Hey, it's September, what is everyone up to?

19 years ago

I can't believe it is nearing the end of Summer. We had more rain than usual, which I think is good. (We have a well, and watering my gardens is not an option)It wasn't too hot, which I think is good and bad..some of the plants that I have that love the heat, the tropicals, are a little slow, which is ok by me, I think it is a fair trade ( not good for my tomatoes though) I think the bugs were less this year too, after the spring. So for now I am curious what everyone is doing in their yards and gardens.

My neighbors just put in a pond in the front yard near her cottage gardens, a bit of work, but I am sure it will be lovey by next spring.

My neighbors to the other side have a lot of drainage problems, made evident by the rains this year..they had a major overhaul, looks gorgeous..done in one day by professionals..incredible how much work they can get done in one day.

As for me, I've ordered my bulbs for fall planting, cleaned up my gardens from 'some' of the weeds, cut and shared some dahlias,and mostly looked in anticipation for all the new flowers that I put in in the fall of last year or the spring of this year to bloom. This is the first year I have had something new bloom every single day..Today the wands on my cimifuga Hillside Black Beauty started openning, I am going to like this one. I am hoping tomorrow my moonflower buds will begin to open, my Honerine Jobert Anemone is just about to pop open too. These were all new additions, as well as a tuberose that is about to open its florets...I can't wait to smell them, I've read so much about them. We were going to put in a new walkway this weekend, but my husband broke his ankle playing soccer yesterday, so that project may wait until spring now.

I see lots of projects going on, I see people admiring their payoff of their planning and work, and I see others who's season has ended with the lilies... where are you in your garden this September?

Comments (6)

33Cat
19 years ago
Unfortunately, not much gardening is going on around my house lately. A few weeks ago we had a big storm with hail and most of the graden was flattened...really! Every plant had blooms ripped off or stems torn in two. Finally, a few things are starting to recover and bloom again, but weeds have taken over a bit. Plus, we just had the whole house sheetrocked and now my priority is to paint everything. Hopefully, in the next few months I'll be able to lay out some beds for next year and clear some brush and keep it from getting overgrown again. That's the plan at least, but right now I'm totally overwhelmed. I am managing to save some seeds and look at garden catalogs in anticipation of winter sowing around January.
oldroser
19 years ago
Still have stuff to plant but today I was out mulching until the mosquitoes drove me in. Had the sprinkler going back and front (I'm on a well so have no problems using a sprinkler!) and picked another 5 pounds of tomatoes - could have gotten more but I took out a small basket. I've been having tomatoes twice a day and need to get out the juicer and get to work because there are just too many of them.
I also picked string beans.
Filled up the bird feeders. The rose-breasted grosbeaks are still here but they'll be moving on soon. Asters are beginning to show color, cyclamen have just about finished flowering, roses still going strong.
trant
19 years ago
well I've drawn out the plans to double the size of my vegetable garden so now I need to start working on that (clearing the land, leveling it and making some retaining walls) I'll be doing this work with my father and maybe some help from a brother. Then the raised beds go up and it will be ready for next year!

As for the current garden I've planted some kale, spinach and turnip a few weeks ago and they look kinda leggy (had no room in my garden so broadcast them in an area next to my large tomato plants so they really need mroe sun). I also ordered some garlic cloves and am planning on planting them around Columbus Day. The only veggy that is looking like it's calling it quits is the cucumber vines... the tomatoes and peppers are still going strong.
leslies
19 years ago
Mulching. I got lucky a week ago and came across some Public Works guys taking down a large hemlock (loaded, of course, with poison ivy). They dumped probably 8 yards of mulch on my driveway and I spent three days spreading it everywhere. My gardens smell like a pine forest and I didn't even get a rash frmo the PI!

I've put my house up for sale and I'll be moving to Virginia in a few weeks. All last week, I skipped work (didn't want to come into the City) and cleaned house, dumped stuff from the basement and the closets into the trash, mulched and weeded. The gardens look not-so-bad because of the rain we had this summer. My "lawn" even looks like there's a little grass mixed in with the weeds. Usually, by August, it's brown and crunchy. I decided I was done with the tomatoes and took them out, and started giving plants away to friends.

I am not looking forward to moving.
jayco
19 years ago
Oh Leslie, you're moving? What are you going to do with your plants? Can you take a lot of them with you? I hope so. At least in Virginia you'll be able to grow a few things we can't here. How's the deer situation down there?
chloecleome
19 years ago
I spent the day in the public garden I tend working on the last part that I am renewing. What was astonishing was the number of bulbs I dug up ( and put back) as well as the thousands of grape hyacinths. I have been dividing and moving plants today in anticipation of the rain (it just started)since I have no access to water there. Some of them I had underestimated like the Russian sage, so I moved them into sort of a hedge configuration. Also put in perennial chrysanthemums hoping that I can harvest some divisions next year to spread around. Put in orange tiger lilies as an experiment. Actually I divide mined and found twenty bulbs which I had no room for at home and so planted 12 of them there. Interestingly enough this garden is at the edge of a forest full of deer as well as fox and coyote wild turkeysgroundhogs, rabbits etc but the deer have never bothered the garden. They spent a great deal of time trying to get into the fenced vegetable garden there. I hope my luck holds