Late Bloomers: Flowers Defying the First Freeze Warning
October 9th, 2025. Four days until Portugal. And Connecticut just issued its first freeze warning of the season.
So naturally, I found a clematis blooming.
Clematis are supposed to be spring flowers, right? That's what I always thought. But yesterday, walking past my folks' yard, there she was—purple petals opened up like she hadn't gotten the memo about the incoming freeze. Tonight drops below 32°F. By morning, she might be done.
That's a slightly morbid thought, but it's also just the cycle, isn't it? Everything blooms, everything fades, everything comes back around.
I grabbed my Samsung S23 and started shooting. Once I noticed the clematis, I saw other flowers still going strong—cosmos, some late zinnas, a few stubborn blue flowers I can't quite name. All of them pushing out color and life right before the first hard freeze of the season.
The Defiant Garden
The purple clematis caught my attention first. That distinctive star-shaped bloom, usually associated with spring awakening, showing up in October felt like nature's version of wearing shorts in a snowstorm. Technically possible, but why?
Maybe she's a late-season variety. Maybe the unusually warm fall confused her internal clock. Maybe she just decided to bloom regardless of what the calendar or the weather forecast said.
The cosmos were putting on a show too—bright pink and magenta flowers on tall, willowy stems. These I expected. Cosmos handle cool weather better than most garden flowers. But even they have limits, and tonight's freeze will test those limits.
Orange zinnias, yellow wildflowers, that striking blue bloom—all of them still producing color when most Connecticut gardens have already transitioned to fall cleanup mode. The combination of late-season warmth followed by sudden freeze warnings creates these weird windows where summer and winter overlap.
Photography Before the Freeze
The Samsung S23 handled the job well. Late afternoon light, varied flower colors, the need to capture these blooms before they potentially disappear overnight—mobile phone cameras have reached the point where they handle most everyday photography situations without complaint.
I shot close-ups of individual flowers, pulled back for context shots showing multiple blooms, tried to capture the particular quality of October light that's different from summer sun. There's something about pre-freeze days where the air feels sharper, the colors more vivid, like everything's trying to make one last impression before winter arrives.
Will these flowers survive tonight's freeze? Some might. Cosmos can handle light frosts. The clematis might be tougher than she looks. But others will probably turn black and wilted by morning, completing their cycle for this year.
I'm planning a follow-up. Check the garden tomorrow morning, see what survived, document what changed. It's a small thing, but these observations matter—tracking seasonal shifts, noticing what persists and what fades, paying attention to the cycles happening constantly around us.
Real Life: Sewage and Plumbing
Oh, and while we're talking about cycles and endings—yesterday we discovered our 150-year-old cast iron sewage pipe has cracks and holes.
Welcome to old house ownership.
My folks noticed a leak under the kitchen sink. Called a friend who does plumbing work to come take a look. While patching that issue, we decided to check the drain pipe running to the basement. That's when I found it—the main line from the house to the septic tank, original cast iron, showing its age with multiple stress cracks and at least one proper hole.
So now, instead of spending my last weekend before Portugal relaxing or doing final trip prep, I'll be in the basement with an angle grinder and reciprocating saw, cutting out old pipe with the plumber, replacing it with modern PVC, and making the kind of mess that only serious plumbing work generates.
Exactly how I wanted to spend my final days before leaving for weeks of coastal hiking.
But here's the thing—I want to leave my parents' house better than I found it. They took me in when I needed it. Helping with major repairs is one way to show love that actually matters. Words are cheap. Cutting out 150-year-old sewage pipes on a Saturday before your international flight? That's real.
Four Days Until Portugal
The timing is almost funny. Flowers blooming before a freeze. Emergency plumbing repairs before an overseas trip. Everything happening at once, like it always does.
The Fisherman's Trail waits in Portugal—250 kilometers of coastal hiking, fishing villages, Atlantic views, and whatever challenges multi-day trekking throws at you. I've been preparing, testing gear, planning logistics, documenting local Connecticut hikes as practice.
And now I'm also going to spend Saturday covered in pipe debris and century-old sediment, making sure my folks' plumbing functions properly while I'm gone.
This is what real life looks like. Not the curated highlight reel, but the actual mix of beauty and mundane necessity, unexpected blooms and broken pipes, photography sessions and plumbing emergencies.
The Freeze Tonight
Tonight drops below freezing for the first time this season. By morning, Connecticut gardens will look different. Some flowers will survive. Others won't. The clematis might hang on, or she might turn brown and collapse, having pushed out one final bloom before yielding to winter.
I'll check tomorrow morning, assuming I'm not already elbow-deep in basement plumbing. Either way, I'll document what changed.
The cycle continues—blooming and fading, building and repairing, preparing to leave and taking care of what's here. Four days until Portugal. One freeze warning. Multiple late-season flowers defying expectations. One very old sewage pipe demanding immediate attention.
Just another October week before an international trip.
Books by Tim Mack
The Last Train: 46 Days with the Final Ringling Brothers Circus
In April 2017, I left my Atlanta circus company to join the final tour of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus—"The Greatest Show on Earth" closing after 146 years.
The Last Train captures the last 46 days of an American institution from inside the legendary mile-long circus train. Experience the brutal 12-hour setups, the international community of 300 performers from over 30 countries, and the bittersweet reality of giving everything to something that's ending.
From lion encounters during load-out to watching America roll by from train vestibules, from emergency breakdowns to the emotional final bow at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on May 21, 2017—this memoir preserves how the world's most famous circus actually worked, and what it meant to the people who lived it.
Paperback – August 23, 2025
The Secret to 7-Figure Living: How to Open Your Life to Boundless Joy, Prosperity, and Freedom
This book redefines prosperity and success beyond superficial wealth, instead measured by intentional cultivation of creativity, adventure, strong relationships, and purpose.
Key concepts include: - Prioritizing life experiences over material accumulation - Embracing minimalism to create space for deeper connections - Generous living with time, skills, and focus - Choosing quality relationships over quantity - Designing environments that spark inspiration - Aligning actions with values-based goals - Leaving meaningful legacy through everyday choices
The book provides a blueprint for cultivating happiness accessible to everyone willing to redefine affluence on their own terms, regardless of financial constraints.
Paperback – February 12, 2024
Continue following the journey at RoamingSparrow.com - where adventure meets authentic storytelling.
