I agree Cori Ann - Fall is a second Spring here. After 6-7 months of heat and NO rain at all, the life giving rains have come again (we have gotten 10+ inches since Oct 1). My roses are growing, the winter iris have come up and are blooming, and all over the garden plants which in other places bloom in late winter are starting to bloom NOW - camellias, rhododendrons, helebores, and even some daffodils are up and blooming. The fruit trees & Japanese quince are setting buds for a show within a few weeks. The lawns have magically turned solid bright green. I am going for a walk to enjoy the weather - it is about 60 here in here in the shade, and 70 in the sun.

Jackie

Fall has always been my favorite season, in what ever climate I inhabited. Even when fall grows chill and gray, I still like it best. There is a moody quality to the light that appeals to me. Not sure why. And I love the fall of leaves as much as I do spring flowers. Not that many of our leaves fall here, but I still feel the same way.

Fall is beautiful! No watering needed here, but I should be weeding, manuring etc. Nothing can replace Spring for me. I lived so long in the cold and dark climes that Fall was the beginning of the end that went on forever. Here, winter is so short, really it is nothing to dread. Maybe, I will change, who knows?

For myself, spring is my favourite, no contest.

Everything is beginning to come back to life, birds sing again, spring peepers trilling, days lengthen, and that thrilling promise of warmth on the way after a deep and frigid winter.

(I've found autumn to be, though beautiful, depressing in some fashions and things are always more difficult for me, for some reason).

Steven

Fall can be very beautiful here, but it depends. We have a long, dark winter, and the later it begins, the better. This year the dark weather--fog, clouds, humidity--has begun early, while actually rainfall has been low, and there has been little wind, possible owing to a durable high pressure system sitting over our part of the country. So we've had very little fall bloom because of the drought, but the sun has been absent. Basically we have experienced many of the disadvantages of both summer and winter combined in one season. This fall's chief beauty has been the cyclamen, and thank heaven for them.

Fall is our planting season, and as we've planted hundreds of shrubs, subshrubs, and trees over the last few years, it has been a frantically busy time for us, combined as it is with cleanup and the start of pruning. I'm hoping that after this year we'll be able to slow down and have more time for leisurely enjoyment of the season. And that next year autumn will be both wetter and sunnier.

Fall and spring are my favourites; summer is defintely my least favourite. To me, winters here in Italy seem incredibly short!

I love all 4 seasons. Love summer the most, that's my riding season, but this past summer was too hot for me, had so many days in the 90's. Normal temp in the summer is 70's-80's here. I was watering the roses every night after work. Love winter snow too, and I love to collect coats, boots, have a closet full of winter coats since we have 6 months of winter, one way to enjoy the long winter Lol. I do more hiking in the winter, when the temp drops to 10-20F, the hiking trails aren't muddy, and snow covered forest is so pretty. Fall is good, don't have to water the roses much, we have 2-3 days rain in a week, roses are happy campers in the fall. Spring is really wet here, can't do much outdoor activities, but roses love it. they hug spring with thousands blooms. You can just smell the fragrance in the air. Love all 4 seasons. :-)

My favorite is the late fall/winter. it's finally cool enough to spend more than a few minutes at a time outdoors, and the need for endless hand watering slows down. I do love the early spring time, but things start getting warm rather quickly here. By that time I begin to dread the coming summer with its heat, drought, high water and power bills. Unlike many of you, I'm more cooped up in summer and out in the winter. Lisa

That's the way it is with me, too, Lisa. I HAVE to go out to my land to waterand do essentials, but it is an unpleasent chore,incredibly exhausting and stressful. I end up mainly looking forward to lying in my darkened room with the fan turned on to the max...

