Readers, only

Fall is a favorite season for me mainly because it isn’t summer any more. While summer’s heat fades away, fall is perfect for spring plantings. And fall’s my favorite season. Already I am looking forward to new beauties selected from catalogues, for when they arrive I get to plant all the bulbs and rhizomes exactly where my mind’s eye has pictured them in bloom: Iris, daylilies, lily trees, cyclamen, parrot tulips–some new to me.

My “readers” sit quietly under solar lights–various sizes alone, in pairs, or threes among the flowers. “No ‘dirty’ books allowed,” I say just before they get their annual scrubbing and a maybe a change of location in the patio garden. Some of these statuary readers are angels or cherubs, but most are children–like in real life–holding book. Perfect for a children’s book writer.

No question, my favorite flower of the year is the BIG, lavender fall crocus that surprises me annually right after I’ve given up looking for it. No green stems and leaves to hint of its pending arrival, just slender pure white stems with enormous blossoms popping up to last for weeks. To my surprise the resident squirrel compounded the beauty by relocating a bulb.