“Whether we wish to admit it or not, the world really is a garden, and invites and even requires our constant participation and habitation.”

— William B. Jordan III

The Robin Migration Moon wanes throughout the period, entering its final quarter on Tuesday at 7:36 p.m. and becoming the new Deer Mating Moon on the 13th at 5:08 p.m.

By the time most bird migrations are complete, the rutting season for white-tailed deer begins, often lasting through the middle of December. One marker for the commencement of this season is the collapse of the high canopy; another is the close of aster season in the city and country.

The moon rises after midnight this week and sets in the afternoon, moving overhead, its best position for finding game and for fishing in the morning hours. Lunar influence becomes especially potent as the cold fronts of Tuesday and Nov. 11 approach, pushing down the barometer and bringing an increased chance for precipitation.

Late planting of grains and bedding plants for spring is favored under Cancer through Monday and in Scorpio on Nov. 12 to 13.

Weather trends: Late Fall almost always arrives in the second week of November.

It is a transition season during which the last leaves fall, skies darken, wind speed increases, hard frosts put an end to the year’s flower and vegetable cycles, harvest is completed on the farm, and final preparations for winter are made. Late Fall’s high temperatures shift decidedly into the 40s, and lows average 32 or worse.

High-pressure systems, accompanied by clouds and rain or snow, typically arrive around the 9th and the 14th. The 9th is historically the wettest day of November’s second week. The 11th and 12th are the sunniest, and the 13th is the driest. At least one partly cloudy afternoon in the 60s or 70s comes six years out of ten during this time of the year, but cold and precipitation are the norm. Heating degree days are now more than double those of October.

Zeitgebers: Zeitgebers for this week include the emergence of orange berries from climbing bittersweet and euonymus vines, the increased danger from deer at night as rutting season intensifies, the collapse of late sugar maple, river birch, ginkgo and white mulberry foliage, the rusting of beech leaves, the bright flowering of witch hazel, the turning of New England aster leaves to dusky gold and zigzag goldenrod leaves to faded purple.

Day and night: The day’s length begins to shrink more quickly in November, losing two minutes every 24 hours. At night, summer’s Hercules will be in the far west by 10 p.m., and the Great Square will be moving in behind it. Cassiopeia lies due south of Polaris, its deepest intrusion overhead. Aldebaran leads Orion higher each night.

Daybook

Today: This morning’s end of Daylight Savings Time could cause animals and family members (and maybe even you) to be out of sorts because of the change in feeding and eating schedule. Seasonal affective disorders may be increasing in many people due to the change in sunset time that accompanies the end of DST. Even though you are getting up when it is lighter outside, the sudden end to the day near suppertime can be upsetting.

Monday: The total disintegration of the foliage is one of the most dramatic changes in the whole year, and it comes on the heels of the end of Daylight Savings Time! This is also the period of the year that Christmas advertising intensifies in the media — and some people begin to feel the pressures of the holiday season as well as of the weather and of the changes in the landscape.

Tuesday: The moon enters its final quarter today — its weakest position during the first half of November — favoring work with livestock, pets, friends and family. The weak moon is also recommended for surgery and dental work on animals and people.

Wednesday: During this transition time to Late Fall, mums often keep blossoming in the perennial garden. In the fields and woods, the last autumn violets are still blooming beside a few last chicory, Queen Anne’s lace, thyme-leafed speedwell, mallow, the final asters and one or two stalks of goldenrod. Wild geranium, thistle and cinquefoil can be growing back. Sometimes a parsnip is ready to bloom. Garlic mustard, sweet cicely, Virginia creeper, burdock, red clover, waterleaf, ground ivy, celandine, sweet rocket, dock and leafcup have also revived, looking ahead six months to Middle Spring.

Thursday: Plant winter grains and a green cover crop for the garden under the waxing moon. Order legume seed for winter pastures. Start all your bedding plants under lights to get a head start on spring. Deep water all perennials before the ground freezes, especially if your garden suffered from the drought this summer.

Friday: Falling leaves let you know that it is time to fertilize the pasture and garden. Manure and compost that is spread now will have a chance to work its way into the ground all winter.

Saturday: Nov. 10 is a pivotal day for autumn cloud cover to intensify in and around Clark County. A lack of sun means slow drying for wet hay and increased likelihood for mold in feed supplies. Clouds also mean major attacks of seasonal affective disorders in humans.

Notebook

Among the first observations I remember making about nature as a child was that the wind seemed to be caused by the trees moving and that green leaves brought on summer. It soon became apparent to me, of course, that the reverse was true. Events in nature were the result of causes quite distant from their effects. The wind was the product of planetary and even cosmic forces, and the green leaves of summer grew from a cycle that began in deep winter or even millennia before, offspring of the evolution and migration of plants.

As I get older and watch myself in nature, however, I have started to see that my first notes about the world were not so far off as I assumed. I find that distant energies are less relevant and less useful than my scientific understanding once led me to believe. In fact, my emotional and spiritual life is more closely tied to appearances than to causes.

Late Fall in my thoughts and in my feelings is the clear reflection of the things I see. The changes in the landscape produce changes in my mind. Earth’s fluctuating relationship to the sun may technically cause the advent of winter, but it is the bare trees and the frost that make the season in my head. Very literally, the green trees bring June to my brain. Ragweed and goldenrod bring the middle of August, and the sudden collapse of the sugar maple canopy makes November.