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What's Happening

Show me your garden and I will tell you who you are.

November 2007

Echinacea Sunset

If you can enjoy a walk out in the garden during the late fall season, you are truly a gardener at heart. The tokens of beauty autumn displays must sustain me through a very long Iowa winter.

I took my camera with me out to the gardens just the other day, to see, what I could see. Of course, the mums are wonderful and marigolds are glorious in the cool fall temperatures. But the echinacea (coneflowers) and the rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan) and the gaillardia (blanket flower) are still showing off after blooming all summer long. The stamina these tough perennials exhibit is astounding. You gotta love these hardy beauties! However, being native plants, and spreading by rhizomes, & self-seeding freely, (remember those terms) they easily become invasive if not kept closely in check.

I remember how excited I was when my very first purple coneflowers flourished in my garden. I was naive to say the least. The second season they robustly began to crowd other plants out. The third season I began murdering them. Then banished all survivors to the wildflower patch as they were threatening to take over the world. That was several years ago. Now I have Bed #13 which is a sort of wild mismatch of flora & fauna. Once again I injected a select few specimen of coneflower. The gaillardia & rudbeckia have sown themselves all around. But mostly they have come up to grow in our (very hot, very dry) gravel driveway in protected spots. Believe it or not, that's where they love to grow. It's a hoot!

This summer I began noticing new colors and characteristics of coneflowers in other people's gardens and in the plant catalogs. They were "all the talk" of many folks who enjoy sun gardens. Finally I succumbed & bought 2 of the new Big Sky Series of Echinacea - a pale yellow one and a rosy mauve-pink one. The naming of this new family of Echinacea is a bit confusing according to garden literature. But the pink one was labeled 'Sundown' & the pale yellow, 'Fragrant Angel'. I planted them very late summer. Fragrant Angel seems more delicate than 'Sundown'. She put on only one or two small flowers before going into a resting phase. 'Sundown' robustly set strong, large flowers in the true fashion of its rugged species holding into October & now November.

I wonder how many summers will go by until I regret this and began murdering coneflowers once again!

Learn more:

Echinacea
Echinacea from White Flower Farm
Echinacea from Dayton Nursery
Echinacea from Big Dipper Farm
Echinacea from Plant Delights

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia
Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'

Gaillardia Oranges and Lemons

Photo courtesy High Country Gardens

Gaillardia - Blanket Flower
Gaillardia from Walters Gardens

November Farmers Almanac

Gardening Tips - November 2007

Farmers' Almanac Timely Tip:

rake

Rake fallen leaves off our lawn before they block out light and moisture. Do not burn the leaves but add them to the compost pile. Leaves make good mulch.

fun in the snow

Weather Lore - is there any truth to “Year of snow, crops will grow?”

If you think about this saying, you can see what farmers thought when they made this up so many years ago. If the weather is brutally cold, with subzero temperatures, it is usually too cold to snow. The warmer the weather, up to 32 degrees F, the greater the chance for snow. Thus, the farmers concluded that if there was a lot of snow, the temperatures wouldn’t be so cold, planting could start earlier in the year and crops would have a better chance. There would also be more water from the snowmelt to help seeds sprout and seedlings grow.

onions

Best Way to Store Onions

Treat onions as you would any other perishable. Bruising damages fresh onions and makes them spoil quicker. The best place to store them is in cool, dry, well-ventilated areas. A pantry or basement works well. If you have old stockings, place onions in the stockings and tie a knot between each onion. Hang the filled stockings and cut at the knot when a onion is needed.

vegetables

Decorate with Vegetables

Vegetables are worthy rivals of fruits for table decorations. Eggplant, carrots, celery, or parsley, arranged on a tray or platter, can be as colorful and festive as any kind of decoration.

'2006 Almanac Publishing Company'
www.farmersalmanac.com

protect new divisions with a basket

Protecting New Divisions

Learn how to properly protect new divisions after dividing perennials

November Gardening Guide
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