Fall 2019 Gardening Tips
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Happy Fall, Fellow Gardeners!
October is my favorite time of year! It marks the beginning of our Fall Season here in Pasadena. I love the warm days and cooler evenings. It’s a great time to observe plants while you are out walking in your neighborhood. Look for the Fall Colors to start. The sweet gums, vibernums and oakleaf hydrangeas turn from yellow to red. I’m looking forward to my Japanese Anemones, sedum autumn joy and naturalized cyclamens to bloom in their colorful fashion.
JAPANESE ANEMONES
What to plant?
Perennials are excellent choices: Columbine, Foxgloves, Penstemon, and Salvias. Whirling Butterfly Gaura and Butterfly Blue Scabiosa are still the steady workhorses and always bring a smile.
Plant Spring bulbs: My favorites are freesias and narcissus. They’re easy and take less water to bloom. We also stock old-fashioned specie tulips and iris reticulata.
Spring Vegetables: Try Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Fioretto Cauliflower and Bistro Lettuce mix. My favorite: sugar snap peas, but they never make it into the kitchen. Grow Onions they really don’t require much but the basic elements; water, sun and average soil.
Herbs: Just about everything! Even repeat Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Sage or Chives. We’ve even got winter tomatoes for those who dare the cold to come on. Seven varieties: Longkeeper, Oregon Spring, Stupice, Rutgers, Early Girl, Sweet 100 and dependable Red Cherry.
Take a moment to smell the sweet scent of Gardenias, sambac jasmines, and heliotropes as flowers begin to open.
Trim your wisteria vines and Cecile Brunner Roses to encourage more spring blooms while taming growth.
Clean up all the dead wood on Japanese maples and dogwood trees. If it doesn’t bend, it doesn’t belong!
Feed all your fruit trees with G&B organic Citrus 8-4-2 for spring harvest.