However, there’s still plenty of time to savor some of the garden’s best flavors before you close your door on the season. In fact, now is the perfect time to plant what are collectively known as “cool weather” crops — tasty favorites that thrive in autumn’s chill.

Bonnie Plants grows a wide variety of cool-weather veggies and herbs, perfect for fall planting. Availability of Bonnie’s fall varieties is limited to specific regions, so check your local garden retailers to find plants near you.

Select some hardy favorites to get weeks of crisp cabbage slaws, healthy kale bowls, crunchy cauliflower and broccoli or even hearty greens like collards or Swiss chard, perfect to pop in a long-simmering winter braise.

Other fall favorites include Brussels sprouts — delicious roasted with slivers of garlic, olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar — or any of the versatile salad greens like lettuce and spinach or flavorful herbs like cilantro that tend to suffer and bolt prematurely in sweltering summer sun.

Here’s six timely tips from Bonnie Plants to help you make your fall garden as enjoyable as your summer harvest.

1. Go big at home

Plant pre-started vegetable or herb transplants rather than seeds to squeeze every last moment out of fall’s compressed growing season. These plants love warm soil coupled with cool air and will start to grow quickly. Using transplants instead of seed also means you’ll be gathering tasty produce weeks earlier than you would with seed-sown varieties.

2. Stretch the season

While you can certainly plant cool-season veggies and herbs in pots or in the ground, a simple, commonly available garden product, a “cold-frame”, can help you extend your fall season by providing some added protection. A cold frame is a four-sided, clear box — open to the soil at the bottom — with a hinged lid. Because the ground inside stays warmer than the ambient air temperature, a cold frame protects plants long after unsheltered veggies start to fail. (On warm, sunny days, be sure to crack the lid open to prevent too much heat from building up inside.)

3. Prepare you plot or pot

If planting in-ground, be sure to clear the area of previous planted crops and weeds, as they may decay and harbor bacteria. Always bag, tie and discard debris. Turn up the soil’s top layer and add some bagged compost, and mulch. If planting in a pot, be sure to sanitize pots and use fresh, new potting soil, specifically formulated for containers.

4. Proactively patrol for pests

While pest numbers naturally decline in the cooler days of fall, they don’t disappear entirely. Common pests of cool-season plants include tiny, sap-sucking aphids, caterpillars (particularly from cabbage white butterflies) and harlequin bugs. Inspect your plants for tiny clusters of aphids or tell-tale holes in the leaves. Handpick caterpillars or harlequin bugs from plants and dispose of them or use a strong blast of water from a hose to dislodge aphids.

5. Embrace cooler, carefree comforts

With the warm days and cool nights of fall, less moisture evaporates from your garden or pots, so you’ll need to water less often. (Only water when the soil 2” deep is dry.) In addition, many cool weather crops handily survive light frosts, growing well until a very hard freeze ends their productivity. Better yet, chilly weather improves the flavor of many late-season varieties, including members of the cabbage family, kale, Brussels sprouts and chard, by turning their starches into natural sugars, making them a sweet and healthy treat.

6. Take time to relax

Just like plants, gardeners enjoy a break from the stifling heat of summer. With the leisure of cool days, fewer chores and less weeding as the garden begins to wind down, you’ll be able to enjoy the garden more while you wait to harvest your fall favorites to boost your recipes and brighten your table.

If you don’t want to give up on your garden’s bounty, pick up a selection of cool-season favorites from Bonnie Plants now — and keep your garden growing!

For more information on fall gardening and varieties, please visit www.bonnieplants.com.

*BPT

The post Fabulous Fall Flavors: Why Autumn is ideal for gardening, plus timely tips for success appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

My mother is an avid gardener. Almost every plant she rescues comes back to life and thrives under her delicate care. I can remember the time and dedication she gave to her garden, how she often had to chase down plants and rescue them from our neighbors’ yards on account of the Santa Ana winds. Her patio now reminds me of watching Agnieszka Holland’s The Secret Garden (1993) when I was younger, and wondering what it would be like to walk through a door and find myself in another world of wisteria and agapanthus, rhododendrons and wildflowers.

