FALL IS FOR PLANTING
Are you ready for Fall? I sure am. I don’t mind the heat but fall is my favorite season of all the seasons. August was somewhat kind to us. We did have some very hot days. But, we have been hotter in August. We did not set any high-temperature records. Most importantly, August gave us some good rainfalls and kept us from having a drought to deal with this year. This rainfall in August has really helped set us up to have a wonderful fall planting season.
Officially, Fall began yesterday, on Wednesday, September 22nd. Now is a great time to take advantage of cooler days and get out into our gardens and do the preparation work needed to get ready for planting. A couple of jobs to concentrate on is to continue keeping weeds under control and you may also want to do some deadheading of annuals or perennials to keep them looking their best and remove any dead or tired-looking plants that are showing signs of suffering from the heat, insects, or diseases.
Once you clear and clean up the flower beds you are ready to be creative once again. Do me a favor: or more importantly—do our friendly pollinators a favor—try to make room for some native and pollinator-friendly plants within your renovation plans. Even the smallest changes in landscaping and gardening can make a big difference to pollinators. So, don’t think that your area is too small to give support.
TIP: It is now mid-September. You have time to still enjoy your summer annuals, like begonias, vinca, impatiens, marigolds, and others. HOWEVER, in a week or two I would strongly recommend that you make the sacrifice and pull out these summer annuals and start planting the “winter hardy” pansies. The main reason that I stress about planting pansies now is that it will give the pansies a longer time to develop a good, deep, healthy root system before the cold, winter days set in. With strong, deeper roots the pansies have a better survival rate to keep thriving in winter.
Are you ready to think about doing something cool and funky with your garden beds?
Consider planting some cool-season vegetables into these flower beds for interesting color and texture. And, think about finding room to plant some small fruits such as blueberries into garden beds. You may be thinking “no way” and laugh at my suggestion! But, sometimes “thinking outside the box” is just what these flower beds need. Lettuce varieties, for example, can be quite ornamental with their variable shapes and colors. Purple cabbage, Swiss chard, spinach, and other vegetable greens can add to the color. As they grow, think about how you can walk out your door and pick freshly grown vegetables to eat. This can be a great learning tool for kids to see how vegetables grow. And, freshly picked vegetables are at their highest nutrient level and taste.
If I have convinced you in trying to add some vegetables to your flower beds then come see us. We have a good selection of cool crop vegetables at this time and now is the perfect time to be planting.
PLANT A LITTLE HAPPINESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!