Marietta Daisies Garden Club

Fall Equinox: The Turning Point

by Katryn Taylor

What the Fall Equinox Means

There is something special about the first day of fall. The Fall Equinox marks one of nature’s great turning points, a moment when summer gives way to autumn and our Georgia gardens begin their quiet transition toward winter.

photo from Lyric Garten taken along the Park on Polk path.

The word equinox comes from the Latin words aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, meaning “night.” During the equinox, the Sun crosses the celestial equator, and Earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the Sun. Day and night are therefore nearly equal in length.

Here in Georgia, the Fall Equinox brings a welcome change. The intense heat of summer begins to soften, mornings become cooler, and each evening seems to arrive just a little earlier.

Nature Knows Fall Is Here

Gardeners may watch the calendar, but plants and wildlife are watching something else, the changing light.

Since the Summer Solstice in June, our daylight hours have gradually been decreasing. These shorter days help signal seasonal changes throughout the natural world.

In our gardens, summer flowers begin producing their final blooms and seeds. Perennials start directing energy back toward their roots. Trees prepare for dormancy, and leaves begin their transformation from summer green to the beautiful golds, oranges, reds, and russets of autumn.

But while some parts of the garden are winding down, others remain remarkably busy.

Fall Is Still Pollinator Season

Our POP’s Pollinator Habitat reminds us that the arrival of fall does not mean the end of pollinator activity.

Late-blooming flowers can provide important nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies, moths, and other beneficial insects. Migrating butterflies continue their journeys, while hummingbirds passing through Georgia need energy-rich food as they travel south.

Even the fading flowers have a purpose.

Allowing some flower heads and stems to remain instead of immediately “cleaning up” the garden can provide seeds for birds, shelter for insects, and places where some native bees and other beneficial creatures can overwinter.

A garden that looks a little less tidy in autumn can actually be a garden full of life.

Autumn: A Gardener’s Season of Preparation

Fall is also one of the most rewarding times to garden in Georgia.

The cooler temperatures give newly planted trees, shrubs, and many perennials an opportunity to establish roots without the stress of intense summer heat. It is also time to think ahead planting spring-flowering bulbs, dividing appropriate perennials, collecting seeds, adding compost, and preparing garden beds for the seasons to come.

And those fallen leaves? They are more than something to rake away.

Leaves can become mulch and compost, returning valuable organic matter to the soil while providing habitat for many of the tiny creatures that are part of a healthy garden ecosystem.

In nature, very little goes to waste.

An Ancient Celebration of the Sun

People have been observing these seasonal turning points for thousands of years.

One remarkable example can be found at Chichén Itzá in Mexico, where the Maya pyramid known as El Castillo is associated with Kukulcán, the feathered serpent deity.

Around the spring and fall equinoxes, the late-afternoon sun creates a pattern of triangular light and shadow along the pyramid’s northwest staircase. Together, the shapes appear to form the body of a serpent descending the steps toward the carved serpent head at the base.

It is an extraordinary reminder that generations before us were watching the same Sun, observing the changing seasons, and recognizing how closely human life is connected to the rhythms of nature.

From Fall to Spring and Back Again

Our days will continue growing shorter until the Winter Solstice in December, when we experience the shortest day and longest night of the year.

Then, almost imperceptibly, the cycle begins to reverse. Each day brings a little more sunlight until the Spring Equinox, when day and night once again approach balance.

The days continue lengthening toward the Summer Solstice, and nature’s remarkable annual cycle begins again.

For the Marietta Daisies, the Fall Equinox is a wonderful reminder that gardening is about much more than flowers in bloom. It is about understanding and caring for the entire cycle of planting, growing, blooming, providing habitat, producing seeds, resting, and beginning again.

As we welcome autumn, take a walk through your own garden or visit our POP’s Pollinator Habitat. Notice the softer sunlight, listen for the birds, watch the pollinators visiting those final flowers, and resist the temptation to tidy every corner.

There is still plenty happening in the fall garden.

The garden may be slowing down, but nature’s work never truly stops.