It’s been a beautiful fall here in Northfield, Minnesota! We’ve had a great stretch of weather, keeping us out in our gardens and enjoying the season. We Minnesota gardeners, we like to feel prepared for winter. We have this need to be ready for it. It’s instinctual. We need to be out there taking advantage of these lovely days autumn days. Our local garden club went out into their gardens this last week, to collect fading flowers and seed heads, colorful fall leaves, grape vine and berried branches. This “harvest” was all brought over to the United Methodist Church there on Maple Street, where they filled tables with these beautiful, natural things and came together to make fall wreaths.

Being a member of the garden club, I was honored when asked to organize the necessary supplies for the event and to share my floral design background with the group. What better way to pay homage to the spring and summer, to embrace fall and to hold onto it for a little longer, than by going out into the world and selecting a few things from it to create these unique works of art. These collections of lovely things we all drive past in the ditches every day, or walk past on our way to the mailbox. We don’t always remember to take a moment. Take a moment to appreciate this beauty that happens all on its own, and occasionally with a little push from us. The sun is still shining. I better get back to the garden.