The Garden In September
September is one of my favorite times in the garden. Late summer flowers are coming into bloom, many things are super lush with an entire season of growth on them. It’s an exuberant time, one I try to soak up as much as possible before the days get cold and the snow starts to fall. Here are a few photos in the main vegetable from last week:
What are you loving in your garden right now?
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Late Bloomer
Here in Maine, the hardy hibiscus is a late bloomer. In fact, I always think it didn’t survive the winter and then, suddenly, I notice growth. This beauty just started blooming two weeks ago.
I got this plant from my mom’s garden the first summer we lived here in Maine. She always had loads of them in her garden, mostly red and white ones, which cross pollinated to this lovely pink. Since I wanted pink and not red or white, I dug up a proven plant from her garden when I have visiting one summer. I’m so happy to have this beauty blooming each summer, reminding me of my mom’s garden.
Do you have any plants that you think never make it but always prove to be hardy?
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Winter Color
I just finished up an article for Northern Gardener about the winter garden. As I look through all my photos to find ones to accompany the article, I’m finding lots of great ideas of things I want to start planting/adding to my current garden. Specifically, I need to add plants with twigs/branches that are colorful during the drab winter months. I came across a few, some from my garden, others from Kingwood Center. The yellow/orange plant is a Coral Embers Willow.
I have a redtwig dogwood in my garden, and got a new yellow one last year. They’re easy to propagate, so I’ve been slowly making new shrubs to use in a mass planting.
What are some of your favorite plants for winter interest in the garden?
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Peppers to Dry
This year I grew two new varieties of peppers just for drying. We’ve eaten a few of them fresh, but they are two varieties specifically developed to dry. One is ‘Red Ember’ and the other ‘El Eden’, both from Johnny’s Seeds.
Since I only have one plant of each, I’m not keeping them separate. Both are getting trimmed and dried with plans to grind them into pepper powder. Neither pepper is very hot, so I’m hoping that mixing them will be a nice chili powder to use in the kitchen. So far, I’m pleased with both varieties and will continue to grow them each summer.
Do you grow any items to make spices from?
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Protection
Protecting our gardens from marauding animals can be quite a task. Over the years I’ve developed various methods for protecting individual plants as well as large plots of edibles. Everyone seems to have methods that work for them. I was at my neighbor’s house yesterday and she tied plastic shopping bags on strings around her garden to keep the deer out.
This works fairly well for her. I have found that for my large vegetable garden, an electric fence is a must to keep deer, turkeys, groundhogs, raccoons, and other pests out.
What methods have you found that work well for these large garden pests?
