Under the Cover of a December Frost

One cold December morning a frost covered the land. It was still as everything and everyone was awaiting the sun to add warmth for the day.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebra Grass'

Rain Garden

Achillea millefolium (Yarrow)

Birdbath Garden

'Powis Castle' Artemisia, 'Black and Blue' Salvia guaranitica, Viburnum, and the remains of many others.

Birdbath Garden

Frozen Birdbath

Birdbath Garden

Clover

The Lawn Garden

Butterfly Bush - Buddleia

Birdbath Garden

Butterfly Bush - Buddleia

Birdbath Garden

Gardening on the Radio

I was on the radio yesterday to talk about gardening on Spotlight on Spring Hill (WAKM 950 AM) and had several fall gardening topics prepared to share. Then the first guest to talk, our City Codes Inspector, began mentioning some upcoming projects and I nearly got completely sidetracked. You see I meant to talk about leaves, not to burn them, not to waste them, but to use them in your compost or as mulch. I had seen a Craigslist ad that completely annoyed me last week and thought the radio would be a great opportunity to get out the message. The ad actually said "Free leaves, if you don't come get them I will burn them!" Now that is shortened and paraphrased but the ad offered leaves and threatened to burn them! I hope it was merely a motivational tool used to encourage people to take his leaves, but I doubt it. Let me apologize in advance if this offends you but burning leaves is completely irresponsible! It pollutes, it wastes, and it's just plain dumb. Now I'll forgive you if you have burned leaves in the past not realizing why you shouldn't but why would you waste a free and valuable soil conditioner? A mulch that comes down from the heavens to keep the moisture in the ground and feeds the bacteria and earthworms that turn regular soil into fantastic garden gold! Sorry but the issue of burning leaves has always burned me up.

I also meant to discuss lawnmower maintenance. Sharpening the blades, running out the gas, checking the spark plugs and changing the oil are all good things to do now so that your mower will be fresh and ready to go come spring. A little maintenance now is a good thing. (Of course this is yet another thing to add to my Things I've Neglected List!) Running the gas out keeps it from gumming up your engine over the winter.

I mentioned the leaves on the radio but completely ran out of time for the lawnmower talk. Why you ask? Maybe you didn't ask but as I often do I'll tell you anyway. The City Codes inspector mentioned the installation of a rain garden here in Spring Hill at Harvey Park! This coming Saturday from 9AM-1PM volunteers will be helping to create and plant a garden that will help filter water and preventing it from washing contaminants into our stream system. As soon as he mentioned rain garden I grinned. I've installed two kinds on my property and both have been very effective problem solvers. I wasn't necessarily worried about contaminants but was concerned over excess water pooling on our driveway and in another location flooding into our yard through the neighborhood drainage system.

Rain gardens use the root systems of plants to retain soil and to soak up the water to keep it from washing sediment into the streams. The plants serve as filters and clean the water before it enters the streams which is much better for the fish and wildlife that use those areas. One kind of rain garden uses a drainage area underneath a garden as a water holding area. That was actually the first type of rain garden I installed. It collects water from our driveway and brings it into a gravel area below a planting bed I established. Inside the bed are a combination of flowers and grasses that so far have enjoyed the extra water in that location. I've even planted a Yoshino Cherry tree that is definitely thriving in that location. This type of rain garden is more labor intensive to install as it involves digging deep into the soil and putting gravel where the soil was then back filling. It's very effective in absorbing water and solving drainage issues.

My second rain garden was done completely with plantings. Ornamental grasses are prominent along with a birch, beautyberry, and several perennials. The area used to flood back into our yard but the plantings help to defer the water back into the established drainage area and retain some of the moisture in the soil underneath. In the picture the area that is flooded is on my neighbor's property. It was taken back in September just after an extremely heavy rain. If these types of gardens lined our community drainage systems we would all have healthier water systems with fewer erosion problems.  

I was pretty excited to hear that our town is on the forefront of such environmentally sensible ideas. I would like to be there helping them install it but I have a birthday party to attend for a certain almost 2 year old girl! Maybe I can get out there early to help, we'll see, maybe you can too!

Fall Colors From My Garden

The fall color may be winding down across the northern hemisphere but I still haven't showed you what autumn foliage we've seen around here in Southern Middle Tennessee. I hope you will forgive my lateness at my own entry for the Fall Color Project.  I've taken tons of pictures of our fall colors and have selected a few that are characteristic of what we've seen over the last couple weeks. If you are looking for maples check out my Plant Maples For Fall Color Post I wrote earlier in the week.

