Now is the time to beautify your garden and home for the autumn season. There will still be some nice weather to enjoy being outside in the garden and to bring the autumn season into your home.
No, it is not too late to tidy up the garden. First, keep deadheading your butterfly bush (buddleia) to keep it blooming until the first frost. Many annuals— marigolds, for example— will continue blooming if they are kept deadheaded.
Think about leaving some annuals in the flower bed to set and drop their seeds to naturalize for next summer. In my garden, spider plants (cleome), some varieties of celosia, sunflowers, cosmos and poppies usually come back from seed for another season. But remember that if you apply a preemergence weed killer in your beds to control weeds, it will keep the flower seeds from germinating.
When cleaning up in the fall, leave some of the interesting dried flowers and seed heads in the garden for fall and winter interest. These could include Siberian iris, sedum, rudbeckia, Echinacea, poppies, yucca, Baptisia and hardy hibiscus. Birds will enjoy the seed heads of Echinacea (coneflower).
Save sunflower seeds to add to your bird feeders or hang large sunflower heads for birds to pick out the seeds. Many times gardeners decorate the seed heads with other seeds or plant material that birds love.
If outside containers are looking gone for the summer, try perking them up with fall-blooming asters, chrysanthemums or grasses. The inflorescence of colorful grasses in the middle of a large container of asters or chrysanthemums not only adds autumn color but also texture and interest when the wind blows. Add some pumpkins or gourds that are just coming on the market this week for additional color and interest.
Natural arrangements or wreaths made from interesting dried flowers, seedpods, berries, grass inflorescences and foliage harvested from your garden or roadside can bring beauty and a bit of nature to your home. You do not have to be an experienced designer; just use your imagination and creativity.
Some flowers of perennials, grasses and shrubs dry naturally right on the plant and can be cut to use. You may find on the market dried bunches of strawflowers, celosia, blue salvia, statice, sweet Annie, globe amaranth and others. Add some buckeyes, nuts or acorns. Berried branches of winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and beautyberry (Callicarpa) have branches covered with berries and are excellent in seasonal designs. Choose attractive baskets, vases, buckets and unusual containers to hold the plant material. These long-lasting arrangements allow you to enjoy your garden or roadside beauty into the dreary winter days.
Make notes now, maybe in a journal, of plants that did not perform well and consider replacing them next season. Also, consider the vegetables or annual and perennial flowers that you want to plant next summer. Save seeds of annual flowers or perennials. Remember, if the plant is a hybrid, the seed probably will not produce the same variety or type of plant or flower.
The last chore, coming up very soon, is to plant spring-flowering bulbs for enjoyment next spring!
Jo Ann Graham is past president of the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs Inc., an OAGC accredited judge, and president of New Shoots Garden Club and Knox County Garden Club.
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