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Fall Garden
The sales barn
Something Permanent
(Originally Published September/October 2005)
FALL, IN THE GARDEN, is all about maturity. The promise of spring and the ripeness of summer have evolved to these last warm and golden moments. Seedheads ripen and open, trees and shrubs change colors and the last bloomers put on a brilliant show.
To a gardener, fall also is about maturing. In the way you come to enjoy spicy Thai noodles instead of boxed macaroni and cheese, or to appreciate a fine dry wine instead of a basic sweet one, there's a learning curve in gardening that comes with time and experience. After the gorgeous but relatively easy glories of spring and summer wane, a gardener hits an "aha!" moment. The best gardeners realize the bloom season can go beyond chrysanthemums into something a little more unexpected, if not exotic.
Even trained horticulturists Dan and Lisa Burnham needed some time to see fall not just as a distinct season, but as the backdrop of a part of a larger composition.
"We don't want to convey the idea of putting in fall plantings just for the fall," Dan says. "We always think of fall plants as something permanent."
At their home nine miles northeast of Bloomington, Indiana, Dan and Lisa own Burnham Woods Nursery (a clever wordplay that blends their name, the wooded setting and a Shakespearean reference from Macbeth). Despite their love of all the seasons, they agree fall is best.
"The colors, I think, take on a different hue," Lisa says, launching into a soliloquy about the season. "You can walk out in the morning into the misty air. And the blue skies! The colors! I can't describe how beautiful those are, whereas in the summer, they're almost washed out, so you have to be careful how you use them. This is a beautiful natural part of the country. Our native flora is just exquisite, so that enhances anything you do in the garden."