And now for our fall colors!

The sassafras trees were one of the first trees to begin changing for the fall. Their leaves are very interesting, not only for the fall color but for the shapes of the leaf lobes. With sassafras trees the lobes can be one two or three lobed with colors ranged form yellows to reds. It's all over our slope and many folks may not want it in their gardens but it does provide some very nice fall colors!

Also appearing on our slope are the blackberries. I make a special point to leave as many blackberry bushes along the slope pathways as I can. Hopefully next year we'll have quite a few to pick. The edges of the blackberry leaves seem almost a metallic bronze color.

When we start to look at more trees we can see a very old and large tree. It put on a massive display of golden colored leaves this year, better than I've ever seen it before.

The dogwood trees changed color just after the sassafras but have kept their color much longer. These are natural dogwoods that have been here awhile and were not planted by any person. The lie along a fence row.  I heard a person say in my Master Gardener class once "If you want to plant a tree line put up a fence!" Around here the mockingbirds do much of the planting. Honestly I could do without their help! They seem to like planting too much pokeweed.

 

Here's a closer glimpse of the dogwoods. I love the red colors they give in the fall and the white in the spring.

 

And here's a closing shot of more of the golden maples in our backyard. They are most likely silver maples and junk trees but during the fall the are pure gold.

 

Enjoying the Fall Garden

Fall is a great time of the year. It's always been my favorite season because of the fall colors, the cooler weather, and there are always events to enjoy. The vegetable garden is enjoys the cooler weather too. Gone now are the peppers and tomatoes, which both succumbed to frost, but instead we have kale, pak choi, mustard, and Brussels sprouts. All of those fall grown plantings enjoy the cooler temperatures and in fact have improved flavor due to the frosty temperatures. Growing greens in the fall in a Tennessee garden is a fairly simple thing to do.

The Challenge of a Fall Garden

The greatest challenge to growing a fall garden is pests. Until the frosts come many insects are trying to gather as much nutrition as possible to help them overwinter. Caterpillars are all over the place. Cabbage loopers are happy to eat anything green, not just cabbage.

The other challenge of a fall garden is simply getting it started early enough. Fall garden plants tend to need started in August or September when it is still very warm. I did a combination of direct sowing and indoor germination to get some of my fall vegetables to grow.

Frosts in the Fall can Improve the Vegetables

Once the frosts come the fall garden becomes almost magical. After the frosts the insect population is greatly reduced. Frost tolerant plants continue to grow until it is just way to cold for them. You can extend their growing time by providing a little more protection through row covers once the temperatures get really cold. If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse in your garden you can grow in there indefinitely.

Frosts tend to improve the flavor of fall vegetables. Frosts increases the sugar production in the vegetables which maximizes their flavor. Eventually without enough warm the greens will slow down and stop growing. They become dormant and will resume growing when warmer weather comes along. Even if the garden isn't actively growing, frost tolerant plants tend to make it through our mild Tennessee winters. Temperatures below 0 degrees F are rare here. Our snow falls are few and far between. When we do get snow it tends to disappear within the same day.

Mustard greens are tolerant of frosts and
have great flavor when grown in a fall garden.

A Short List of Frost Tolerant Vegetables

• Kale
• Spinach
• Parsley
• Pak Choi
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Lettuce (light frost tolerance)
• Radishes
• Beets

I was working in the garden yesterday and couldn't stop myself from sampling the various greens in the garden. It doesn't get fresher than that! I enjoyed the sweet flavor of the kale, the tangy taste of the mustard greens, and I even sampled a bit of the parsley. Did you know that parsley is packed full of nutrition? It has high amounts of Vitamins K and C along with a lot of other great nutrients. If you make smoothies, throw in some parsley - it's not just something to dress up a fancy dinner plate. Parsley is great in salads and soups and can make it through our Tennessee winters just fine. Parsley is a biennial and will taste best from the first year until it sends up flowers in its second year. Go ahead and let it flower so it can self-sow new parsley plants in your garden. Plant parsley every year to ensure a consistent crop that tastes great!

Spearmint with a light covering of frost.

Fall gardening in Tennessee is a very special thing. I hope wherever you garden that your fall garden season is a least as enjoyable as mine!

