Fall Gardening

[Geila]

Temps have finally started to come down and I'm excited to be out in the garden every day. We've done a ton of pruning and clearing out debris, washing everything down, etc. Now I'm excited to do a few flower pots to compliment all the green. I don't think I've ever planted fall-flowering plants before. I've always just done spring and fall. Any recommendations on good fall bloomers? I'm thinking of annuals for now. Something easy and reliable.

[KayLR]

I have a big pot of purple petunias by my front step I bought about a month ago...they're just popping! Really nice and full. You can probably get some pansies pretty economically right now too.

[Geila]

I have a big pot of purple petunias by my front step I bought about a month ago...they're just popping! Really nice and full. You can probably get some pansies pretty economically right now too.

Ah, petunias. I think of them and pansies as spring flowers, didn't think they would bloom now. I'm going to go on the hunt. Thanks Kay!

I stopped by the garden center yesterday and pretty much all they had was mums, which I read are picky plants. I'll try Home Depot and Lowes and see what they have. They usually have petunias.

[iris lilies]

I didn’t know petunias were cool weather flowers. Here, they do well in heat and humidity.

pansies like cool temps.

[rosarugosa]

I'm afraid I don't have much relevant advice since my climate is so different, but I do know that pansies like cooler weather. Mums do quite well here and are easy care for fall annuals, but they are pretty ubiquitous.

[razz]

Each climate zone has different plants thriving at different times. My sister in NC has an entirely different garden experience than I do in southern Ontario.
I love the fall mums for the shortening days and pansies for the bright but cool spring but the months will be different in my garden than NC as an example.

Right now I am shutting down my garden and putting things to bed. I must still harvest my leeks and onions. The carrots were planted too late, it seems. I have not had a killer frost as yet but it is forecast for the next week so my blue angel, fuschia and ferns will be cleared away although they do look good right now.

[KayLR]

My birthday is in October. A couple years ago my sister gave me a large potted chrysanthemum. Ok, I liked it, but for once, when it got tattered looking, I didn't just toss it, but dug a hole in my flower bed and stuck it in. It's STILL going! It got larger even. I didn't know those potted mums would overwinter at all let alone twice!

[razz]

My birthday is in October. A couple years ago my sister gave me a large potted chrysanthemum. Ok, I liked it, but for once, when it got tattered looking, I didn't just toss it, but dug a hole in my flower bed and stuck it in. It's STILL going! It got larger even. I didn't know those potted mums would overwinter at all let alone twice!

Happy Birthday to YOU and many more !!!!:D