Fall Color

Fall Color

Gardeners hate to admit defeat even when the opponent is the weather. Our water bills from this summer are proof of that! Many of us feel the same way about the approaching winter. We would rather end the growing season with one last burst of color. Fortunately there are many plants that do well in, and even love the cooler temperatures.
Familiar fall plants such as chrysanthemums, ornamental kales and flowering cabbages come in a wide variety of flower colors and leaf textures. The kales and cabbages will continue to look great even into the beginning of winter. Many become more colorful as the temperature gets colder. The hardy mums will bloom for weeks and are frost tolerant. Although the hardy mums are not considered to be perennial plants in our zone, they may reappear in your garden next summer.

Some of the other annual plants that thrive in cool temperatures are calibrachoa (million bells), argyranthemum, snapdragon and dusty miller. The adorable pansies, violas and panolas that are so popular in the spring will also do beautifully in cool to even cold fall conditions. Annual and perennial grasses can add height and texture to fall gardens and container plantings. Where many perennials have already had their blooming time, asters are just beginnig to show off their color. Huechera, with their palette of colors of foliage, will also add to your fall landscape.

By mixing some of these cool weather annuals and perennials in your garden or containers with colorful gourds and pumpkins you can enjoy a new growing season of fall color.

By: Gayla Parker
Gardening Expert at A.J. Rahn Greenhouses

Fall Vegetables

Fall Vegetables

With cooler weather on the way, now is a good time to make room in your garden for fall vegetables. If some of your summer vegetable crop is finished, perhaps it's time to send them off to the compost pile and plant a few of the various cole crops and lettuces. Cabbages, Broccoli, Collards, Kale, Turnips, Radishes and a variety of lettuce types will keep you supplied in fresh vegetables long after the summer crop is finished. Seeds can be started indoors now, then transplanted outside. Many garden centers have already started these seeds for you and you can purchase seedlings two or three weeks in growth and ready to transplant. Be sure to offer some protection from hungry critters with a fence or special cloth cover that allows light and water through, or try planting in containers to foil their little appetites.
Cool weather crops tend to do better in the fall than in the spring, due to fewer insect pests and the temperatures moving toward cooler rather than toward warmer. If frost is a possibility overnight, you can cover the plants and still have good crops for quite a few weeks more. No extra fertilizer is necessary, however a bit of compost around the plants will give them nutrients that may be depleted from the summer crop. Of course, if no rain is occurring, water when necessary.
These plants require little attention and offer lots of great eating for many more weeks before it will be time to shut the garden down for the winter.

By: Sandy Weinkam
Gardening Expert at A.J. Greenhouses