September Must Come

There is an amazing transition right after Labor Day. It seems as though Summer has a firm hold, and the weather is still hot and dry. But the Tuesday after Labor Day it is Fall - no matter what it might feel like. Kids are around in the morning finding their new bus stops, and everyone gets "back to work," leaving the leisure of the summer behind.

The garden is tired, and mostly spent - though the glory of Fall is yet to be seen. T he tomatoes are ripe on the vine and abundant, the potatoes are ready to be dug, the peppers are heavy on their plants, and the sorry eggplant has yet to produce its second fruit. Sunflowers fill the garden, even though this year I swore they would not.

We are planning how to expand the beds, and when to purchase the mulch to do it with. We want to make the pond larger and deeper, but I still haven't figured out how to do that and preserve the ligularia and the lilies that are on the southeast side where the expansion would be most likely.

Next weekend I must think about taking things inside for the winter. That means the first of probably two or three sprayings of insecticide. I really don't want whiteflies in the house this winter, and I struggle with whether that means spraying heavily or just letting things die outside. And also with whether to try to take in whole plants or just cuttings. The hardest choice will be with the Rex Begonias. For several years I have dug them and put them in pots and kept them through the winter in the light gardens downstairs. This year I took a few leaf cuttings a couple of weeks ago from which I hope to grow new young plants. But I know that I will have to confront the choice of letting the beautiful adult plants on the front porch either die in the frost or be dug and brought inside. I think I will likely dig at least some of them. Maybe this year I'll cut them back heavily when I bring them in.

Other choices: do I bring in the geranium that has been the sentinel plant in front of the garage for many years or let it finally slip away? I really don't like it's color there, but it is so hardy and dependable it is hard to let go of. Also, the two hibiscus that I bought this year were pretty lame. But I cut them both back heavily and the new growth that came was shiny and beautiful. If they can be brought in and protected from the whiteflies that seem to inevitably attach them in late February or March they would be lovely next year.

But the job of keeping things alive and thriving over the winter is not trivial. We'll see.

Pictures for this week are about the light and the structure of the garden.