I’ve been making a conscious effort to enjoy and appreciate all that remains in the garden before the season ends with the first frost, which may come tonight or almost certainly, this week. Today I ate a couple red blossoms from my pineapple sage plant. Very nicely sweet, although not pineapple flavor in the flowers to my taste. The profusion zinnias are still clouds of color. Fall anemones are still blooming, along with some perennial salvia, lavender, cockscomb and celosia, late roses, nasturtiums, sedum, marigolds and love-lies-bleeding. That’s a lot for late October. I let my basil plants flower at the end, when I’m done harvesting. Both cinnamon and purple varieties look particularly pretty with their pink blooms.
Annual vines look spectacular at the end of the season. Hyacinth bean vine is loaded with its shiny, purple pods. Last year, due to weather vagaries, I didn’t save any seed/ This year, I’ve been able to save plenty. Another beauty is mina or firecracker vine. We plant two on an obelisk in our entrance bed. It is absolutely covered with sprays of red, orange and yellow flowers. I’ve saved these seeds, but they don’t seem to germinate very well, not as well as the seeds I purchase.
I’ve had a few people ask for small pots of culinary herbs. We have a small selection - about a half dozen varieties - for sale during the holiday season. They[‘re usually ready about mid-November. That gives you something green and herby to get you through the winter months until spring rolls around again.
I’ve been very busy working in the shop, getting it all spruced up. I have been working on some holiday items, but I’m not putting them out until after Halloween. Also working on the fall newsletter which comes out in November.
After we clean up the gardens, the last big chore is burying all the stock plants in the vegetable garden to overwinter. Then I know the growing season is done.
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