A Crop of Fall Potatoes

This afternoon I went outdoors in the beautiful 60 degree weather and harvested our potato crop.  Truth be told its a rather small harvest of potatoes but considering that I didn't intentionally plant them I am quite pleased!  When you leave behind a few potatoes from the spring/early summer harvest they grow into a nice fall crop.  Growing potatoes is extremely easy to do and can be done in containers or the ground.  Our harvest consists of my favorite potato, the 'Yukon Gold', as well as Adirondack Blue and some red potatoes. They all taste great but the Yukon Gold has a very buttery flavor when cooked that just makes my mouth water when thinking about it!

We'll use the small taters as fried potatoes in some grape seed oil while the larger ones we'll save and use for baked potatoes or potato soup this winter.

I made sure to leave behind a couple little potatoes in each hole to hopefully produce potatoes for us in the spring.  Sure will be nice to see potatoes sprouting up with almost zero work! Please excuse me now, it's time to get dinner ready.  Can you guess what we're having?  ;)

Fall Color Project: Canadian Colour!

It's been a difficult year for many of use to get the optimum fall color shots since rains seem to be perpetual but Garden Lily has managed some very cool shots of her Canadian landscape! Cascading Japanese maples, beautyberry bushes, and burning bushes all provide some unique fall color in different ways. Go check out Garden Lily's Flowers and Weeds for some awesome fall colour!

See the most recent Fall Color Project Posts:

Trees, Shrubs, and ... Snow?
It's Not All About The Trees
Shining Colors on a Rainy Day
A Walk Through the Park
Colors of Toronto and California Wanderings
From Westonbirt Arboretum to SE Pennsylvania

Fall from the Write Gardener

Fall Colors Peaking in Iowa

Fall Colour in the UK

Vegetable Garden Clean Up for Fall

This weekend I partially accomplished one of the major garden chores of the fall The Fall Vegetable Garden Cleanup! There's a second section of the vegetable garden that needs cleaned up still but I really wanted to leave the tomatoes alone for now so that maybe, just maybe they could ripen up a few more before the end of the season. They've already survived a couple of minor frosts in my backyard but I think we might be without frosts for another week (keeping my fingers crossed!) and we may have enough time to squeeze out a few more red ripe tomatoes.

The bulk of my time was spent in the raised beds in the picture below (more on raised beds here). The long bed on the left (4'x8') was completely engulfed in Bermuda grass as was the smaller one (3'x4') toward the front of the picture. These beds are untreated pine in their third year and are really starting to show some wear.  I planted two rows of garlic in the small front bed along with some lettuce and chard in between. I will need a screen to prevent the deer from eating away the greens but I doubt they will like the garlic very much! The second small bed was planted with more garlic of a different variety. The other beds we weeded, hoed up to remove all traces of Bermuda grass roots (as best as possible anyway since that task is nearly impossible), then covered with leaves that I gathered up with my push mower with the bag attachment - I love that bag!
  

 

The leaves will serve as a mulch over the winter and should help add organic content to the soil as they break down. I may come back later this week and plant a cover crop like clover to help fix more nitrogen into the soil. I need to gather some manure and add it to the compost bin to cure over the winter to help nourish my raised beds for gardening in 2011.

These beds are being protected from the deer. In this bed are a few small summer squash plants that most likely won't produce anything at this point. This raised bed also contains a bunch of cilantro seedlings. We're big fans of that herb around here! The pepper bed in the back was also cleaned up but I didn't cover with the leaf mulch.

The back section of the garden housed my tomato plants this year. It's still a complete mess. The vines have gone everywhere and the deer have nibbled every branch. There are still tomatoes being produced on the inside of the plants and maybe they will ripen up a little more - it all depends on the weather!

Here's a look at a couple green ones. My daughters went harvesting tomatoes today from the "Tomato Orchard" as they called it. Both green and red tomatoes found they way into their baskets. Some we'll let ripen while others will no doubt become fried green tomatoes!

The cherry tomatoes are always the most prolific tomato producers in my garden. You just can't stop them! This plant was a volunteer that I moved next to the garden fence. The artemisia in front of it may have offered a shield form the nibbling deer.

After the beds were cleaned up I planted 2 varieties of garlic, two varieties of Romaine lettuce, chard, and red onions. I have my deer protection plan ready to go - once they germinate!

What's growing in your garden?

