For Fall:

• Even in our flower garden, if we remain diligent, watering regularly and pinching off spent flowers, the summer growing season will also continue right on through September. Planting chrysanthemums and another group of pansies, both of which thrive until a hard frost, will extend the blossoming season even longer and will provide many more bouquets even through October.

• In spite of the difficulty it causes some children during spelling bees, the word “chrysanthemum” always conjures up pleasant memories of rich autumnal colors. Bright and cheery amongst fallen leaves, they add color and cheer to the waning flowers of summer. Longing to extend the loveliness of our flower gardens makes chrysanthemums one of the most popular flowers in the world. Japan even elevated them to a royal status when the imperial household claimed the chrysanthemum as their heraldic emblem. Although the name means “golden flower,” chrysanthemums are available in a wide range of colors from white to yellow to burnt umber and from lavender to pink to deep red with size varying from one inch to eight inches in diameter. Prim and proper buttons to flamboyant sprays, these flowers add both color and interest to an otherwise lackluster garden. Plant several varieties and continue to fill your home with fresh cut bouquets even as the cold autumnal winds whisk away all other signs of summer.

• To preserve summer bouquets for the winter months, begin drying flowers now. Cut the flowers at their peak and in the morning shortly after the dew has evaporated. Most flowers with sturdy stems can be dried by hanging them upside down in a dry place. For more delicate blossoms, use silica gel. Pour about an inch of silica gel in the bottom of a cookie tin or well-sealed container. Place the flower face up in the silica gel. Do not allow multiple heads to touch one another. Gradually add more gel, completely covering the flowers. Cover and allow to dry. To avoid brittle flowers, after several days, check to see if they are completely dry. Some flowers only take several days while others take over a week.

• If you have zinnias, now is the time to collect seeds for next year’s splash of color. Cut spent flowers and allow to dry on a piece of screen. When completely dry, pull heads apart and store seeds in a paper bag or plastic Ziploc bag.

• Make notes for next year’s garden listing flowers and vegetables you want again or those you don’t want; diagram new perennials so you don’t pull them up next spring mistaking them for weeds; note varieties that did well….

• Examples from my own journal include: buy more okra plants, at least six; space beets further apart; continue to plant dill between pepper plants; plant only four of each variety of squash; try different varieties of cucumber; make mounds wider—at least sixteen inches; don’t plant zinnias on north side of house; zinnias and cosmos did great by lilac; don’t plant salvias along brick wall….