Fall Gardening #1

There are several things to consider as we move into fall,  shorter days, cooler evenings and enjoying the fall color. Today I was thinking that maybe I could post a fall gardening post a week, something that will hopefully help you ensure your garden is ready for winter, today cleanup.

Many plants are still blooming, but lets go ahead and dead head the spent blooms and dispose of properly. If your plant has powdery mildew or some other fungus please don't put them in your compost pile, put in the garbage. Powdery mildew can and will over winter. A friend also reminded me that you may not want to plant Roses near other plants that get powdery mildew easily.  If your plant is healthy toss it in the compost pile.

Here is my Shasta Daisy, before and after deadheading. There is still time to get more blooms this season. Don't cut them to the ground, let them go dormant on there own time and leave the dried stems and leaves to send nutrients to the root system, and provide a bit of warmth in our cold dry winters. 

We will cut back in the spring.