Garden Calendar: September

Get Ready

• Make sure you've ordered daffodils and other spring bulbs for October planting.
• Build or buy compost bin in anticipation of autumn leaves.

Plant

• Plant cool season leafy root vegetables: Carrots, Beets, Turnips, Lettuce, and Spinach.
• Sow hardy annuals: Sweet Alyssum, Calendula, Annual Pinks, Snapdragon, and Sweet Peas.
• Sow rye grass seed in winter lawns.

Fertilize

• Stop feeding mums when the buds start showing color.
• Acidify Azaleas and Camelias.

Water

• Slow down watering of Azaleas and Hydrangea to allow them to harden against winter freezes.
• Spray foliage of Camelias in anticipation of their bloom.
• Water potted plants and hanging baskets frequently.

Prune

• Disbud Camellias, Dahlias, and Chrysanthemums to produce specimen blooms. It is generally not a good idea to prune this late in the year, because new growth will be more susceptible to winter freezes.

Miscellaneous

• Turn compost pile.
• Propagate by layering. Scrape underside of a strong branch, bend down to ground, cover with soil and weigh down with a brick. Water from time to time and end of branch will put out new growth; becoming a new plant.
• Pick flowers in bloom and dry for future arrangements. Bundle flowers together and hand upside down in a dry, sheltered area.
• Repot houseplants. Prune away damaged foliage and give a good dose of food.

In Bloom

• Canna, Cosmos, Copper Plant, Marigolds, Periwinkle, Plumbago, Crape myrtle, Althea, Four-o'clocks, Salvia, Ageratum, Coleus, Lycoris, Aster, Begonia, Celosia, Chrysanthemum, Coral Vine, Ginger Lily, Gladiiolus, Jacobina, Liriope, Morning Glory, Petunia, Phlox, Rattle Box, Rose, Spider Lily, Torenia, Vinca, White Zephyranthes Lily, Zinnia, Buddleia, Franklin Tree.

Fall Color

• Flowering Dogwood with showy, drooping red leaves.
• Ginko leaves turn pure yellow.