Harbinger of fall, bringer of change, this is the late-blooming Japanese anemone. It is with a bittersweet sigh that I greet their buds, coming as they do at the tail-end of a season most of us would like to prolong. Though they may be a little unwelcome, the scarcity of new blooms at this stage of the game makes them valuable additions to those beds and borders in need of a little jolt before the feathery seed-heads of the grasses take center stage.
The turn of the seasons is almost upon us. I’m not ready, not quite. The coolness that has been creeping into the nights is refreshing, but this last winter was so cruel I don’t want to head in that direction. It will come, but give us a little longer, still and slow time, even if it’s just in my head. In the meantime, there is beauty to be found in the end of August, last full month of summer.
Below, an anemone blossom is visited by a pollinating bee. It’s never too late to seek out a sweet bit of nectar, to roll around in whatever bit of the sunny season remains.