***Never burn your leaves - They are too valuable to waste!***

What You Shouldn't Do With Your Fall Leaves

Fall is well underway and we all know that with fall comes mountains of leaves! The beautiful color changes can quickly transition into a thick carpet of smothering leaves on the ground. Many homeowners are smart and use this natural resource in the garden but others do one thing that drives this gardener crazy. What is it that you shouldn't do with fall leaves? Burn them.

Why is burning leaves a bad thing? Two reasons: it releases pollutants into the air and it is extremely wasteful. Smoke and particulates get released into the air and decrease the air quality. Last year a neighbor burned his leaves and the wind brought the smoke right into my house. You don't want to breathe that kind of air.

Burning leaves doesn't just cause pollution but it also wastes a valuable resource. Think about it. Have you ever been in a forest and looked at the dark, rich, and loamy soil? That doesn't happen by accident. It happens with years of leaves dropping and decaying on the forest floor. Microbes, insects, worms, and other creatures break the leaves down into forms that the plants in the forest can use. The leaves free up nutrients as they break down and help to replenish the soil. It's compost.

Now think about those leaves working for you in your garden! When used as a mulch the leaves act just as they do in the forest and gradually break down while smothering weeds. What if you put those leaves into your compost bin with all the kitchen scraps and yard waste from fall? You would end up with rich and loamy compost in the spring to spread around your vegetable garden, trees, herbs, or even potted plants.

Gathering leaves can for garden use can be done in several ways. One of my favorite ways is to use the bagging pushmower I have to grind the leaves first. Then I take the bag and empty it out over the compost bin or in a garden bed I want to mulch. Raking the leaves can be fun for the whole family. Who doesn't remember the smell of crushed leaves after jumping into a huge pile of leaves in the backyard? It's a fall tradition! It's also a great workout.

If you don't want to do either of those methods then simply mow the leaves into the yard. Mowing will help the leaves break down faster and will prevent the grass from being smothered.

If you have too many leaves get in touch with some gardener friends and see if they would help you in exchange for some of the leaves. They might jump at the chance! If you need more reasons to use your leaves check out these 10 uses for fall leaves. Whatever you do, just don't burn the leaves!

Cleaning Up the Vegetable Garden

I began the first part of cleaning up the vegetable garden and preparing it for winter today. The summer garden went much longer last year and we had tomatoes until the end of the October. Unfortunately that's not the case this year. The few tomatoes that were left on the vines were not worth waiting for them to ripen. Besides it's good to have an excuse for fried green tomatoes!

While my daughters and I were out in the garden I pulled the vines and they ran around with empty nursery pots trying to find good tomatoes to gather. I'm afraid the pickings were slim. I managed to clean out the large 4'x8' bed (not the fall vegetable bed), a 4'x6' bed and a 2'x4' bed, all of which housed tomatoes. I won't do tomatoes again in those beds as I try to rotate crops each year. The leftover vines were dumped in piles where they currently remain until I get around to dealing with them.

With the beds cleared out I have a few options: plant a cover crop, solarize the beds to kill off any diseases, or plant some more frost tolerant vegetables like kale, cabbage, or spinach. If I replant the beds I'd better do it soon as the time is moving fast but row covers should help extend the season. When I get the chance I'll plant some garlic in the small 2'x4' bed.

While cleaning up the garden we cleaned out a few of the vegetables. It was interesting to find carrots in the garden that I planted from seed in the spring. They were completely covered by the tomatoes and I just left them in the beds. They aren't the prettiest looking carrots you'll ever see but they do taste good!

We picked a small assortment of carrots, tomatoes (mostly green), radishes, and a couple cayenne peppers. I must have a hundred cayenne peppers ready to be picked still in the garden. I'll never use them all! I like to put a few in a homemade deer repellent that works fairly well (chopped cayenne pepper, garlic, dish soap, and water). I spray it onto my most prized plants and with one bite of it the deer learn to avoid the plant.

What have you harvested lately?

Copyright 2009 The Home Garden

5 Signs of Autumn's Arrival

The autumn equinox is this weekend which means fall will be officially here but along the way nature has been telling us that fall is here already.  Let's take a peek at some of the signs of fall around my garden.

