GARDENING For savvy gardeners, fall is the new summer By Sally Cunningham We Western New Yorkers know how fleeting summer can be. We push the limits. We put on shorts and get out the grill on the first warm Sunday in May, and some don’t put away the deck furniture until Halloween. Yet many gardeners give it all up way too soon. When Labor Day hits, as the kids head for school, these folks tend to stop watering, cut back perennials, and turn their backs on their hard-earned garden glory. What these gardeners just don’t know is that they can squeeze a whole two months more out of the garden and yard, for beauty, relaxation, and entertaining, if they just keep going and use a few different plants. Tend what you have (and do no harm) Continue to water. If you planted or transplanted anything this season, you’re counting on fall rains to prepare it for the cold, dry winter. (Desiccation—when frozen roots get no water—is a common killer.) But sometimes the rains don’t come regularly or last long enough. So keep the hose handy and water deeply once a week, if nature doesn’t, until the ground is frozen. Don’t prune too soon. Some instinct kicks in that makes many homeowners scurry to tidy up the yard before chilly days, and somehow the impulse includes cutting back all the shrubs and perennials. But don’t! It’s the wrong time to prune nearly all woody plants. That’s because pruning stimulates new growth and we don’t want them to use their energy putting out new shoots just now. (They should be growing roots and starting to go dormant. And the new shoots are weak and get damaged by winter anyway.) If you or an arborist need to do corrective pruning to prevent damage or remove disease, that’s another story. But don’t just routinely cut things back. Find a pruning book or class and prepare for the big pruning time—mostly March. Let them stand tall. Why would anyone cut back ornamental grasses anyway, when they’re at their peak and often prettiest even with snow on their plumes? Same goes for many perennials: If a plant has seed-pods (unless it’s a rampant spreader), leave them for the birds. If you look at plants for silhouette, shape, or structure—not just flowers—you’ll see that many are worth leaving in place. We can always cut them back in spring (or work off Thanksgiving dinner that way). Include the late-season bloomers Of the hundreds of hardy perennial species available today, late summer- and fall-blooming plants are the least used. The reason? I believe it’s because so many gardeners do most of their shopping in spring and early summer, when they see the plants that flower then. It takes some education—reading those labels-—to recognize and choose the later-flowering plants while they are still green lumps in the pots. Sometimes it’s an act of faith! We may also be favoring July-to-August blooming plants because of the current popularity of “garden walks.” Either we’re stuffing our yards to get ready for the visitors, or we see the plants those show gardens feature and want them. But remember—you are in the yard for the whole rest of the season. Fall flowers are not all mums and black-eyed Susans. Look in garden centers from August on; you’ll find a whole different line of perennials and even hardy annuals. Perennials for September and October (Mostly I’ve listed just genus or species, but look carefully at labels for the cultivar descriptions when you are shopping.) Aconitum (monkshood)—Lovely deep blue flowers on dark green upright clumps, about four feet tall. Amsonia tabernaemontana, A.hubrechtii (Willow or narrow-leaved amsonia)—Delicate blue flowers early, but its glory is the yellow or rusty-colored foliage in fall. Anemone japonica (Japanese anemones) Anemone japonica (Japanese anemones)—Luminous white or pink flowers on nearly three-foot clumps. Asters—So many beauties. Watch for the amazing little Cornell-tested groundcover, Aster ericoides ‘Snow flurry.’ The sea of white starry flowers will make you wish you’d edged the whole garden with it. Boltonia asteroides ‘Snowbank’—A three-and-a-half-foot white aster-like plant that has bloomed past Halloween many years in my own garden. (New: a dwarf is now available.) Helenium—Many cultivars with copper, orange, and gold-striped patterns; sturdy, grows to three feet. Physostegia virginiana ‘Miss Manners’ (obedience plant)—But first a warning: obedience plants usually spread terribly. Bright, white ‘Miss Manners’ behaves. Sedum—Cultivars are many, from wonderful groundcovers to specimen beauties, but fall is their showoff period, and new gardeners often miss them. Besides, honey bees and butterflies simply lust for them. Solidago (goldenrod) Solidago (goldenrod)—Short and spectacular en masse, these aren’t just your field varieties. Try ‘Fireworks’ or ‘Golden Fleece,’ and expect a show. Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed)—It is my personal mission to get this native plant into WNY yards. You need room for a tall (six-foot upwards) clump, but it will stand proudly at the back of the border or corner of a yard. It offers huge, fluffy clusters of dark reddish-purple flowers. Put it behind those pink anemones and stand back. Don’t forget the grasses A long time ago, on a fall trip to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, I discovered ornamental grasses. It was stunning to see the range of textures and tones, from three-foot garden edgers to ten-foot giants, swaying against autumn skies. Now they are pivotal in most four-season garden designs, so go touring and see the species and cultivars of Panicum, Calamagrostis, Carex, Molinia, Miscanthus, and Pennisetum. Don’t let the names scare you—they’re easy plants! Fall is for gardening Beyond the flowerbeds, autumn offers even more. It’s harvest time, and our baskets are overflowing. Fabulous shrubs, trees, and vines are bursting with berries, and the foliage is red, yellow, purple, and orange. Holland bulbs have arrived, and the garden centers have the products and plants to help you prepare for next year. The Fall Garden Fair happens September 12 in Hamburg, the Gathering of Gardeners (www.gatheringofgardeners.com) the same day in Rochester, and gardening classes start up in our educational and horticulture centers. Fall may well be the best season of all for gardeners. Make the most of it! For more fall gardening information, Sally Cunningham recommends Fallscaping by Stephanie Cohen and Nancy J. Ondra (Storey Publications). TIP: Extend the bloom If too many flowers finish in August, try cutting some of them back by a quarter or third before they bloom. That will slow down the flowering period for a few weeks. Especially if you have a large clump—maybe helenium or chelone (turtlehead)—why not cut back the front of the clump to stretch out the show? The timing will vary according to plant species and your garden’s conditions—but try it! SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top