Mid-October in the Garden
Annual and perennial flowers continue to bloom until the first heavy frost. At that time, most species need to be cut back. Non-hardy annuals will be removed. A few hardy annuals may survive for a while (like snapdragons). Some seeds will be collected. Perennials will be cut back. We will provide some winter protection for both perennials and shrubs. We are doing some late deep watering of shrubs and perennials . We are harvesting items from the vegetable garden, but a bit of frost improves the flavor of root vegetables. Cold-sensitive vegetables and herbs will be dug up and composted.
Later in October, we will be planting some perennial seeds in the vegetable garden in marked rows. Many perennials need to have winter freezing to help the seed to germinate. Last year we propagated many lupines and rudbeckia this way. For this winter, we have seeds ready for sowing before the ground becomes too hard to dig up. All of this can be done by putting seed into the refrigerator or freezer, then sown into flats in late winter. We will probably do that too.
At the same time, we try to get out into the garden each day to enjoy the last days of summer and fall blooms. A few photos are shared here.
In the first gallery are cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus sp.), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), African daisy (Dimorphotheca sinuata sp.), coreopsis (Coreopsis grandiflora), calendula (Calendula officinalis), speedwell (Veronica sp.), fall asters (Symphyotrichum dumosum), and spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa).
All photos by the author. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption/ID.
In the second gallery is the last hosta flowers (Hosta sp.), heliopsis (Heliopsis sp.), yellow alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis), aubrieta (Phlox paniculata), white phlox (Phlox sp.) and more cosmos.
It is nice to celebrate the flowers of the garden in each season. Over the winter we will celebrate and provide info on specific plants.
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