In the fall, sometimes it’s nice to bring some annuals indoors to keep as houseplants. However, my space for new indoor plants is limited, and I have to say my indoor green thumb isn’t quite as, um, proficient as my outdoor one. That’s why I like plants like figs and brugmansias. Overwintering plants that go dormant over the winter months, is a cinch. These no-fuss tropical plants won’t survive our harsh, Canadian winters, so they like to hunker down and hibernate, just like animals do.
Six reasons to NOT clean up the garden this fall
Twenty-some years ago, fresh out of college with a horticulture degree in-hand, I started teaching adult education classes at a local botanic garden. For many years, I taught a class called Preparing Your Garden for the Winter. It was all about how to clean up the garden every fall. I would show slides (remember those?) of how well-kept gardens should look in January. In the images, every plant was cut to the nub, except for the ornamental grasses and butterfly bushes, and the whole garden was snug under a thick layer of mushroom soil mulch. The roses were neatly trimmed to two feet and wrapped in a blanket of burlap, folded and stapled closed to keep them protected from freezing winds. There was nary a fallen leaf in sight; everything was raked up and hauled off.
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Winter garden upgrade: metal mini hoops
For years, I’ve relied on my PVC mini hoop tunnels to shelter the crops in my winter garden. Typically, my beds are filled with hardy veggies like kale, tatsoi, spinach, mizuna, and leeks. The PVC hoops have worked well, but after last winter’s snowmageddon, when my garden had more than 8-feet of snow, I worried that the plastic hoops would flatten like pancakes. Amazingly, most came through unscathed, but it reminded me that I should continue to test and trial other types of structures to make sure that my winter garden has the best possible protection. Therefore, I spent the weekend making metal hoops using my new Johnny’s Quick Hoops™ Bender.
5 late-blooming pollinator-friendly plants
I’ve been working hard over the past few years to incorporate as many late-blooming pollinator friendly plants into my landscape as possible. Not only do I enjoy the punch of color they provide from September until November, I also love seeing the diversity of pollinators they attract and support.
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Growing American groundnuts
If you’re up for an adventure, you may want to consider growing American groundnuts, or potato beans, in your garden next year. This beautiful, perennial vine bears the botanical name Apios americana, indicating that it is indigenous to the Americas. Its native range extends from Northeastern Canada down to Florida and west to Texas and the Dakotas.
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Vegetable gardening for fall: a checklist
My vegetable garden is still in summer mode, but before you know it, Jack Frost will be here and it’ll be time to start thinking about vegetable gardening for fall. Planning and protecting fall crops isn’t difficult, but it can take some time and materials. As I write in my book, The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, you can save time and money, and get a jumpstart on the autumn garden by following these simple tips in September:
