Rebmetpes--September, Backwards

September is a bittersweet month. The long summer days are shortening, the light slants differently, and shadows are longer. Nature changes color as days and nights cool, and all around, there's a busy feeling of pulling inward in preparation for winter. September, like April, is a particularly busy time at Bean Hill. We think of the month as putting-the-yard-to-bed time, with an eye to spring. Ornamental grasses and perennials are cut back, and the flower-heads from the echinacea and rudbeckia are strewn through the meadows to establish new plants for next year. Annuals are removed from pots, and the soil goes into the compost heap. Smaller trees get "caged" to keep the deer from damaging them. Garden statuary and outdoor furniture are stored away. Netting and a heater are added to the pond to keep the fish and frogs safe from predators and ice. Suet feeders that draw in woodpeckers, nuthatches, and titmouses come out of summer storage. The grass gets mowed and the gardens get edged one last time. September is a busy month.

September begins as a warm, sometimes hot month in Central Ohio, but by the time of the Autumn Equinox, the sun's changed position enough that day and night-time temperatures are cooling noticeably. Over the month of September, we usually go from drinking ice tea to hot tea, or even hot chocolate, at the end of a day of yard work. Not so this year.

This September, nature did a flip-flop in Central Ohio, although you wouldn't know that looking only at the high and low average temperatures for the month. In fact, the average high for 2017 matched the historic average high, and the average low was actually 2.1⁰ below the historic average. September's days were evenly divided: 15 days registered below normal high temperatures, and 15 days were above normal. Eleven of the below normal temperature days ranged from 6-20⁰ below the historic average for the day; eleven of the above normal temperature days ranged 6-20⁰ above the historic average. 

The perfect symmetry of the data resulted in a perfectly average "average" high for the month, but doesn't convey the reality of the month's temperature readings. The 15 days of below normal highs happened at the beginning of the month, and the 15 days of above normal highs all came at the end of the month, setting us up for a warmer than normal October. The cool days and nights of the first half of September, coupled with the right amount of rain, caused many of the trees to begin to turn color--ahead of schedule--and some trees shed their leaves entirely. Since mid-September, however, the trees have stopped in their color-changing-leaf-shedding tracks, and are in much the same state as this time last year, still pretty green. (Last year most trees stayed green well into November, and dry weather muted colors when leaves finally did begin to change.) Don't get me wrong--there's nothing wrong with green, but those joyous reds, oranges, and yellows bring a smile and make the hard work a bit easier.