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Gardening Calendar
This has been the second miserably hot, dry summer in a row for Arkansas.
Many people mentioned that there were less blooms on their spring blooming
plants or smaller flowers this year. Remember, plants that bloom in the spring
of the year are still setting their flower buds now. If the plants are overly
stressed, instead of setting flower and fruit buds, they start shutting down
early for the season. This will result in fewer if any flowers being set.
Season after season of stressed plants can lead to weak plants which are
susceptible to diseases and insects. We have lost plants statewide from a
combination of dry, hot weather, coupled with a lower than normal winter
weather. How healthy the plants go into the dormant season will determine how
well they grow during the growing season. Keep in mind that one bad season can
take multiple seasons to recover from and we have had several in a row. Water is
the only thing you should be doing now, no pesticides or fertilizers. Water is
the most critical factor for successful gardening.
If you still have any gardening energy left, there is plenty to do outside,
besides just watering. There is still time to plant fall vegetables including
lettuce, radishes, greens, and spinach. If your vegetable garden has played out,
clean up now. Leaving debris in the garden will simply lead to more disease and
insect issues next season. While it is still fresh in your minds, write down
what worked and what didn’t. Harvest remaining vegetables early in the day to
get the freshest produce. If you aren’t planning to plant fall crops, consider
planting a cover crop or green manure crop. Not only does this keep weeds from
growing in your barren garden over the winter, but when you till it in next
spring it will help to enrich your soil.
Fall bedding plants are appearing in garden centers statewide. Start
planting mums, flowering kale and cabbage, dianthus, calendula and diascia now.
Planting the edible ornamental greens plants can allow them to get a firm root
system established before winter. Watch for cabbage loopers and other insects
which can attack. They don’t differentiate between the edible and the
ornamental. Hold off on planting pansies until the temperatures begin to cool
off. Pansies that get exposed to warm weather tend to stretch and get leggy,
resulting in weaker plants all winter. Fertilize and deadhead summer bedding
plants that are thriving and continue to water, and they should last until a
killing frost. Tropical flowering plants can also continue to flower, so keep
fertilizing and watering them. If you plan to over-winter them, pay attention to
the weather and make sure they don’t get exposed to temperatures much below 40
degrees before you move them into cold storage in the garage or crawl space. If
you plan to move them into your house do so in early October.
There are some outstanding fall flowering perennials that are beginning to
bloom now and add enjoyment to the fall landscape. Sweet autumn clematis is
still blooming, along with Japanese anemones, goldenrod, chelone (turtlehead),
and toad lilies will begin soon. Ornamental grasses are setting their fall
plumage and will remain showy from now until you cut them back next February.
Early spring perennials are shutting down for the year and if they need division
now is the time to do so. Any perennial that has started dying back can be
cleaned up now as well. You don’t have to wait for a killing frost. Once they
lose their attractiveness, take them out of the garden.
Spring bulbs are showing up at local nurseries. For best selection, buy now
but don’t plant them until it cools off. If you plan to dig up and store your
caladium bulbs, make sure you are fertilizing them now. The more energy they
can store in the roots, the larger the bulb will be and the bigger your plants
next year. Make sure you dig them up prior to a killing frost. If you have
amaryllis bulbs left over from last season you have a couple of options. One is
to plant them outside and mulch well after a killing frost—many made it through
even last year’s cold winter. The other option is to stop watering and bring
them indoors. Cut the old foliage off and wait for new activity before you
begin to water again. After a brief dormancy period they will sprout and bloom
again—hopefully in time for the holidays.
Look at your lawns now. Many went through dormancy periods this summer if
they weren’t watered, and many folks stopped fertilizing because it was so hot
and dry. If you fertilized already this summer, don’t do any more this season.
If you didn’t fertilize, one light application can be made by mid month. Make
sure you water the fertilizer in. Continue to mow as needed. Many leaves are
beginning to fall as trees shut down early. Rake and compost or mulch these
leaves. A light layer of leaves is not an issue but when they begin to fall in
earnest you need to do something.
Houseplants that have had a summer siesta outside, need to be prepared for
the move back indoors. Late September to early October is the ideal time to do
so. Clean up the pots, check for ants and other insects and spray as needed with
insecticidal soap. Moving them in before really cool weather starts will be an
easier transition for them. Cut back on the amount of water you give them and
don’t be alarmed with a little leaf droppage.
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