If I haven't said it before Ill say it again...Fall IS my favorite season! No, it isn't because I love raking leaves constantly for a month straight or...the rain we can get for days at a time either, I rather hate both of them two factors...Its the colors and the different smells...that you don't see at any other time of year. Fall flowers are one way to stretch out the gardening season until the bitter end.
I hadn't put much thought into fall gardening until a few years back when I started taking note of my neighbor's garden which, in October, still had beautiful color. The mums were particularly striking and that was the day I went in search of them. I planted the mums in but lost a few plants over winter. come to find out, fall is not a good time to plant them. The roots don't have time to grow since all the energy is concentrated on producing the flowers, so I propagate them in fall with cutting for my daughters and friends to plant in the spring. I have a large garden window in my kitchen and this works great!
This is my new mum I got this year, couldn't resist the beautiful red color, or the basket it was in. I realize I probably wont be able to save it over winter but I will cut it off and put it in the garage and see what happens. I have did many cutting of this mum and they are doing well so one way or another I will have some!
Happy Autumn to all!