5 Signs of Autumn's Arrival

• The annual discussion of what causes allergies begins when the golden rod blooms.  Goldenrod is completely innocent when it comes to your nasal issues.  The real culprit is ragweed.  Ragweed pollinates sends its pollen to other plants (and your nose) through the wind but goldenrod relies on its attractive golden plumes to  bring in beneficial pollinators! Don't blame the goldenrod, its just a sign of fall!

Goldenrod (Solidago)

Ragweed

• Other weeds begin to sprout this time of year too.  Cool season weeds like chickweed get their start when the weather gets more suitable to their liking.  Chickweed is also one of those plants that can be eaten and is in fact very nutritious.  The next time you're foraging for food in your backyard consider a salad of chickweed with some dandelion greens.  You might just eat your way out of a weedy yard!  (Don't eat any plants from yards that have been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides!)

• 'Autumn Joy' sedum and mums are two more signs of fall's arrival.  I try to cut my sedum back during the summer to create more blooms and sturdier stems.  Otherwise 'Autumn Joy' likes to flop open in the middle under the weight of the heavy blooms.  I should cut my mums back a couple times during the year but usually don't.  As you can see these mums are happy despite my pruning neglect!

• One of my favorite shrubs, beautyberry, is showing off this time of year.  The purple berries form in clusters all along the stem.  Pollinators love the small white flowers in late spring and early summer.  The birds love it in winter when they can't find other things to eat.

 

• The sassafras trees are beginning their transformation.  In our yard the sassafras trees are the first trees to begin turning each year.  The mitten shaped leaves change from green to a beautiful red.  

While this last photo isn't a sign of fall I wanted to share it with you anyway.  It's a yellow rose that has bloomed prolifically this summer and continues to fill the backyard with its fragrance.  It was devoured by Japanese beetles in June and bounced back.  Japanese beetles are a nuisance but are not a death sentence!

How is fall shaping up in your garden?

A Few Observations of the Fall Garden

Fall, as I've said before, is probably my favorite time of year. I enjoy the processes involved with closing down the garden, the cooler weather, and the changes in the leaves. It's also a great time to garden with its own set of unique challenges. For planting trees, shrubs, and bulbs there is no better time than autumn. For growing the best tasting greens with high flavor content, again, there is no better time than autumn. It's a fun time of year with falling leaves raked into piles (who doesn't like jumping into one of those?), fall festivals, carving pumpkins, and delicious apple cider. It is an ideal season for so many things.

As they say, getting there is half the fun. Watching the changes take place and doing the tasks involved is all part of the process of enjoying fall. In the garden it is easy to see the changes. Beyond the changing leaves is the fall flower color display. Goldenrod and ironweed begin to color the wild fields with purple and gold. Remember goldenrod is not what causes your fall allergies, it's the wind pollinated plants like ragweed that bloom simultaneously with the goldenrod.

The coneflowers are still pumping our purple blooms but will soon be produce lots of seed for finches and other birds to enjoy this fall and winter. What they miss will become new plants next spring after a good cold winter for stratification.

The fall vegetable garden is started with seedlings of radish and kale. Fall planting of vegetables can be challenging. Often when it is the ideal time to plant it is too hot for good germination. Bugs can present a challenge as well as they voraciously devour what they can as they begin their overwintering processes. While these are challenges, overcoming them will bring you loads of delicious greens in the fall and (if protected in harsh winter climates) through the winter. In my garden I have radishes and kale that sprouted well while partially shaded by a cucumber vine. Shading you seedlings is one way to overcome the heat issue.

Fall is also about the harvest, as I'm sure this orb weaver spider would tell you. It's time to gather and store the produce we've grown over the summer so that we can enjoy it through the winter. Whatever your garden brings you this fall be sure to enjoy the process. Take time to observe the little things and harvest those as well. Store and save them in your mind to enjoy over the cold bleak days of winter.



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5 Fallish Things To Do!

The weather is changing, the shadows are getting longer, and of course the leaves are beginning to become more colorful which opens the door to a new season of gardening.  Every season has it's own specific chores and things to do.  Winter is for planning, spring is for starting, summer is for maintenance and harvesting, and fall is for harvesting! Of all the seasons fall is probably my favorite time of the year.  The days are refreshingly cool, the leaves are bright and colorful, and it is a joy to be out accomplishing garden chores in that kind of weather.  So let's plan ahead and see what we have to look forward to this fall!

