The woods are full of fairies, The Sea is full of fish, The trees are full of golden leaves, Let's make an autumn wish.
~ Anon.
The fruit flies have left, the soft heat of summer as well. Now, it is clean up, tidy up, and prep up time in the garden. And for me, fed up!
As I've told you before, I'm a fair weather gardener, and this is the no fun time. It's wet out there, often cold and the clean-up is not my favourite. But, it's part and parcel of gardening, and it needs to be done.
By now all your annuals should have been pulled from the garden and destined for your compost. If you have geraniums you may bring them inside (check for bugs first), put them in your garage over winter, or some folks put them upside down in a paper bag.
I don't know why upside down, but that's the way they do it. Cut them back about a third before you store them, and if they go in to your garage, water them sparingly every two to three weeks.
Cut down any of your summer grasses. They look nice enough to keep, but a snow of any variety will leave them a collapsed mess.
Sedums are a hard call for me. Although they look decent now, I know they will in the midst of winter turn into a mushy mess.
They are always pictured in garden books with a layer of snow on their heads and called "winter interest." It's a personal preference.
And, it's bulb planting time. What an array of colour you have to choose for planting now and enjoying in the spring.
A lot of bulbs come in duo packs with other bulbs that are good colour combos and will bloom at the same time.
I think they are an excellent idea, and give you added insurance of success. Look
for firm bulbs with no mold and plant in well drained soil.
When I grew up, one of my neighbours had an exquisite garden, very neat and tidy and held several fancy parties a year. I remember gazing over the low fence to his manicured yard and seeing the strangest flower.
It had an incredibly long straight stem, no leaves at all, and a large purple ball type flower at the top. It was maybe 40 years later that I finally figured out what it was - an allium giganteum.
Readily available at any of the garden stores, these are a member of the onion family. Alliums come in a variety of sizes, the bulb relflects the size of the resulting flower.
The bulbs themselves put off a rather "skunky" smell, which deters moles. They have quite a long lasting flower time and in groups make quite the show.
There's still lots of colour in the garden, and certainly lots to do. I'll see you there.
Deb Brodie is a local gardener and a member of the Richmond Garden Club. She can be reached at debinthegarden@gmail. com.
