Gardening at Night

The garden is pushing the last, late flower burst of the season into the air. The coming frost will soon send most of them to sleep for the winter and kill the unlucky ones who were never intended as more than summer guests. The garden is an ever-changing work in progress that puts on its greatest show in from April through September.

Now, as the leaves fade and drop, stems wither and colors fade, the gardener dreams of the coming spring and wonders which of them will make it through the winter and of those that survive, which will flourish and grow to their full potential. The gardener sees not only what rests in the bed before him but what might be. One shouldn’t rely on his observations because they are always hopeful, he sees the stub of a rose crushed by summer revelers as the full and robust plant it may yet become. He imagines the lilac in full bloom, tall and rich white in the background, the lavender bushy and deeply scented, a harmonious yet seemingly random collection of living things fed and watered and whispered to, the product of a thousand gentle touchings and encouragements.