October - The Most Autumnal of Months
“October is a galleon sailing courageously from the lapping seas of summer towards the chill of winter. Her sales are fiery orange to match the turning leaves, her rudder holds firm against the rising swell and that cargo is a gallimaufry of late flowers, early berries, seed heads and the first of the fallen foliage.”
- James Alexander-Sinclair
Since passing the Equinox at the end of last month, there can be no denying that we’re firmly in Autumn. It’s evident in the landscape, the trees and the plants, the changing colours and weather. Outdoors it’s slowly starting to turn amber, auburn, scarlet and sepia and there’s an abundance of shapes and texture in the leaves, the bark, the seedheads, ripening berries and grasses. There are misty mornings, the result of the ground getting cooler during the extending nights and plenty of dew to get your shoes wet!
There’s a different energy now, a slowing and a closing down, a preparing to turn inwards as it gets colder. The leaves start to drop and next year's buds begin to form. Then to compound the Autumnal feeling, the clocks go back an hour on the last Sunday of October and the darker evenings are with us.
Although I always lament the reduced hours of light this month, it’s not all bad news. There’s the whole settle-in-to-the-cosy-season vibe, which Instagram has been energetically advocating since the start of September. All blankets, woolly socks, glorious sunsets, knitwear and warm drinks! By the time the clocks go back I’m happy to consider the idea of cosy - but ideally with some sunshine during the day!!
Then there’s the joyous news that October is traditionally the start of pudding season – now that’s something to be happy about!
FACT: October used to be the eighth month in the Roman calendar and in the Dark Ages it was called Winter Fylleth. Winter was deemed to start on the first full moon of October.
Endings and Beginnings
Halloween approaches at the end of October. This is a modern version of several ancient celebrations including the pagan fire festival of Samhain.
Samhain marks both the end and the beginning of the Celtic year; the end of harvest and the beginning of winter.
It’s a festival of new beginnings in the midst of endings.
It’s easy to concentrate on endings at this time of year, particularly with the current media focus on the passing of the late Queen. But Autumn is also about beginnings and it’s important to remember that without endings we don’t get new beginnings.
FACT: carved pumpkins were traditionally lit and placed in windows with the scary face pointing outwards. The light was an act of remembrance for ancestors passed and the scary face kept evil energies out of the house!
In the garden I’m putting things in place now to help ensure a smoother transition into winter and so I can hit the ground running when the weather and ground warm back up in spring - yes I know that seems a long way away at the moment!
So, the spring flowering bulbs will be going in over the next coupe of months (I always add more) and I’m planning the winter interest container to place by the front door. Probably including some winter flowering Sarcococca, the scent of which will stop me in my tracks on a dark evening!
I’m cutting back dead and tatty leaves and having a general tidy up of spent flowers and fallen stems. But I always leave some seedheads for the birds through the colder months.
October is also a great time for sowing seeds for next year. An early sowing means stronger plants, and better blooms and crops next spring. It’s because the young plants have time to build up healthy root systems during autumn and winter. I’m going to try Autumn sowing broad beans and sweet peas.
HerOutdoorz Garden Design
Continuing the seasonal theme of beginnings and endings, I’ve been busy updating my garden design services to rebrand them under the HerOutdoorz label.
After 16 years of designing gardens as PLOT Garden Design, I’m rebranding my services as HerOutdoorz Garden Design. I’ll be continuing the same high levels of service, creativity and practicality and adding more wild seasonal inspiration to my designs. Exciting times!
This means you can look forward to more gardening content in my nature journal, alongside the usual seasonal nature, plant and folklore.
I’ve got a fantastic new HerOutdoorz logo which I can’t wait to show you. Sign up to my mailing list to get an early glimpse of the new logo here HerOutdoorz Mailing List
The new logo will appear in my social media posts and on my website over the coming months and I’d love to hear what you think.
Nic&Jen: An Abundance of Colour in October
You can find out more about what to look for in Autumn in this short whimsical film I made with my friend, artist Jenny Muncaster. We’re investigating autumnal tones.
Inspired by the colours outdoors in the trees and hedgerows, we’re capturing them using some interesting nature finds - feathers to paint, autumn fruits to print and the stain from berries to illustrate our finds.
Give it a go and do let me know how you get on.
I really hope you can enjoy the onset of Autumn this month. As the leaves are shed outdoors consider it time to put away one year and plan for the next.
I’d love to see your Autumn photos so please do post using the hashtag #WildSeasonalInspiration, so I see them. Have a great October
I’ll be back with another article next month as we welcome November and head off into winter.
Further Reading
