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October 11, 2000

Admiring From Afar...
Is there a house in your neighborhood that has a spectacular garden?  One that every time you drive or walk by it you say to yourself, "Wow, that is a beautiful place!"  There is a house just like that in my neighborhood.  I have driven by it numerous times, slowing down, admiring it and gathering ideas.  A couple of weeks ago as I was returning from the grocery store I noticed the owner of this fine garden was outside toiling away among her flowers.  I stopped and introduced myself (discreetly crossing my fingers in hopes that I would receive a garden tour).  Sharon was very pleasant and introduced me to all of her plantings.  She and her husband Joe have done a great job at putting shrubs, hostas, perennials and annuals together to make a garden come to life with lots of interest.  As if that is not enough, they have a lawn to die for!  What a great neighborly experience.  I hope the next time you are out for a walk and pass by the house you have been admiring from afar, you will stop and introduce yourself to the owner.  Who knows, you might make a new friend or simply learn something new!

Hopefully everyone received our frost alert in time to rescue fall plants last weekend.  We were busily covering mums and asters trying to keep them from Jack Frost's nip.  On the other hand we just let some annuals go.  I guess their time had come.  The survivors are welcoming this fall-like weather we are enjoying this week.  So am I.  

Before I forget, The Sweet Onion is giving away pumpkins to kids (12 and under) in exchange for two cans of food to be donated to a local charity.  One pumpkin per child of course.  Isn't that great?

Hopefully we will receive some much needed rain soon.  Don't forget to water!

~ Shelly  

Love Me Tender, Dig Those Bulbs...
Last weekend's surprise frost means it's time to dig canna, glads, dahlias and other tender bulbs for winter storage.
  Be sure to dig the bulbs carefully, retrieve any offsets that may have developed, and leave the foliage intact.

Place the bulbs in an airy, sheltered spot to dry for a two to three week period.  Except for begonias, foliage and stems can be cut off with a sharp knife near, but not at the point, where they emerge from the bulb.  For begonia stems, allow them to dry until they are brittle enough to break off from the bulbs.

Your bulbs should overwinter in a dark, cool place (45 to 50 degrees) stored in vermiculite, peat moss, or similar material.  It is also a good idea to dust with a fungicide and insecticide to curb disease and insect development in storage.

Except for daffodils, bulbs of all kinds are considered a delicacy to mice and other rodents.  Store bulbs where these critters will not have access to them.

Source

The Plant That Came In From The Cold...
Hopefully you brought your houseplants inside before the cold weather hit last weekend.  If you did not, and they are still healthy, it's time to bring them in.  Be sure to check them for pests.  Simply rinsing the plants' leaves, and soaking the pots in water for 15 to 20 minutes will drown most soil-dwelling pests.  Also, clean the windows where plants will be placed.  It can dramatically increase available sunlight and make for a much healthier plant!

We Call It Squirrel Wire Here...
Does anyone else have squirrels that are determined to make all gardening tasks a struggle?  When planting our bulbs we know they're watching, waiting for us to walk away so they can dig them up again.  One way to foil them when planting beds of bulbs is to place a layer of wide mesh chicken wire over them (the bulbs not the squirrels) before covering them with soil.  The squirrels will still try to get them but will be stopped in their tiny tracks when they reach the barrier.  As the bulb grows it will find a path through the wire and bloom normally.  Take that, varmint!

Something Old Becomes Something New...
To help build compost humus for use in next year's garden, fallen leaves, old vegetable plant parts and grass clippings should be added to the compost pile.  In fact these garden items can even be tilled directly into the soil, where they will compost through the winter.  

A note about grass clippings.  Don't compost them if the grass has been recently treated with an herbicide.  Some herbicides will remain toxic enough in the compost to do damage to plants next year.

Who Put The Straw In Strawberry?
Pine needles and clean straw make a particularly good mulch for strawberries.  Start collecting them now to place in strawberry beds once the ground has frozen.

What's Hot On the Hotline...
The fall chill has arrived with a blast bringing with it record low temperatures and the end of another gardening season.  It's been a tough season.  It started dry and only worsened as the season unfolded.  Recent rains have renewed interest in the garden, at least for the time being, and it has brought many lawn questions.  Is it too late to seed?  Find out in this week's Hotline...

Christmas Cacti Countdown...
If you own any Christmas cacti it's time for the special care that will produce flowers in December.  To promote bud formation keep the cacti in a place where temperatures are between 50 and 60 degrees.   The plants should also be exposed to at least 13 hours of complete darkness each night.  Putting them in a spare room or closet is well worth the extra effort it may take for the spectacular display of blooms that will follow.

Finally...
"In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.  And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November."

~ Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn Garden, 1905

 

 

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