What a gorgeous couple of weeks we are having! I can't remember the last time we had a series of days in the 80's in August. Usually it is scorching this time of year, so those of us who make our living outside are truly grateful. We have also gotten some much needed rain this year, so hopefully most of your plants have survived and are starting to look a little perkier.

I have learned a few things this year that I am going to pass along to all of you before I get started on my list of what to do in September. Number one, Roundup (or any herbicide like it) should not be sprayed within 50 feet of Roses. It causes a mutation that gives the roses millions of thorns. They look like mutant, ninja roses. Number two, if you dig a Magnolia out of someone's yard that has come up from a mother plant, you can expect it to take 15-20 years to bloom.  And number three, never, never tell anyone that a plant is drought tolerant after established. What they hear is drought proof after a week! Two weeks later they are back with a plant that has been fried to a crackly crunch saying "you told me I didn't have to water it."

Now that I have passed on those lessons, let's go over your to-do list for this month.

• If you haven't done your walk around yet, now is a good time. Take a look at what did well and what didn't. Take pictures, make notes and cut out magazine articles or whatever you need to do to get ideas for next year. Do you have bare spots that need to be filled? Do you have an area that needs to be thinned out? If it is too hot to do the work, you can at least make notes on what to do when it gets cooler.

• Fall is the best time to plant most perennials, trees and shrubs. This surprises some people, but think about it.  All plants work on the roots first, so if you plant in fall they have all winter to get those roots down so that they will be ready to grow next spring.

• Fall is also a good time to divide and transplant perennials. The old recommendation is to divide spring bloomers in the fall and summer/autumn bloomers in the spring. Fleshy rooted plants such as Peonies and Iris should be done now. Remember, peonies often take a couple of years to bloom after transplanting and dividing

• Clean up those beds! As plants start to lose their leaves and die back, disease free debris can be tossed onto the compost pile. Diseased leaves should be removed so that the fungus doesn't overwinter. You will probably want to pull up annuals before a hard frost kills them, because some turn to mush. Perennials can be trimmed or cut back as needed.

• Some plants may need one last treatment with a systemic insecticide. Dwarf Alberta Spruces, Euonymus and other insect magnets will need help keeping bugs from setting up winter homes.

• Don't worry about fungus on deciduous trees and shrubs since they will lose their leaves soon anyway, but you may want to treat sick evergreen shrubs to prevent fungus from overwintering. Some will need to have sick areas pruned out. Call us if you have questions.

• This is a good time to add compost, manure, etc. to your beds. This will make the plants you put in next spring very happy.

• Get ready to move houseplants back inside before the first frost. Check them for insects before you bring them in, and treat if necessary.

• Don't do any severe pruning now. You can remove dead or diseased branches and do minor trimming, but nothing major.

• Many beds will need their mulch refreshed. If you piled it on in the spring, you may just want to fluff it up. It can become very hard and compacted. If you didn't put any on this spring, a couple of inches will help plants get through the winter.

• Plant Mums and Pansies this month for fall color. The Mums will stop blooming after 4-6 weeks, but the Pansies will take you through next spring! Pansies are one of my favorite flowers, because are such cheerful little things and provide so much bang for the buck.  What other annual gives you 8-9 months of performance?

• When you are ready to do fall displays, come and see us. We have straw, scarecrows and pumpkins in addition to the Mums and Pansies

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.