Spring is my favorite season, hands down :) It's cool enough, for me to handle and it the biggest, most beautiful bloom of the season. The once bloomers are no secret my favorite :)

Those are beautiful, Ingrid. My SDLM seems to be resting right now. I would love to meet you someday, maybe after the holidays? I can easily picture your garden as I am VERY familiar with VC. I used to work for my uncle's brother on his estate, Melrose Ranch, until all that gardening got to be too much for me with my health issues. My ex inlaws used to live in VC as well. Just by seeing your photos, I'm almost certain you live on the same street they did. It's even crossed my mind that it could even be the same house! Wouldn't that be something? :) Lisa

Ingrid it's funny I saw a post of yours from 2011 showing full bush shots in your garden, which I am eternally grateful for! Thank you! But what I also noticed was that even with the droughts, your have transformed your garden and adapted to the conditions, making your garden even more lovely (in my opinion) now! I can't believe you have only had less than an inch of rain! That truly is extreme drought conditions! I sometimes miss living in southern California, until I hear things like that! Even so, I think all of us are lucky here in CA when I see photos and hear stories of the horrendous cold weather others are having. If I was a plant I would definitely be a full sun type of plant hardy only to zone 9, maybe 8. I get dreary when the days are shorter, but autumn doesn't quite seem to take effect on me in CA. I just slow down a little and that seems relaxing. I also definitely like not having to water every day like in the summer!

For some reason when I comment on your post from 2011 Ingrid it doesn't show up on the recent forum timeline (seems like this thread was problematic in the past too)... so I thought I would just post a link here for anyone interested in seeing Ingrid's fabulous full bush shots from previous years. Full bush shots are extremely helpful, so thank you thank you thank you Ingrid for taking the time to post them.

from http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1709786/rose-bush-shots-for-the-interested-second-try

Lisa, I would love to meet with you in the new year! It would indeed be strange if your in-laws lived on the same street as I do, and if it were the same house that would be downright eerie. Still, stranger things have happened. Besides, that way I will hopefully in return get a peek at your garden. It's been quite some time since I've seen someone else's rose garden, and it would be a special treat.

Cori Ann, thank you for resurrecting my old thread, which I've now bookmarked. I really appreciate your saying that you still like the garden now, since I'm still rather critical of it. With all the newer plants I just don't have much bloom yet, but hopefully by this time next year the situation will improve. I'm also hoping for more rain, since there are still some months of the rainy season left. What you saw in 2011 unfortunately did not stay because of the continuing drought and the fact that hand watering just didn't penetrate deeply enough into the soil. Many roses became diseased or stopped blooming, and I was reluctant to have my husband go to the trouble of putting in a drip system, not knowing how much of a difference it would have made. That's all hindsight and I had to make a new start, although I did plant some of the same roses I lost like La France, Lavender Mist, International Herald Tribune , Duchesse de Brabant and Marie Pavie. You're so right about how lucky we are not to have really cold and snowy weather. I always admire the people here who put up with long months without gardening and then wait for roses to grow again that have been killed off at ground level. What amazes me is that they still have beautiful gardens!

I don't enjoy this time of year at all, December is my very worst month, and cannot wait for the torture to end...

The upside is that I can already see signs of new growth waiting to happen on all my roses and deciduous shrubs. In sheer desperation I inspect them every day.

Marlorena I go south at the end of December or beginning of January every year for as long as I can afford (usually just a week) to get away from the dark days. I bow to all who love winter. I am obviously not a hardy soul.

"Torture" is the word for it, though for me January seems to be worse: none of the bustle of Christmas to help.

I had a negative experience the other day and went over a cliff emotionally. Am now spending all my daylight hours working in the garden as--hosannas to Heaven for this--the sun has come back at last, and I'm hoping the solar therapy may help. I don't dare talk to anyone outside my family for fear I'll start shouting. Called my doctor yesterday to see about taking an antidepressant this year as this really is hard to take, but haven't yet gotten through to her. It's not only feeling so horrible. I'm afraid for my behavior when I'm consumed by this black seething rage.

Thank Heaven DH and DD are psychologically sturdy types and fond of me. I'm at my best with them. DH is concerned and sympathetic but doesn't really get it, but DD has empathy and a loving heart. Not sure what I did to deserve her, but she helps.

Melissa, Hang in there. I know your Dr. can help with this. This is so common in winter and women seem more plagued than men. Your family and garden can help too. A trip to a southern sea would be lovely.