5 Fall Garden Things to Do!

• Take care of all those leaves.  Leaves are an awesome resource.  When they change, drop, and decay they enrich the soil. Leaves can sometimes go where you don't want them and so we rake them and move them elsewhere but what should you do with the leaves?  
• Compost the leaves! Leaves make an excellent additive to compost bins.  
• Use leaves as a mulch.  Depending on the type of leaves you use leaves can be a great mulch.  Large and thick leaves like oak or sycamore may need shredded first.
• Shred and leave them on the lawn.  As the leaves break down they will feed your soil.  Run them over with a lawn mower until they are small enough to not smother your grass.
Don't bag your leaves and send them to the dump! They are a great resource. If you don't want them contact your local garden club or Master Gardeners Association and I guarantee someone will be happy to add your leaves to their compost bin! I know I would!
• 
  Plant your fall vegetable crops.  Fall is a great time to get those cool season vegetables growing again. Spinach, kale, chard, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, pak choi, beets, radish, and many others can be sowed for fall and winter harvests.  If your climate is mild enough you may be able to harvest year round!
• Clean up your garden.  Take out the dead plants that didn't make it through the summer and replace them.  Move plants that didn't perform well or were planted in the wrong spot to new locations.  The milder weather makes the odds of transplanting and plant survival much greater!
• Mulch - is there ever a bad time of the year to mulch?  It's always helpful.  It regulates the temperature, protects the soil from drying out, and adds nutrition to the soil as it decays.
• Plant shrubs, trees, perennials, and bulbs.  Fall is THE BEST time to plant just about any perennial, shrub, tree, or bulb for next year.  Fall planted plants grow roots when everything is fading away toward winter.  The roots get established over the winter and in the spring are ready to propel the plant toward new growth.  You can also sow seeds for next year.  Poppies, echinacea, rudbeckia, cosmos, and many others can be sown in the fall for your enjoyment next growing season.

There's a lot that can be done in the fall.  It's coming very soon so put these things to to on your radar and plan ahead to enjoy your garden this season!

More Friday Fives

3 Chores to Do in Fall for Spring!

It's that time of year again, time to think about spring! Yes, I said that right. Spring! Fall is almost here but if you want to maximize the potential of your garden next year fall is the best time to get some work done. The autumn leaves will be changing soon and now is the best time to get some garden preparation accomplished in the cooler weather. What preparations can you do in fall for a good spring garden?

(All supplies pictured in this post were provided by Lowe's through Lowe's Creative Ideas!)

Mulch in the Fall

Mulching your garden beds is one of the best things you can do for your perennials and trees. Mulch insulates the soil from the cold weather can help borderline plants overwinter better. It also protects the soil from compaction and adds organic matter to the ground over time. Cover each bed with a two inch layer of the mulch of your choice for good protection.

Overseed Grass in the Fall

Fall overseeding is an essential part of lawn care. I'm not a overzealous lawn fanatic by any means but I do enjoy having a nice open space for my kids to play. I want my lawn to look good but not be overly reliant on treatments. Each fall I overseed with a new bag of grass seed. I vary what type of grass I use each year to create some diversity in the lawn. I make efforts to grow my lawn as organically as possible which means certain cultural treatments are necessary including overseeding in the fall, mowing the correct height, and accepting and allowing diversity (yes that means a few weeds!). Often weeds like clover and dandelion can be beneficial to your lawn and garden.

Plant Trees, Shrubs, and Bulbs in the Fall

Fall is an awesome time to plant. Trees and shrubs planted in the fall get a head start on building root systems for next spring. The soil stays warmer longer than the air and the roots will continue to grow for a little while until it gets too chilly. Bulbs love to be planted in the fall! Some bulbs need a certain length of time in the cold called "chill hours." Once bulbs receive the correct amount of time they will send up shoots through the soil to gather energy and eventually produce flowers. Daffodils are an excellent bulb for any garden and have always demonstrated a high degree of deer and rabbit resistance in my garden. Tulips look great but do not last nearly as well as daffodils. Often tulips need replanted each year as they are a delicacy for voles and chipmunks. Tulips need to gather enough energy through the spring to store and resprout in the following year so leave the leaves up until they begin to turn brown if you want a repeat performance!

Fall is the best time of year to do many of the garden tasks that need done. It's also my favorite time of year since the weather is cooler and it is so much more enjoyable to be outdoors. So many people dread those chores but I love the fall leaf cleanup (free mulch collection) and dreaming about the potential for spring gardening! What is you favorite season in the garden?