Fall is Breathing Down Our Necks

By the time this article comes out we will have 4 days until October. It is hard to believe that leaves are beginning to fall and I have cursed a few acorns when I stepped on them with my bare feet. Some of us got a little spit shower the other day, I think we got 1/4 inch at my house. I am not complaining about that but if September has been any indication as to the rainfall we might receive in October we had better stay vigilant with our water hoses. I want my plants to be strong as we head into winter when we might get tested with an early freeze. The way to breeze through these events is to water deeply and consistently until we begin to see the rainfall begin to increase. It won’t be too much longer, I guess I’m rooting myself on as well as rooting you on to keep it up.

On one hand the low amounts of rain is rough on us and our yards but it is also a blessing if someone is trying to get some projects done outside. I can tell you that our landscape crews have not missed any hours on their paychecks for quite a while. I would imagine the dry makes it way easier for the lawn guys and the tree guys and the home builders. My grass has basically stopped growing and will slow down even more as the night time temperatures begin to fall into the upper 50’s.

This is a great time to put out some winterizer on your lawn to strengthen the roots of your lawn before it goes completely dormant. There is still time to put a pre-emergent out in your lawn and in your beds that you wont be planting any seeds or bulbs in. A pre-emergent will kill the weed seeds that are waiting to pop up all over your yard this winter, trust me, they are there waiting to germinate every where that there is space for them.

My seeding project is coming along nicely. I have moved just about all my seedlings into the pots that they will be sold in. So far the blue bachelors Button and the red are looking great. I have started some Cardoon ( a type of Artichoke). I will try some in the garden this fall but I do not believe

they will be cold hardy. I grew them so I can get them big enough this winter in the greenhouses to put them in 3 gallon pots. Cardoon is hard to find from the growers that I know of. They will get 8- 10 feet tall and are white. The foliage is white, the bloom is white, they are a beautiful addition in the garden so I am hoping I can pull them through the winter to have them ready for spring sales. I will

have some for sale this fall for anyone in the mood to do some experimenting with me.

I have germinated some tall snap dragons and some mango twist snaps that I think will be fun and different. I popped some pure black pansies seeds. I’m proud of that since Pansies aren’t the easiest seeds to pop. I have three colors of cauliflower, red, green and white and lots of herbs. I did a slow bolt cilantro which will hopefully last longer next spring before they bolt. For any Butterfly lovers I have grown lots of Dill for the larva to feed upon.I have lots more coming on but our grow operation is growing tons more than what I am listing here.

So far we have planted lots of Foxgloves, different heights and colors, lots of perrenials for fall planting, all the pansies and snap dragons, wall flowers and too much to list. It is fun to come shop at Garden Works during this stage since we have planted quite a bit more of this falls crop right out on the retail tables so people can watch the process. After 40 years in this biz it still blows my mind how quickly the seedlings grow in a weeks time. Some of the violas are already showing their happy faces.

Of course John and Luke have grown the biggest mums in town. The mums buds are cracking open now, I am seeing yellow, red, white, bronze and of course our famous Skittles, multi colored in one pot.

The truckload of pumpkins has arrived and are beautifully displayed under our covered area so the pumpkins aren’t scalding in the sun. The colors are unreal, they are magic to work with around the yard and house. The pumpkins add so much vibrancy to planted up pots and front doors you will be reluctant to take them down until after thanksgiving.

This is a great time to shop around the nurseries in town and get an eyeful and hopefully a strategy for decorating your home or business.

Our truckload of Camelias and sasanquas will show up tomorrow and a long line of trucks will be showing up tomorrow fill up our shrub and tree area for fall planting. Our aquatics area is full and looking great. Andrew has knocked the new for us aquatic plant department out of the park. I had no idea that so many people were either already into aquatics or were waiting on someone to pull the trigger. Apparently these plants are hard to find so when he cranked this up people rushed in to start collecting plants, get educated, and get these water ponds delivered to their patios so they could enjoy the tranquility that these features offer. We are selling the fish that go with them so he has developed a one stop shopping spot for those that are ready to dive in, so to speak. We couldn’t be more excited about fall breathing down our necks with all it has to offer. It’s time to loosen up that soil and make a plan.