Autumn is the worst season and November is the worst of months. With only 6 hours of daylight here on the 59th parallel it gets so dark and depressing early in the afternoon. I don't suffer from SAD and ought to be used to darkness as I grew up in the even darker north. But up there we could count on snow to light up the ground and with sun it could be really blindingly bright. Not so down here where we don't get much snow before February. We had a little on Nov 10 but it was gone in three days. December gives a little hope with Christmas and the winter solstice on the 21st means that it doesn't get worse than this and we can at least look forward to brighter days.

We light fires and candles and switch on all lamps to cheer ourselves up. My husband turns on the sauna at least twice a week. We save enough electricity with our long summer days so we go all in now.

The sun came out as I was writing, a low and bleak sun but cheerful all the same.

Marlorena January is worse for me too. That's one of the reasons I just get away each year to warmer areas. I highly recommend one of those lights as well. You could talk to your dr about that too... but I don't really believe it's necessary because the risk (if any) of any side effects are low and you can buy them over the counter. The good ones are expensive... They seriously do help though. My dr recommended certain brands and it helped immensely.

Its like expecting a rose, or citrus tree, to live indoors with no grow lights and no extra help over winter. No shame in needing some extra help to get through it until the spring.

Melissa I do so hope things get better for you. I go through some stuff as well and can feel what you are going through ,.so glad your family helps, I don't know what I would do without mine. I look forward to spring, which I only know is my favorite season, because DH told me I'm always smiling in Spring :). Us woman do suffer worse than man, in the depression department. Edited to say, I'm not going through what you are going through at the moment Melissa, just wanted to say I understand because I've been there. I hope your doctor soon understands and helps you more in the way that you need. I hope you find some relief, through anything that would help. Family really is the best.

Mariannese, What is a sauna, I looked it up and best of what I get is like a sweat lodge? I bet it's soothing, and therapeutic.

Looking forward to Spring :)

Cori Ann, I think if I lived where you are, I might go down to San Diego for a week or two, as I sometimes check the weather there and more often than not, there always seems to be a big yellow sun shining with the most agreeable temps. I notice that next week it will be about 70F and sunny. I presume there are interesting things to do in San Diego..

Here, the south of France would be similar I suppose, but I can ride it out.

I'm sorry that Melissa feels so down, ..much worse than I am I think.

Oh Melissa I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time! Definitely all the things I said earlier to Marlorena... please take them to heart too! I'm sure your dr can help. If you can, ask about those lights. They really did help me.

Wow, i'm kind of amazed; i sure as heck don't feel depressed because of this season of the year; I really like it,though it is indeed one of the most busy times of all the year; days short, so much work to do out in the garden, ordering plants, putting up Christmas tree (a lot of work but SOOOOOOO nice to have it sparkling here by my side),listening to Christmas music when i have time (Loreena mcKennit"To drive the Cold Winter Away", Handel's messiah, even Sting; "If On a Winter's Night A Traveler..."Trip to visit DH's family-of-origin for Christmas has to be calculated into the whole scheme, too; not that I love going but heck, it's family.All of this distracts me from things that truly are depressing: Trump and the Trumpeteers. Now, summer is a different question all together...

I hope y'all feel better!

In Northern California on vacation just now, I saw Icebergs in full bloom and my mother's Marie Pavie (a cutting from mine!) blooming away with such perfect form and scenting the air around her. On return home, everything is frozen, grey and brown. What a downer. At work people were telling me that they knew I was in a bad mood. Well, duh. I was snarling at everyone. So the start of winter is the worst. By January, I usually come to acceptance. It's the Kubler-Ross stages of grief every #*$&(*% year. Sigh.

Denial: "It's not that bad. It won't be that bad. It's actually beautiful in the winter." (October)

Anger: "I hate this f***ing place! Why do we have to live here?!" (November-December)

Bargaining: "Can we just PLEASE move somewhere with a year-round growing climate? Please, please, please...?" (December)

Depression: "Maybe if I just eat enough chocolate I will get enough phenylethylamine to get through." (December, and 20 pounds of chocolate later...)

