Falling for Fall
Greetings!
To misquote Dinah Washington, what a difference cooler weather and some rain makes.
This morning I am once again sitting on my back screened porch, bare feet up on a chair, listening to the little flower pot fountain a few feet away, sipping coffee, and smelling the evocative scent of those first moments of rain, all damp earth and expectation. There is no place on earth I'd rather be.
The only thing pecking away at the corners of my peaceful frame of mind is that I'm also surrounded by produce--baskets and buckets and boxes of produce, nagging to be dealt with.
It's a good thing I love to cook. To that end, for the next
10 days, on The Iowa Gardener Facebook page, I'll be posting my 10 favorite recipes for Iowa garden produce.
See you there! If you're not already a friend, become one. Just click on the Facebook logo below. (If necessary, search for "The Iowa Gardener.")
Happy Gardening!
Veronica Lorson Fowler
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Advertisement
 Buy The Book
Friend and Country Gardens magazine columnist, Karen Weir-Jimerson, has a lovely book out: "So Much Sky." An accomplished gardener and wonderful writer, Karen writes about life on her acreage near Woodward.
It's full of wise, funny observations about gardening, nature, family, and the passage of time.
The book is $16.00 plus $1.95 for postage. Click here to order or call 515-343-9670 during business hours to put it on a card. She'll even sign it with the inscription of your choice!
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Bulb Basics
 It's October. Time to plant spring-blooming bulbs!
If you've ever invested in lots of bulbs, only to see them come up the following spring weak and spindly or not at all, check out our best bulb-planting tips by clicking here. Top pointers:
* While I love discount stores and the big home box stores, they're not the place to buy bulbs. With bulbs, you get what you pay for. Cheap bulbs are undersized and are less likely to bloom--or bloom much--next spring. Expect to pay 40 to 50 cents for tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils.
* Drainage, drainage, drainage! Bulbs are usually natives of rocky mountainsides. If they languish in wet, cold soil, they'll rot. (Think of onions, which are a type of bulb, and what they do if they're kept in wet, damp conditions.)
* Plant en masse. Three or four tulips planted together look kinda skimpy and lonely. But 20 are a knockout. Spend your bulb budget on a few larger groups rather than lots of little plantings.
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Fast Fall Centerpiece
 There are so many adorable pumpkins and gourds out there this time of year. I got inspired with $5 of pumpkins from Earl May. Then I went to Target and got these black candlesticks ($9 each). So Halloween-y, but not in a cheesy way.
You could also take any old pair of candlesticks you have and spray paint them flat black. If you have several candlesticks and they're mismatched, even better.
I've recently become a fan of chalkboard spray paint, so think about how much fun you could have using that and then decorating with white chalk. Heck, you could even chalkboard-paint the pumpkins and then draw on faces and more.
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It's Never Too Early to Shop
It pains me to write this, and it will probably pain you to read it: Christmas is coming up sooner than we are willing to admit.
As much as I hate hectic holidays, I do love finding just the right, affordable, thoughtful gift, so right now, early, I am looking everywhere for ideas.
Forgive me for shamelessly plugging an idea: "Gardening in Iowa," written by moi and published by the University of Iowa Press.
$25.60 with shipping and handling. And if you order it through us, I'll put in the personalized inscription of your choice. Gift-wrapping option available. For details, click here.
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Monthly To-Do
 It's dry out there! Keep pots, perennials, trees, shrubs, and everything well-watered so they can be healthy enough to survive winter's stresses without any problems.
Plant spring-blooming bulbs. If you want, plant some in pots for forcing. Easy to do, fun, and very welcome come January and February!
Keep harvesting. Pick vegetables and fruits early and often for the best-quality produce that also encourages plants to keep producing. Click here for our best harvest tips!
Pitch any annuals that have been stressed by the drought or are having significant problems with pests and diseases. They're not going to get any better.
Plant mums as desired. Hardy mums are more rugged looking and should be planted in the ground, where they'll come back each year. Florists' mums are perfect-looking, but last just one year. Either way, keep them well watered. if they wilt just once, they may not come back.
Right before a rain, fertilize cool season lawns, such as Kentucky bluegrass, ryes and fescues, to encourage good root growth. Also fertilize warm-season grasses, such as zoysia, also to prompt them to green up faster in spring. Click here for a month-by-month lawn care schedule for Iowa.
Look for garden items on clearance. A great way to save money! However, seeds kept for a year are not as likely to germinate well. And be careful about end of season plants. If they look tired, have spots, or problems, they're not bargains.
For our printable monthly to-do lists and handy garden references, click here.
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Editor's Choice
Garden Events
Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6
Reiman Gardens, Ames
9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Refine your garden tastes by learning more about and viewing the ancient art of bonsai.
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Garden Quote
"I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air."
-American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne,
in a letter dated October 10, 1842
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