NORTH FLORIDA MONTH-TO-MONTH GARDENING GUIDE   September 2005 by Nancy George

There is a delicate shift now that midsummer has passed . As less of the Sun's rays reach the earth, the air cools, and the harvest season begins.  Most of us are ready to sink in to the thought of autumn, which is not far off on the horizon.
 
What to Buy / Plant

Prepare for planting by cleaning beds and spreading mulch.
Choose and plant for fall color such as liquid amber, maples, and ginkgo.
Buy chrysanthemums, firespike, gingers, clerodendrum, candlebrush, tibouchina, and cuphia.
Plant all types of permanent landscape plants, such as evergreen clematis, duke gardens, and yews.
Begin to think about purchasing bulbs now through November.  Keep them in a cool dry place until planting time.
Plant herbs

Prune/ Propagate

Keep deadheading flowers removing spent blooms before they have a chance to seed.  Not only will the plants look better, but if allowed to shed seeds, they're more likely to stop producing new blooms.
Trim hedges and prune shrubs that require shaping.
Divide irises and daylillies

Fertilizing

Give the last fertilization of the year, allowing new growth time to harden off before the  first freeze.
Annuals should have another feeding.

Edibles

Early in the month, plant seeds in the ground for fall and winter vegetables.
Plant fall vegetables  including broccoli, cabbage, green onions, radishes, collards, turnips, mustard, beets, leeks, kale,and spinach.
Fruits and vegetables should be picked as soon as they're ripe to avoid giving pests a free lunch. Garlic and onions can be harvested when you notice their dry foliage.  Let them air-dry.

Pests

Rake up early leaves  to prevent insects and spread of disease
At first notice of insects hose-blast them off of leaves or spray them with an insecticidal soap.

For Fun

Make a hypertufa container.  You'll need one part ready crete (bagged concrete).  One and a half parts perlite.  One and a half parts peat moss.  Mold it into diamond-mesh lathing or into a styrofoam ice chest.  You can even dig a hole in the ground and line it with a plastic trash bag.  Mold the mixture into a trough shape.  Don't forget to add drainage holes.


Fall Color:

Japanese Maple		Ginkgo		Clerodendrum		Candlebrush

Firespike		Tibouchina		Cuphia

Permanent Landscape Plants:

Evergreen Clematis		Evergreen Clematis Bloom		Duke Gardens		Japanese Plum Yew

(All photos shown were taken September 6, 2005 on location at Purple Martin Nurseries, located at 1554 Crawfordville Highway, Crawfordville, FL.  (850) 926-8335.  Owner:  Glen Campbell)

Gardening in Wakulla County - September, Hi! I was wa

October 03, 2005     

Hi! I was wading around in this cool site and found your articles on gardening. Thanks for photos of some of the plants we might not necessarily recognize by name. Is the FireSpike related to Buckeye? SK
saundrak | 216.162.134.19 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

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