Good Gardening to you all…

We might as well garden as the dreaded 'worm" has attacked most computers; even the O.P.P. and other Police services have been infected. My poor server is having a difficult time too - so far I have escaped perhaps that is because I have opened very little and deleted a lot.

I’m afraid that I always give you a few tasks; today is no exception. It is time to start collecting seeds for next year, or to share with neighbours and friends. This is a good time, too, to make yourself some markers. A trip to the Salvation Army, or to St. Vincent de Paul stores, will provide you with old metal blinds for around a dollar. Cut the strips away from the strings, then cut each strip into several pieces. Using a laundry marker, or garden pencil, mark the name of the plant on the piece of blind and insert it into the ground next to the plant – BUT with the name down into the ground. This way it will still be there next spring.

Now, to the collecting of seeds. Remember that not all the seeds will come back as true plants - they may not look like their parents, but will surprise you. Seeds from species plants almost always behave the way that we would like, producing plantlets that do look like their parents. (I know some children who do look like their real parents - King Henry was known for this foible) However, if planted too closely together, insects can carry pollen between two different plants and can produce something quite special altogether.

There are several methods of collecting seeds:

• Clip the browning heads off plants such as poppies, dill, lovage etc. Place them in a brown paper bag. LABEL the bag with the plant's name, fold over the top, secure it with a paper clip and place the bag in a warm dry place. Then, when the seeds ripen, they will fall into the bag. Some seeds will take up to two weeks to dry. Shake the seedheads into the bags to remove any "stuck" seeds, then discard the seedpods and store the seeds in the bag, or better yet a clean envelope. Label with the date collected and the name of the parent plant.
• Plants like Spider flower (Cleome hasslerana) and Love- In-A-Mist have seeds that are ready to harvest when the capsules turn brown and begin to split. Do not wait too long to collect them, otherwise they will self seed - and you will have to wait until spring to find the tiny seedlings.
• Fleshy fruits (e.g. rosehips) are somewhat different. Crush the flesh where the seeds are stored using your fingers, remove the seeds from the flesh and wash them well in warm water. When they are dry place, them in a plastic bag with some dry sand and refrigerate until you are ready to sow them.
• Vines should be secured to their trellis and supports; be careful not to damage them. They should have been pruned at the end of July, as pruning stimulates new growth, and they need at least six weeks before the first fall frost to give that new growth time to harden. New growth late in the season will be winter killed. I hope that you have all stopped fertilising for the same reasons.

I know we are all still walking around checking for pests and diseases - but also look at your annuals and perennials. They should now be in full bloom and this is a good time to decided whether large scale plants appeal more - after all it is sale time.

Shrubs not only add spring and summer flowers- but also give winter interest to your garden. Think about adding larger shrubs as a handsome backdrop for your flowers. I have a couple of dead trees in my garden for the clematis to climb up - so much nicer than a trellis. Roses, viburnums, hydrangeas (any of the "lights" do well), potentillas and small lilacs- these can be especially dainty and, of course, are disease resistant.

A good example is Miss Kim. If you are brave enough, try a smoke bush, the purple leaved smoke tree (Continus coggygria), Royal Purple, or Velvet Cloak for an added spot of purple foliage. For the best foliage show you should cut the bushes to the ground in mid-winter - that is if you can still find them under the snow. I took my heart into my hands this past spring and purchased a smoke bush - but I am tempted to bring it into the house for the winter.!!!!

Now is the time to divide oriental poppies, although the plants do disappear after blooming in early summer; you should be able to see the new foliage now, so you will be able to tell if the patch is ready to be divided.

Don’t forget the potted mums. Fall mums, which is a more accurate name, can be popped in anywhere in the garden to add yet another spot of quite dramatic colour. We grow these perennials as annuals because many of the cultivars for sale at this time of year aren't really hardy. They will likely not be well enough established to survive the winter. If you want them to behave like real perennials, plant them much earlier in the season. My dear friend, Mel Macmann, planted his new wee babies in the spring. What a show he gave to Port Hope - thousands of flowers blooming at this time of year. Alas, Mel has gone to the great garden in the sky. Whilst leafing through one of my books, I found this calendar for you. These are your Septembers tasks – after all, once the children are back in school you will have time on your hands (please don’t laugh too hard)!

The Whole Garden
• Continue watering your garden as needed during the dry weather
• Continue collecting seeds for next years garden
• Continue checking regularly for signs of pests and diseases
• Continue weeding the flower beds and garden
• Cover water gardens with netting to keep out the falling leaves

Trees and Shrubs
• Plant roses and other shrubs and trees
• Cut roses with fall blooms and bring indoors to enjoy
• Water established trees and shrubs once a week - or place your soaker hoses around them
• Water newly planted trees and shrubs at least once a week

Flowers and Grasses
• Mow the lawn frequently and feed it to keep it in topnotch form
• De- thatch and aerate the lawns -sow grass seed
• Cut back ragged looking annuals
• Divide perennials and peonies
• Uproot spent annuals and toss them into the compost
• Dig tender bulbs when the leaves die back
• Plant tulips
• Move back indoors any houseplants that you summered outside (give them a good bath first to remove any critters)

Fruits and vegetables
• Continue direct-seeding of lettuce, endive, escarole,and spinach
• Harvest the last of the Basil before frost
• Harvest fall raspberries, pumpkins and winter squash
• Harvest beans before a hard frost
• Dig up and pot rosemary to over-winter indoors
• Clean up areas of the veggie garden that have finished producing
• Pick fallen or rotting fruit from fruit trees - keep out pollutants from neighbours and traffic (especially the weed man)
• DO NOT USE toxic pesticides; use organic ones with discrimination
• Encourage birds
• Compost

Well my dear friends, September is almost here. Our gardening season still has a long way to go, but hopefully the humidity will drop and the fall season will last a long time as we still have much to do to prepare our gardens for the winter ahead. I have agreed to do a free workshop at the Bridgenorth Library on September the 23rd at 10:00 a.m. - all are welcome. So for now hats, gloves, sunscreen and bug repellant!

Lovingly, Beryl