Early Season Changes in the Autumn Garden

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In: Garden, Garden Shed and Decor, Inspiration
A fall pillow on a red metal chair on the Autumn Garden Porch

Early Season Changes in the Autumn Garden

It’s starting to feel like Autumn…well just a little.  The mornings have a crispness to them.  The sun hangs at a lower angle which diffuses the light differently.  The garden is slowing down just a bit.  Definitely not as many zucchini growing in the autumn garden.

So what’s a gardener to do when the season is slowly changing?  Embrace it!  Every season offers some enjoyment and beauty in the garden.  As we move into the early Autumn some of our crops and flowers are slowing down but others are now in full bloom.  The sunflowers are putting on an awesome display and finally my zinnias are busting out.  The blackeyed susans are everywhere and it’s not cold enough to stop the cosmos.  There are plenty of flowers in the cutting garden to go around.

It’s time to make the most of these still warm days even though the nights are cooler.  So here are a few ways to enjoy the early season changes before we move head first into fall.

Autumn Porch on Pinecone Cottage

Ways to Enjoy the Early Season Autumn Garden…

Process, baby, process

There’s still a lot of active work going on.  Green beans and tomatoes are abundant and need to be frozen or canned.  Herbs need to be preserved.  Or maybe it’s time to share your abundance.   Really, how many bags of frozen green beans do you need.  Try a new recipe just for fun.  If you love to garden then preparing the fruits and vegetables of the harvest is a joy…busy yes, but still a joy.

Take your flowers indoors

Since there are still lots of flowers blooming in the garden, it’s a great time for making bouquets.  Fill your rooms with beautiful flowers and be sure to make a bouquet or two to give away.

Small flower vases in a vintage tool box with a bird sitting on books.

Clean as you go

Now is a good time to dead head flowers that you don’t need for seed saving.  Are your greens starting to yellow or go to seed?  Pull them up.  Cut off dead branches.  Trim up your shrubs.  Clear out your pots of the old leggy petunias.  Doing a little here and there eases the burden of yardwork when a deep freeze hits later in the season.

An traditional metal doorstop of stacked farm animals.

Plant some Autumn Flowers

Stop by your local nursery and pick up some Autumn flowers.  Mums, asters, pansies, cabbages and kale can replace the overgrown, leggy plants in your pots.  Or you can tuck a plant or two into your flower borders for some new color interest.

Autumn flowers on potting bench waiting to be planted into the Autumn Garden.

Change out your porch decor

It’s not quite time for the wool blankets, but adding a new wreath to your door can perk up your porch.  A new pillow or two is an easy change.  Add in a seasonal sign or message on your chalkboard.  Change out the porch decor to reflect the Autumn season.  Off comes the red, white and blue bunting.  Replace the summer decor with more natural items like a leaf or pinecone garland.

Sunflowers in a watering can with an Autumn Garden decorated post.

Spend as much time outdoors as you can

Get outside!  It won’t be long before the days and nights will be too cold to enjoy being outdoors.  So make a point of getting outside.  Enjoy your morning coffee while watching the bees in the garden.  Invite a friend over for drinks in the evening on your porch.  Walk around your garden and enjoy the fragrance and beauty while it is at it’s peak.  You don’t need an excuse to get out to the garden…just do it.

An Autumn Garden pillow on a porch chair with a bucket of hydrangea blossoms.

Take pictures of what your garden looks like

When the garden is dormant for the season it can be difficult to remember what it looked liked when it was growing prolifically.  So take some pictures of your plants and flowers.  Snap some photos of your outdoor decor.  Did you have a flower bed or border that needs to be made over?  A picture can remind you so that when you are planning for next year you don’t forget.  We are visual people and a picture makes remembering so much easier.

Three pictures of flowers and garden shed in the Autumn Garden.

Enjoy an Autumn Craft from the garden

Now is a good time to make a sunflower wreath for the birds.  Or maybe you have been wanting to make a Hydrangea Wreath for your porch.  There’s lots of material still available in your garden to create a lovely craft or two.  Here’s a list of a few garden crafts to get you started…

  • Make a dried flower wreath
  • Press flowers to make gift cards
  • Dry flower heads to use for an indoor vignette
  • Make a handmade garden journal
  • Decorate some of your pumpkins and gourds with paint or decoupaged paper
  • Paint a garden sign for your Autumn garden

A bird on a stack of vintage books with flowers in a small vase.

Slow down and breath deeply

The seasons just fly by especially when we are busy.  So be intentional about slowing down.  This is definitely an area that I struggle with.  If we want to have a more joyful life than we need to focus on how wonderful everything is right now!  Not tomorrow or next year but at this very moment in our lives.  As Cesare Pavese said…”We don’t remember days, we remember moments”.  Enjoy these snippets of time in your garden and home.

We don't remember days, we remember moments.
I am so very thankful that I have a garden to enjoy.  But you don’t have to have a large garden or even a backyard to enjoy the changes in the early Autumn garden.  You can enjoy these changes on a small front porch, a balcony or even at a neighborhood park.  So get outdoors, enjoy the fresh smell in the air, plant flowers in a pot and just give thanks for the blessings of the day.

Would you like a copy of my Bird Print above for your Autumn Decor?  Just sign up below to get a copy to frame and use in your home or garden shed.