Late summer is so important for the plants, for the pollinators, and for our harvest. These flowers provide food for pollinators that are getting prepared to hibernate; food packed as tiny pellets placed in pollinator nests with their eggs in hollow stems and underground to feed newly hatched babies after spring thaw… food to prepare for a great migration for some… further fruit for us – and the birds! – … seed for next year’s plants and to feed seed eaters as winter sets in. These are the Fall colors of gold and burgundy and rich purples. Plan to add these seeds to the soil this fall as the first cool nights come in, as the first fall rains sweep through. This is actually the proper time for prairie grasses and flowers to deposit seeds. The birds are treating the diamond-hard perennial fruit seed shells to digestive acid baths that are needed to weaken that shell and start new plants after the freeze, in the spring.
We see the autumn light in the afternoon and feel as though our work is slowing down. But this is harvest time, not just for us, but for our insect co-workers… and for the earth, the landscape.
Drink in the color and the sounds….
The Refuge Permaculture Center 