Potting Shed Still Life

Dear Diary,

We are entering my not so favorite time in the garden...the beginning of the end.  Our recent heavy rains have beaten things down.  My poor rudbeckia look quite sad.  Not quite ready to cut back entirely but straggly nonetheless.

Between the extreme heat and now the rain, I haven't been able to do much cleaning up either.  This little still life of plants is on the steps of my potting shed.  My cousin gave me the concrete hand with its green thumb.  A little talisman for the gardener.

It is hard to see the season begin its "winding down phase".  It comes early here in Maine.  We've had a killing frost as early as the week before Labor Day.  Last year it wasn't until well into October; you can never tell.  But the plants seem to know their days are numbered and the bees are especially busy.  The wheel keeps turning even if we would wish to hold it still...

 “August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.” ~ Sylvia Plath