Newsletter - September 2007

September is a busy month for two very special aspects of your garden enjoyment - winter vegetables and bulbs. The first keeps your produce bin full and the second gives you continuous bonus color from January to June.

In our area, seeds for winter vegetables should be planted now. We still have enough sun and warmth to germinate our favorites. Here, winter crops include three categories: root vegetables, leaf vegetables, and cole crops. Unless you've taken the time to double dig your vegetable area at least six times (twice a year for three years, adding lots of compost each time), root crops do best in raised beds. Plant carrots, potatoes, onions, beets, turnips, parsnips and rutabagas in a large container 18" - 24" deep filled with a loose grade soil mix and your root crops will be superior. The leaf crops of lettuce varieties, spinach, kale, chard, cabbages and the cole crops of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower can go in the ground, but once you've used raised beds, you may decide to plant everything in them. We also plant vegetable perennials now such as asparagus, rhubarb and artichokes. Then don't forget to put in some peas, or snow peas that will give a nitrogen boost in your soil for spring planting and you can grow celery now too.

While you're planting seeds add some flowers for color on gray winter days. Use stock, pansies, violas, alyssum, pot marigolds, snapdragons, dianthus and poppies. These may not bloom during have weeks of rain, but as soon as the sun shines they burst with color and fragrance.

Bulbs should go in this month and next month and I know our soil is rock-hard right now. Water the areas for bulb planting, dig and turn with a garden fork, add some compost then smooth the soil. Before it dries out again completely, plant the trenches, or individual holes for your bulbs. If this is too much work, you might consider containers. Add calcium (bone meal) to the hole, cover lightly with soil & place the bulb within. Then cover with the rest of the soil. The rule of thumb is depth equals two times the bulb's width. That works for spacing too. The nurseries should have a nice selection now of true bulbs such as daffodils, narcissus, Dutch iris, hyacinths, and tulips. They should have corms of crocus, freecias, sparaxis, watsonias, and ixia. They will also have rhizomes of German iris, Japanese iris, and callas. Tuberous roots to look for include, ranunculas, anemones and peonies and dicentra. Some of these take shade (dicentra and callas, but most of these ask for a nice sunny location and average garden water to bloom. Many will multiply for more blooms each following year. Our area doesn't have enough winter cold for tulips and hyacinths to multiply or even make an annual appearance. If you love them, be prepared to plant them every year for a good display. The only other thing you must do for happy bulbs is after flowering, don't cut off the leaves. They are busy photosynthesizing the glucose required for the next bloom cycle. If the raggedy appearance bothers you, gather the leaves together, fold them over and secure with a rubber band. This allows you to enjoy other flowers such as pansies at their base without distraction.

Have a wonderful and busy next couple of weeks in your garden and I'll write again in October.