I have heard the gardener's lament this past week, and it wasn't pretty. "Aren't you SICK of your garden by now? I can't WAIT until that first frost." Well, I can wait. If only that first deadly nip of ice crystals dusting the leaves and flowers would hold off until November. But by then it will be quite dark in the late afternoon. The butterflies will be gone. And the mums will be a soggy mess. This is the best time of year, when the morning fog settles on the delicate seed heads of switch grass, purple fountain grass and the smoke bush.  Not crazed with the chores of spring planting, weeding, watering and the like, a gardener can pretty much sit back and relax right now. And listen and watch. The migrating songbirds are working the shrubs in search of insects. The bees and hummingbirds are plentiful and they're making the most of the 'Evolution' salvia with its striking blue stems and blossoms. The salvias are among the many annuals—vinca, zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, castor bean, celosia, petunias, begonias, lantana and sweet alyssum— that have bloomed for a good three months and will carry the garden until we put it to bed, all too soon. Yes, the garden is looking a bit tired, but it's hard to say goodbye.

— Nina Koziol