We are solidly into our late fall weather after that stunning stretch of 70º weather two weeks ago, oh, and that freak-show of a snow storm with sub-freezing temps for Halloween. I heard from a lot of you who trudged outside in the snow with brooms, hockey sticks, bamboo stakes and telescoping poles(?) to gently knock the accumulating snow off of the branches and persistent leaves. Many plants were saved with a few tragedies happening. I promise not to flood your inboxes in the future with irregular postings, but an alert like that can save valuable plants, young and old.
My newsletters will be produced monthly from now through the winter, but I hope everyone stays excited about their gardens and thinking about next Spring. We are finally getting some people into the Facebook Community and starting to engage. Please join the group and share your experiences and ask questions.
What happened to our fall color? Leaves look like they got freeze-dried on our Japanese Maples and other ornamentals that usually have wonderful late fall color. Alden Johnson, a Certified Arborist at Barrett Tree East says, “we had a really warm, slow autumn so the Japanese Maples, etc (which have slower-than-average abscission process in general), were caught early in that process by the Halloween cold snap and blanket of heavy sticky snow. That cold period hit these trees at a vulnerable period and interrupted plant cells walling off from foliage for the winter.”
Abscission is the process by which plants safely rid themselves of material like seed, fruit or leaves to name a few. During this process plants draw down nutrients from leaves for use elsewhere in the plant, and this process changes the color of the leaves by subtraction of Chlorophyll. When the abscission process is finished, it walls off cells attached to the leaf stems and literally cuts it off. The fall leaf color happens during this process while the leaves are still alive and attached. Johnson continues by saying, “the abscission zone was not fully walled-off so the leaves will probably stick to the plants and not separate or fall. The cells in these leaves are dead now.” The cold interrupted the process, killed the leaf tissue and stopped the fall coloring process.
With the gardening season wrapping up and before we hunker down in front of our fires and wood stoves, now is a great time to reflect on our successes and failures in the garden this season. Failure may be a harsh term, but when working with living material in constantly changing weather and soil conditions, with bugs and disease lurking for their optimal conditions to thrive, everyone gets challenged.
One success is that I finally finished planting the last of my beds since moving in six years ago. I used some divisions of favorite plants and added a few new favorites. I knew I needed the irrigation system (put in last year) if I was going to continue to plant. Hand watering was becoming time-consuming and this summer would have been ridiculous, but with plants establishing their water needs are decreasing.
This summer with our heat and lack of rain, everyone was struggling to water properly. Not enough water and plants were burning or dying, sometimes in a matter of a few days when you looked away. Too much water and insects and disease rode into our gardens to feast on our tender offerings.
Weather wasn’t my only challenge. Personally, I have gotten into a rut with my annuals and containers. Professionally, I am always looking at gardens and situations with a fresh perspective, but at home I have been doing the same things year after year to less and less success. Do you find yourself doing the same things in the garden? Does it work or is it time to shake things up?
To that end, and with the semi-permanence of COVID, I purchased some simple florescent grow lights and a metal shelving unit so that I can grow my own annuals that my favorite suppliers just don’t have. I took cuttings from some favorite plants this fall and I am salivating over seed suppliers to start my own seed in the late-winter. I haven’t been able to work with plants indoors since I managed an estate with a beautiful greenhouse full of Camellias and plants that we grew for the gardens. I encourage all of you to do something simple like this. Even if you just want to start you own Basil, Chives or Parsley (John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds.)
There are so many great seed suppliers, and with the internet you can spend hours searching through and coming up with ideas. Chiltern Seeds is one of the best for flowers and it is based in the UK. Select Seeds is right here in CT. There are hundreds more suppliers and seed banks with far too many choices. I am planning to propagate some plants I haven’t worked with since my time in California like Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower), Erigeron (Mexican Fleabane), Verbena bonariensis (Purple Top) and lot of other great plants.
I am going to try some unusual ones for my baskets, boxes and containers, and if I fall flat on my face, so be it. For so little money, I will be having fun growing plants again from cuttings and seed.
I think gardens and working in them can be most rewarding when there is change. There is always some new area to re-work, or how do you find space for that plant you really like. When you visit some special historical or botanic gardens, there is always an enduring structure, but certain areas and beds are constantly being reimagined. I encourage you to look at your gardens now before they are covered in snow and see something you might want to think about over the Winter, and maybe you decide to grow some colorful annuals in your basement with me!
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