Acceptance: "Well I may as well get chores done and dream of beautiful gardens." (January/February...if I'm lucky).

Then the winds come in March/April the new growth gets ripped to shreds, and I start all over again.

Bart, it must be much sunnier in your part of the country than where I live. We can go days and days without ever getting a glimpse of the sun, this time of year.

It's good to read of others' experiences and know I'm not entirely alone. I've risen at this point, not to cheerfulness, but at least am mostly not in a state of active pain. Perhaps I may find the energy to do some of that Christmas preparation that bart talks about. I know it would help, if I could actually bring myself to do it. A sauna makes sense to me; I would love to have a hot tub just now, but have to make do with hot showers. DD and I were talking about making wreaths, but she has too much school and I have too much gardening. At least that's what it feels like. She had a day of vacation yesterday, but actually spent much of her time off just sleeping.

noseometer... the way you deal with depression has some appeal to me.. I like that..

Anger - I can relate...

• There's a lot about saunas on wikipedia. The word sauna is Finnish but the Swedish word translates to bathhouse. Ours is a small wooden cube in the basement bathroom that seats two people. We don't like it too hot, only a comfortable 160F, enough to appreciate a cold shower after 15-20 minutes inside. We have lots of brushes, soft and hard and tub of cold water to sprinkle on the lava rocks on the heater if the air gets too dry. You feel wonderfully warm and clean afterwards and the heat also relieves muscle pains.

• True sauna connoisseurs despise electrically heated saunas and swear by the wood fired old-fashioned bathhouse they have built themselves. Some like to roll in the snow after a bath or jump into ice cold lake water. I think I'd have a heart attack if I did that.

Melissa I didn't see your comment until after I edited up top, but you are definitely not alone.

Mariannese Your Sauna sounds awesome! I will have to look into getting one. Right now I just settle for a hot shower that runs out way too soon :)

Hang in there, girls! I have plenty experience with this problem. The one thing that I tell myself over and over is this, " I've felt this way before, and it did go away. It won't last forever." I know it feels like it won't ever go away, and some bouts are longer than others. If you've had it before, and now have it again, that means you did get better last time. And no shame in getting medical help if you need it. Certain brain chemicals can get messed up, so do whatever it takes to fix it. Sometimes that means meds, and sometimes exercise, diet, and changing our thoughts can help. Hang on, things will improve. My heart goes out to you. It really is an awful feeling....

Ingrid, it would be great to get together sometime. I could certainly use your "eye" in my garden. I'm not very good about placement and tying the look together. I tend to plant wherever and throw seeds everywhere, so things have a certain haphazard look. Lisa

It's definitely chemical. And some just aren't affected as others. My husband loves the cold for example. He loves the winter. He played hockey and lived in very wintery area of Canada for a while. He thrives there. I, on the other hand, need more sunlight and heat to function. No shame at all in adjusting the chemicals with medical help. Not getting help is like expecting a plant that just isn't hardy to just muscle up and think positive thoughts until winter is over. It's not going to happen. Some extra sunlight (artificial works too), some extra heat (LOVE the sauna idea), some extra nutrients (does chocolate count?)... and adjusting chemicals with chemistry (meds)... that's how us un-hardy folk gotta get through those wintery months.

Or let's just all move during the winter!

Officially it is still fall here for another couple weeks - until December 21st. I'm going to enjoy my fall as long as I can! Then I'm going to Mexico.

I'm feeling okay again, even cheerful, thank goodness. Planting down in the woods on a sunny day yesterday definitely helped. But it was awful while it lasted. This bout was short, just a couple of days, but it made up in intensity for its brevity. I appreciate all these comments that were aimed at us sufferers.

Cori Ann, I like your attitude. I know that, if I could manage it, financially and otherwise, I'd go to my family in Florida every January at the end of the holidays and stay there until the month was over. Heat does seem to be important. I really enjoy our wood stove, a much sensorily richer source of warmth than a radiator or electric heater, and think with longing of hot tubs...a sauna hadn't occurred to me. I hope you have a good time down in Mexico.

Glad to hear it Melissa! Lisa