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...because all the best garden advice is local
September 16, 2010
Stop the Eggplant!
 
Greetings!

Veronica on the porchWeird what nature hands you. My lush, healthy bell pepper plants still aren't producing a blessed thing, but my eggplants are going nutters. I planted three Japanese eggplants and three globe type. And now I've got so many I've been begging friends and neighbors to take them.
  
Caponata, moussaka, grilled eggplant sandwiches, lamb and eggplant curry, marinara with eggplant over pasta. Eggplant: How do I tire of thee? Let me count the ways.
  
Meanwhile, tragically, my tomato plants are little more than brown skeletons, yet still producing tomatoes. I do get cheered up a bit by my lush gorgeous green beans, which this year have not been ravaged by grasshoppers and are finally kicking into gear after some heat. I love the little 'Blue Lake' stringless, picked when they're tiny and tender, no bigger than a cigarette.
  
Here's hoping your garden is going gangbusters, too. Sure, my flower beds are tangly messes now-too much heat and rain, not enough time in life to tend them the way I should--but in this golden September light, everything looks wonderful.
  
Even an eggplant.

Happy Early Autumn Gardening!


Veronica Lorson Fowler
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When's the First Frost?

I hate to even think about the first frost--where did summer go?--but here are the cold facts, folks.
   Last year, northeast Iowa was hit by its first frost Sept. 29. Yikes.
October 10 is the average first frost date for north central, northeast as well as southwest Iowa. (Isn't that interesting how it's not simply northern Iowa? It's all about terrain.) October 15 is the first average frost date for most of the rest of Iowa. And it's October 20 for southeast Iowa.
   However, take heart in the fact thatfrost on a leaf the type of summer we have isn't necessarily an indicator of how soon we'll have a frost. So even though we've had a a cool, wet summer, that doesn't necessarily mean we'll get an early frost.
   Keep your fingers crossed. I want to enjoy my few tomatoes for as long as possible!
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Fall Decorating from the Garden

This time of year, I buy a few interesting pumpkins, gourds, or squash from the farmer's market or supermarket to them as the inspiration for a fall centerpiece.
    I start with three candles (bought half-price at the regular sales at Hobby Lobby!) in autumn colors, but you could use five, one--or none. Then tuck in the pumpkins or whatever until they look pleasing to you. If you like, include pine cones. Add some mums or asters, tucked into tiny glass jars of water. Then fill out with cut sedum 'Autumn Joy'--it will Gourds, fall flowers/foliage and candles as a fall centerpiecedry right in place. Add a few other dried bits from you garden--here I used primarily stems of Russian sage. Done--and it will look great for several weeks. (Fill and change the water for the fresh flowers regularly and replace the flowers themselves once or twice.)
Overwintering Plants

  I paid good money for my two hibiscus standards, about $40 each. But they won't last the winter outdoors in Iowa.
   It's the same for a number of other plants, such as rosemary, geraniums, and jasmine, that we like to grow in pots, which are hardy in mild-winter climates like The South and the Pacific Northwest, but not here.
   The solution? Overwinter them indoors. Sure, you could just park them in front of a window and keep them watered, but in the weak light and warm, dry air of hour winter homes, they tend to get sickly and often die.
   Click here for tips on overwintering these expensive, wonderful plants to place outside again in spring!
  African Violets on shelves in window And a word to the wise: Cool and humidity is everything. If you have a bedroom you can close off and keep at 50° F, that's perfect for many plants. Put in front of a sunny window, add a grow light, and run the humidifier and you'll have the next best thing to a cool greenhouse!

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Garden Quote:

"The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel--
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze."

John Updike, September
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Slowing Down

The garden this time of year is slowing down and so are we. The Iowa Gardener has been coming out every other week during the heaviest part of the growing season. But in the late summer through winter, we'll knock back to once a month (with two in October, since we get so busy with winter prep!) Still the same great local garden information, just a little less often.
Issue: 38
Garden To-Do List

For a printable version of this list for August, click here.

  Nope, it's not time to plant bulbs just yet. Wait until October. Go ahead and buy them now, but keep them in a cool, dry, dark place. And pay a little more for nice, firm, healthy "top-size" bulbs. Mail-order and small nurseries are ideal. The big box stores, I'm afraid, too often carry undersized bulbs that won't bloom well.

There's a saying that beautiful lawns are made in the fall. As days grow cooler, it's a great time to reseed problem patches or lay new sod. We've been having some dry weather though, so water daily until established--usually in a couple of weeks. Now is also an excellent time to aerate a lawn.

If you prefer a shorter look, start mowing cool-season turf, such as Kentucky bluegrass, ryes, and fescues, lower (about 2 inches) now that temperatures are cooler. Or continue to mow at the ideal height of 3 inches.
   With warm season grasses, such zoysiagrass, keep mowing at about 2 inches.

Fertilize cool season lawns, such as Kentucky bluegrass, ryes, and fescues, to encourage good root growth. Do not fertilize zoysiagrass this month.
 
Continue to harvest early and often for the most tender, sweetest produce and to keep plants producing well.
Click here
for information on a plant-by-plant breakdown on when to harvest.

Keep things watered. You'll enjoy your garden longer, and it will prevent plants from going into winter dehydrated, which can make them die out over winter.

Make the tough calls. If any annuals this late in the season are struggling,  pull them up and put them in the compost heap. If a perennial is looking shot, just cut it off at ground level now and discard the foliage.

Brighten your garden with mums. Choose from either florist's mums, which aren't winter hardy but are very tidy-looking with large flowers or from hardy mums, which are more rough-looking but will come back again next year. Florist's mums are great for pots indoors and out while garden mums are good for planting in the ground for a permanent display.

Frustrated by moles? Click here to check out ways to control them!
Garden Events 

Saturday, September 25
Peony and Iris Sale/Book Signing
Iowa Arboretum, Madrid
9 a.m. Purchase plants for fall planting, take in a talk on growing bearded iris by Kelly Norris, author of "The Iowa Gardener's Travel Guide."

Thursday, Sept. 30-Sunday, Oct. 3
Third Annual Fall Bulb Mart
Des Moines Botanical Center
Shop for spring-blooming bulbs, peonies, and others--more than 60,000 to choose from! Sept. 30 4-7 p.m., Oct. 1-2 10 a.m.-5 pm and Oct. 3 noon-4 pm.

Saturday, Oct. 16-Sunday, Oct.17
Iowa Bonsai Society Annual Exhibit
9 am-4 pm. Come to Reiman Gardens and enjoy a variety of bonsai. Free for CoHort members; otherwise general admission.

Saturday, Oct. 23-Sunday, Oct. 24
Spirits in the Gardens
Reiman Gardens
4-7 p.m. Living lawn ornaments, including trolls, fairies, gnomes, living statues and even a green man. Kids can collect candy at stops along the Gardens enjoy craft stations, games, a story teller, marshmallow roasting, and a haunted walk full of silly Halloween riddles. 

Click here for further listings of more garden events.