Garden Tips Newsletter
Fall Offers a Second Chance
September 28, 2009
Just a few of you may be feeling pretty guilty right now. You may have either let your flowers burn slap up this summer or helplessly watched as they drowned, as the case may be. Or sadly, due to lack of time, energy or whatever, you never planted any in the first place. Your garden beds look like the surface of the moon with a few moon rocks scattered around to break the bleakness and monotony. Or, due to the recent rains in some areas of the state, it may look more like the Dismal Swamp right now.
Cooler, drier days are coming, so don’t fret. Fall offers folks like you and me a second chance to redeem ourselves. Many garden centers restock in the fall with a large variety of new and different plants, other than the usual mums and pansies. We’re talking about all sorts of great stuff including trees, ground covers, shrubs and perennials. So go shopping!
Now is the time to look for fall blooming perennials...Asters, goldenrod, Mexican bush sage, Japanese anemone, just to name a few. There are tons of selections of ornamental grasses and sedums to choose from at your favorite garden center or nursery. As for shrubs, many roses get their second wind in September, blooming better than they have for months.
Adding tropical shrubs and vines to your fall garden may seem a tad goofy, as these will give up the ghost at the first sign of frost, but you know you can bring these indoors if you want to save them. The great advantage to using tropicals is they bloom just about nonstop. Keep an eye out for Chinese hibiscus, mandevilla, allamanda, yellow shrimp plant, and pentas. But don’t wait too long because Jack Frost will be nipping at your heels before you know it and this may be your last chance!
Lelia Scott Kelly, Ph.D., writes Garden Tips weekly and is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.