YORKTON – The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their Fall Plant and Bulb Sale on Friday, September 26 at the Parkland Mall, Yorkton.
This is a good time to add plants to the garden; a great time, actually, because the weather is more moderate in temperature, and the plants don’t have to struggle with extreme heat as they get used to their new surroundings. There is still plenty of time for new plants to settle in before winter comes, and they’ll be ready to be beautiful in our gardens next spring! If you see some areas in your garden that need some improvement, the fall plant sale is the perfect time to find some new plant additions.
c. While plants will settle in very nicely at this time of year, they still need to be planted and tended as you would in the spring, by preparing the new spot, watering them after planting, and possibly being prepared to give a little extra pre-winter TLC, depending on the plant. But this is worth the effort for those extra-special plants!
There are a lot of garden tasks that we can add to our list. Some gardeners may already be pulling out some of the garden plants, after a hopefully productive season. My dear parents were wonderful gardeners, and at this time of year they would let the peas and beans dry up completely. We had an extra old lawnmower, and when the peans and beans were dry, they would just be mowed down, without the bag attachment, so that the chopped bits would scatter on the soil. It provided great extra nutrients for the soil the next spring!
This is also a good time to start emptying out our containers of flowers. Okay, I know what you’re thinking: but they still looking so good, why not leave them for a while yet? Several reasons. For one thing, nice as they may look, they don’t look right for fall. There truly is a season for everything, and while frilly pink petunias look great in the summer, by now they look a little tired. They gave us their best, but the time comes to say goodbye. Cooler weather is when more robust fall flowers look great, like lovely containers of grasses, mums, or ornamental cabbages.
Another reason for being pro-active and emptying containers now is that we all know how quickly the weather can change. One day we might be working outside in short sleeves, and the next day we are dragging out fleeces and hoodies and shivering as we pull out those petunias!
Better to do it while the weather is still fine, giving us the chance to clean up the pots and put them away.
Some perennials may need to be cut back but be selective about this task. We always leave anything that has seed pods that can feed the birds over winter, or anything that is attractive for the winter garden.
If we are planting spring bulbs, be sure to label them and mark where they are! We’ve probably all dug up bulbs by accident! Plants bulbs in clumps or drifts, they look more natural and beautiful when in bloom. No straight rows, things look best when seen as a mass planting.
Once colder weather sets in, we may need to wrap or protect some plants, but that comes later!
Visit the hort society at www.yorktonhort.ca Thank you to our friends at Yorkton This Week for their fine work each week. Have a good week in the garden! Hope you can come to the Plant Sale on September 26.
