And I wish that we didn't go directly from summer to winter. The high was 83 here on Tuesday and the low yesterday was 36 yesterday. My daughter said she saw snow flurries while at a football game last night.

Well I suppose it's only fair since last year we skipped spring and went straight from winter to summer. This year feels like we went from spring to fall. I have sheets over my tomatoes and eggplant since they're going so slow. I got a ton of scallop squash and will definitely plant those again, and am letting them go as long as they will. No peppers yet, but managed to grow carrots for a change.

No snow, no snow, no snow

Jen

A little irrelevant, but does anyone know if this weekend will be too late to plant thyme? I am new to fall planting and read that late october was the latest you can plant so, I ordered a few flats of pink chintz and was hoping to get it all in the ground next weekend(Oct9), but it seems now that it is getting too cold.

Should I go ahead and plant it, or am I better off throwing it into a pot in the house for the winter and doing it this spring? Please help me!

Also, if I can plant it am I ok to cut the 4" potted plants into fours before putting them in the ground or will that kill them for sure?

Thanks and sorry for shifting gears, I'm trying to get used to this site and posting messages.

Summer's over at my house : ( We had a killing frost Thursday night. There's still a few carrots and some lettuce in the garden, but I ripped everything else out yesterday. What's more depressing than the end of the veggie garden, is the lost of all of the annuals that were blooming in front of my porch. It was crammed with poppies, marigolds, and zinnias which I enjoyed every time I walked out the front door. Today, I guess I'll rip all of the dead plants out.

Xericgreen, I don't know the answer to your question, but I have planted perennials into late October before, and they did fine. Since the ground temperature is warmer than the air temperature, the roots will continue to grow even after the foliage dies back. I still have daylilies to get in the ground. I caught the virus that all of the kids had last week, so I haven't felt up to doing much outside. Maybe today it will get done ...

Bonnie

Xeric, where do you live? I dont see any reason at all why you shouldnt plant them now. With most perennials, you can plant them anytimeeven during the winteras long as the ground isnt frozen. The main problem with planting when its really, really cold out is that since they wont start growing, you dont know till spring if theyve actually made it or not.

When planting at this time of the year, put them in and then water them really wellSLOWLY and DEEPLYso the soil BELOW the roots is well watered. Then dont water again over winter unless the soil down at the level of the bottom of the roots is drying out. If we get a long, drawn out and dry fall, you may need to water again before winter really sets in. Rather than trying to divide them now, put the 4" plants in as one plant and then wait till they start growing well in spring and then go thru them and dig small rooted "plugs" out of the middle of them to transplant where you want them. Pink Chintz should be pretty easy to successfully plant now. Also, as Bonnie said above, if theyre planted now, the roots will be growing pretty much all winter, anytime the soil isnt frozen, so theyll get a really, really good start when they start to grow next spring.

Were glad youre here, and dont be afraid to start your own thread when you have questions. Any fall/winter posts are welcome on this threador any posts at all for that matterbut youll usually get more responses if you start a separate thread and people can see from the title what youre asking about. And if you start a separate thread, you can also have replies sent directly to your mailbox if you choose.

I got back from my trip last nite and found that the temp had only gone down to 36 while I was gone! Even last nite, which was a little bit colder, it only went down to 34. Guess I really didnt need to cut my tomatoes down after all, but with as cool as the days are going to be this week, and with as cold as the nites are getting, they wouldnt have developed anymore fruit anyway, and they can ripen slowly in the garage as well as outsidewhere Id need to keep worrying about them freezing.

Since cukes dont "keep" if you "hang them in the garage," and since I wasnt quite ready to give up on them yet, I did cover them. Theyre easy to cover because of the "framework" provided by the trellises theyre on. Just uncovered them about an hour ago, and theyre looking the same as when I covered them. I already have a bunch of cukes in the fridge, and there a lots of little ones on the vines, so the longer I can leave them outside, the longer Ill have them to eat! I covered a couple summer squash vines that have small ones on too, in hopes that they may keep developing, but that may or may not work. It sure is nice out here today! Its 60 in the shade on my deck, and Im sure its much warmer in the sun out in the yard (but my thermometer on that side of the yard needs new batteries!)

BP and Dafy, its really nice to see the two of you around here! We miss you when youre not posting.

My perennials, which were, in large part, ignored this year, are looking typically "fallish!" Buds are just starting to open on the Hillside Pink Sheffields" Dendranthema, and Im not planning to cover it this year, so it probably wont have time to develop its usual fall splendor! If Im around when were gonna get a hard freeze, Ill cut them and bring them in to enjoy indoors! The many dried flower stems on my Acanthus are going to be wonderful winter interest this year. Theyre visible in this pic behind the flopping (not enough sun) Agastache!

Im hoping for a nice mild winter so I can get the tomato area turned over this year and ready for spring, and maybe even do some perennial "rearranging" over winter.

Skybird

Even though I still felt pretty crummy this morning, I managed to get 8 of the 12 daylilies planted that you brought me Skybird. I also moved at least that many perennials around. Now I need to draw a little map, so when the foliage dies back, I'll know which one went where. I stick the plastic tag in the ground, but a lot of times they will break off over the winter, so I don't want to rely on them for identification purposes.

Whew, I'm going to rest now ...

Bonnie

All,

Thanks for your replies; I am just east of Aurora in Bennett. Ok, well I just got a reply from my supplier and he won't be able to get me the thyme I ordered until late October. Does anyone think I should go ahead and plant them then, or should I get them this spring? I just want to get this yard of bare dirt covered with thyme as fast as possible, but I don't want to kill the plants trying to rush things! If you all have anymore advice on the matter, please let me know so I can defer my order or let them go ahead and ship when the product becomes available in late October!

Thanks!

Hey Skybird,

Sounds like you might be on a trip now, but not sure. Can you remind me of your email address? I recall that PMs didn't work for you from here, but I'm not sure if that's still true. Or you can PM me from here and give me your address that way.

Thanks!
Steve