And yet amongst all the plants, flowers, trees, and faerie gardens my mother has on her patio, her favorite plants to work with are succulents.

Gardening is something that has constantly been a part of her life, whereas for me, it was always the one thing I was certain I would never get the hang of. I never inherited my mother’s gift for taking care of plants, and can easily kill fichus trees in no time. Because of this, my mother suggested I take up gardening with succulents as they are nearly indestructible and also make wonderful ornamental gardens. And they also make excellent houseplants because they adapt to growth in drier areas.

I took my mother’s word for it and created a succulent garden for my condo. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make and how easy it is now to maintain.

I am now a firm believer that even those who have a busy schedule and minimal time for maintenance and watering can easily take care of succulents and have a beautiful garden to showcase at the same time!

Though the definition of succulents itself is as various as the plant, a general definition would be that succulents are any plant with thick, fleshy (succulent) water storage organs. Based on succulents’ adaptive mechanism in surviving arid conditions worldwide, green thumbs, such as myself, can benefit from these heartier plants with their various leaf forms and plant shapes.

The easiest way for those with minimal time to care for succulents is to make use of dish or container gardens. These gardens, as little self-contained planets, are quite easy to water and cultivate.

Succulents can be purchased from your local flower shop or hardware store, such as Home Depot, Lowe’s or Ace. Be sure to purchase the proper potting soil for succulents as they need a heavier soil that is often mixed with gravel or peat moss. Most stores that carry succulents should also have potting soil for succulents and cacti. While you’re there, also pick up some fertilizer for your succulents. You will need to fertilize succulents during the summer just as you would any other houseplant, whereas you can hold off on fertilizing entirely during the winter.

Along with finding the perfect succulents to suit your style is procuring the perfect container to suit your succulents. Remember that most dish and container gardens are ornamental in purpose, so the container you choose should say a lot about not only your succulents, but about you and your personality.

Terracotta pots, including the dish they usually stand on, are one of the most common containers for succulent use. Terracotta tends to blend in easily with a variety of settings and is a very neutral color when it comes to displaying gardens and decorating with different plant shapes and colors.

Practically speaking, you can put succulents in any type of container you choose, from beach wood to wrought-iron bird baths. Bolsa wood and Manzanita tree bark are also used as both decoration and natural containers to place succulents on and in as well.

As far as caring for your succulent garden, the three most important things to remember are light, temperature and water. Most succulents prefer bright light. There are varieties, however, that will actually scorch if met with sudden direct sunlight, so be sure to watch the leaves for signs of bleaching. Alternatively, etoliation, which involves elongated stems and widely spaced leaves, can occur due to succulents receiving too little light. A simple fix would be to provide more light and prune the succulent(s) back a bit.

Temperature is perhaps the easiest thing to adhere to with succulents. Remember that succulents have adapted to arid environments, which means they have also adapted to cold desert nights as well. Daytime temperatures should be somewhere between 70˚F and about 85˚F, while nighttime temperatures should be between 50˚F and 55˚F.

Though the potting mix for succulents should be allowed to dry between waterings, be sure to water succulents generously in the summer. When succulents go dormant during the winter, be sure to cut back the watering to once every other month. Remember that succulents should never be allowed to sit in water. Overwatering and plant rot are one of the most common causes of plant death. Even if a succulent looks healthy, it can still have already begun decaying due to oversaturation.

With these easy steps and tools in mind, you’ll be on your way to creating a succulent container garden that is both easy to maintain and a joy to create. Use it as a conversation piece with friends or loved ones, a table topper or window display, or simply as a beautiful and natural method for peace and relaxation!

The post Take the Green Thumb out of Gardening with Succulents! appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.