When I was growing up in Florida, I wasn’t into any of this. I do not come from a family of gardeners or growers. I rarely stopped to admire, the way I do now, the incredible biodiversity that Florida offers. I didn’t grow plants when I was a teenager, and I would never have grabbed a fruit off a wild and native tree. I can’t walk outside anywhere now and not see something that I want to collect seeds from or take cuttings of.
Each zone is special, and within those there are microclimates and myriad factors that affect the biodiversity of an area. Having been to the tropics, subtropics, and now living in a temperate zone, I’ll say it’s almost alien how different the landscape and wildlife can be. I am grateful to live somewhere that experiences the four seasons and doesn’t reach extreme temperatures.
I enjoy measuring the passing of time by the color of the foliage, hearing which birds are out, and seeing snow pile up on evergreens. As deciduous trees drop their leaves, colorful and bountiful berries may give it a whole new identity, humming with activity from native birds like the Cedar Waxwing. My favorite sound is the wind blowing through oak and beech trees. There’s an ethereal whooshing and soft crinkling noise because of the marcescent leaves, and I just love it.
In the garden, I’m grateful for this period of rest too. The ground layer is covered with leaves and fallen plants that shelter seeds and nuts but also beetles, spiders, fungi, and so much more. Upright and hollow stalks of spent annuals like sunflowers, or perennials like coneflower and bergamot become houses for solitary bees and wasps, and the undersides of leaves bow gently with lepidoptera eggs and cocoons. Last season’s bird’s nests are fully revealed as some trees lay themselves bare. There is a whole world of interest waiting to be discovered as the landscape is revealed.
So with that, I say enjoy the changing of the seasons. Take in the cold winter air because, like everything else in this world, it will pass. Leave things alone and instead save the tidying for late spring, after the soil has warmed and things have had a chance to move around and get their energy back. We are a part of this cycle too, after all, so be temperate.