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Is your garden as beautiful now as it was a month ago? If you are like most of us, your garden is primarily focused on spring and summer bloomers and little fall interest.
People tend to focus on spring and summer blooming plants that are more available during the time we are actively planting. When the fall-bloomers are for sale, we are tired and out of money and space. Planting for fall color is often neglected. This leads to the belief that there are not many plants that have good bloom in the fall, but in reality, many fall-blooming flowers are available.
Some fall favorites are:
Japanese Anemone (anemone japonica) - three feet tall with white,
pink or rose five-petal blooms floating above deeply-lobed grape-like leaves.
Leaves emerge in early summer and provide cover for aging bulb foliage.
Aster (A. Frikartii, A. novi-belgii, A. novae-angliae) various
heights, daisy-like blooms of white, pink, blue, purple or bright pink.
‘Monch' - 2 to 3 feet, lavender-blue blooms from late July through most
of September. ‘Alma Potschke' - 3 to 4 feet, has flowers that are
almost hot-pink with a touch of salmon. Use ‘Purple Dome' with ‘Autumn
Joy' (Sedum) and ‘Powis Castle' (Artemisia). Many varieties.
Check bloom season.
Russian Sage (Perovskia) - cloud of small blue hazy flowers on 3 to 4 foot stems. Great with late afternoon sun behind them. Goes well with just about everything; ornamental grasses, Black-eyed Susan, Sedum, Prairie Mallow (Sidalcea) ‘Party Girl', garden Phlox or Echinacea. Best in groups of five or more.
Obedient Plant (Physostegia) - two to three foot spikes of pink or white blossoms. ‘Variegata' has pink blooms and variegated cream and gray-green leaves. Will spread rampantly if grown in damp soil. Blooms August and September. Use with Russian Sage and ‘Party Girl' Sidalcea.
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgid) and Gloriosa Daisy (‘Goldstrum' R. Hirta) includes yellow petals with dark centers as wel as mahogany, red and yellow mixtures. ‘Irish Eyes' or ‘Green Eyes' has yellow petals and green centers. Bloom from late July to late September.
Stonecrop (Sedum Telephium, S. spectabile) ‘Autumn Joy', long-lasting blooms which change from rosy-pink to salmon and then to rust over a period of weeks from August to October. S. ‘Frosty Morn', variegated leaves with a bluish-pink flower head. S. ‘Matrona' , blue-green foliage, soft pink flowers and wine-red stems. All are about 2 feet tall.
Fall can be a colorful, exciting season. The last vivid colors of the growing season can be wonderful and provide a grand fall finale.
Q: I bought some curly willow branches from a florist and put a few in water. They now have roots and leaves. I would like to plant them. Is curly willow hardy here? How big do they get?
A: After consulting several publication on trees and speaking to a florist a nursery, the conclusion is that curly willow (Salix matsudana "Tortuosa') is marginally hardy in the Fort Collins / Loveland area. It was generally agreed that it is a very messy tree or large multi-stemmed shrub. It would require protection from the wind as it breaks easily. It can possibly reach 30 feet in height and is a big water user, like most willows.
Q: Some of our tomatoes have a large dark spot on the bottoms. What is happening to them?
A: If the brown spot is restricted to the bottom of the tomato, it sounds like blossom-end rot. This is a result of water stress in the tomato. The condition may be aggravated by a calcium deficiency, temperature and inconsistent watering. The condition usually affects just the earliest fruit and probably will not appear on later-developing fruit.
Q: Some of my perennials didn't do well this summer. A friend told me that they probably need dividing. What is the best time of the year to do this?
A: If a plant is blooming poorly, has a lot of dead plant material in the middle, or is cramped and pushing out of the soil it should be divided. Dividing perennials can rejuvenate the whole plant and give you many new plants.
Plants that bloom in the spring or very early summer do best when divided in fall. In our area, this should be early fall so the roots can got established before cold, weather sets in. Fall dividing can be accomplished on plants such as iris, daylilies and peonies. Summer to fall bloomers should be divided in spring. The plant should not be divided while it is still in bloom. If you are unable to do any fall dividing, it can still be done in the spring although you may lose the blooms for the season.
The heat this time of year can play havoc on plants in hanging baskets. To avoid having to water them three times a day, there are a few things you can try. Water absorbing crystals mixed into the soil can help by slowly releasing the moisture back into the soil. You can purchase saucers that fit over the outside of the hanging planter. They are designed to attach to the hanger and will hold more water for the plant than the small saucers that usually come with the planter. Drip watering systems can be installed and are the most effective methods of watering hanging pots.
Spider mites are common pests in Colorado and cause damage that appears as speckling on the plant leaves. When they occur in high numbers, many produce webbing. This webbing can be confused with spider webs and the fluff from cottonwood trees. Different mites can infest house plants, vegetables, fruits and flowers. Evergreens, honey locust trees and turf grass can also be affected by them. Predatory mites provide good biological control. Care must be taken when using insecticides on mites as some may cause them to spread rapidly instead of killing them.
The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.
Fact Sheets are available at the Larimer County Extension Office, 1525 Blue Spruce Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado, telephone (970) 498-6000, or contact us by e-mail at larimer@coop.ext.colostate.edu
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