Severnista

Now is a good time to take inventory of what garden tasks you would like to accomplish as we shift into fall. Included in this list are big projects that are more labor intensive and also smaller tasks like potting up native seedlings that I planted last fall.

Fall is not just for aerating and sowing grass seed. It’s a great time to plant perennials and shrubs and also prepare new beds for next year.

This time last year my son helped me pile on bags of mini pine bark nuggets four inches deep over an area that had been covered in recycled broken down, flat cardboard boxes.

In spring I installed some of the native perennials that I had picked for my design in this roughly 22 x 16 foot area. Note: the irrigation hoses are connected to sprinklers for the lawn and not the bed. I hand watered the plants that I installed which totaled nine plants including: little Joe pye weed, turtleheads, Baptisia ‘ Sunny Morning’ and a Salvia ‘Amistad’ (though not native, needed a nice sunny home and seems to quite like it).

Another native plant variety I plan to add in this new bed is Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘October Skies’. It’s pictured below as it’s just starting to bloom. The ones in this photo were planted over a year ago. And as with most of my native plant choices, it was new for me. In this time I’ve been able to learn and see first hand how it grows, behaves and blooms. It’s good to report that it does attract pollinators and that’s one of my goals. Now I’m ready to plant more of these beauties in a more prominent and observable part of my yard.

There are plenty of native perennials to enjoy in fall and the yellow and purple together are such a great combination. Also with the new blooms of Solidago are the still blooming coreopsis who really keep their dainty blooms coming all summer.

And another view of ‘Golden Fleece’ paired here with still blooming red Monarda didyma and Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) which is already taking on its beautiful fall color.

And just for the hummingbirds…

Having bloomed most of the summer this native variety of trumpet honeysuckle still has more to offer. As summer winds down it provides much needed nectar for hummingbirds. And cheers to the Salvia ‘Amistad’ for doing the same with its deep, rich purple blooms.

Not only is this a good time to set up tasks for the fall but it’s also a good time to enjoy the fall colors that are happening in your own native garden. Feel good about them! They provide for the insects which in turn provides for your whole little backyard ecosystem.