When my garden starts shutting down, I have a ritual of planting bulbs for the future. I can think about them waiting patiently under the soil in their fresh holes as winter approaches and retreats.

There are many tasks that must be done to shut down a garden. The ponds must be cleaned and covered. The fire bowl needs to be tipped. Leaves must be raked. Acorns get blown into piles for my foraging friends. These tasks are necessary, but they signify an end.

I plant bulbs as an act of faith that there will be a spring with a beginning on the other side of winter. This small act gives me the hope I need to push through the darkness and cold.

I did not plant many bulbs this year. I ordered bulbs that I have not had here before. Just three Red Spider Lilies, two Magic(Surprise) Lilies and one Oxblood Lily. I read the instructions carefully. I marked each hole. I recorded what was planted where in my gardening journal.

Now comes the waiting. Some of these will not bloom for years. “Be patient with Mother Nature.” the papers say.

I need these little sites of hope sprinkled around underground.

FLOWER (prepping for dormancy)