar (filled with dog biscuits, not cookies!) company! So cute. This jade plant, associated with Good Luck, will also be my companion as I mostly likely bake my way through winter. The rain and cold ask for a warm oven, do they not?
Meanwhile, in keeping with the opportunities of the current season, I picked a large bag of apples from the (very) old pre-hybrid delicious apple tree out back. Here they are.
Washed, peeled and cut them up and popped them into a big stainless steel pot, and added some sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. Bam.
Cooked them down and then tackled a skill I had basically forgotten and had great resistance to relearning: canning. Full credit goes to Sarah Gilbert, a lovely writer of Cafe Mama whom I follow on Twitter, for sending me a video (visual learner) that gave me the encouragement to finally relearn this. Imagine me and daughter Antonia (lending all manner of moral support) pouring over her laptop and my computer reading dozens of applesauce canning recipes trying to find The Real Right Way. Threads of conversation included:
“How do we get the air bubbles out? It says they can explode if you don’t.”
“Excuse me? Explode??”
“What’s this little blue canning tool for? It has notched measurements on one end.” [We finally decided for measuring the space left between the sauce and the top of jar. Maybe.]
“I know we have to boil the jars before we fill them, but for how long?”
“Fingertip tight? We screw on the lids fingertip tight??”
“But how long do we boil the applesauce jars? Fifteen minutes? Twenty?” (Back to the computers.)
It was a long afternoon. I’m not certain I have inspired my daughter to be a canner, but she will remember the event, of that I’m certain.
And here were the lovely results.
I’m game to try again. If anyone has any comments on those air bubbles, we are all ears.
Back into the sun, the garden not to be forgotten or outdone, a new plant caught my eye at Home Depot which I assumed to be a coleus (wouldn’t you?)
and was surprised to find Perilla frutenscens to be quite another plant. And this apparently is one of those plants that in some locales would be found to be an invasive weed and in another (if kept under control) a lovely addition to the garden. I’m keeping a careful eye on it, in a constrictive pot, and it’s blessing a corner of the porch near a lovely rocking bench. I’m admiring its subtle color and lacy beauty of its foilage.
Other fall additions include a plant I always keep in abundance, but usually increase prior to Christmas. Indeed, I probably associate this cyclamen with Christmas as much as I to poinsettia. Do you?
And what Indian Summer Face would be complete without the uncompromising mum?
Enjoy the season, dear readers. Celebrate your harvesting and draw mightily on your own creativity for the holidays which lie ahead.
Love and garden blessings,
Kathryn xoxo
Posted on September 12th, 2010 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 10 Comments »
