When summer veggies and fall blooms collide
Continue to harvest vegetables as they ripen. Warm-season crops like peppers and tomatoes should be picked as soon as possible. The tomatoes in our garden are producing an amazing amount of fruit now. Full-sized pumpkins should remain on the vine as long as possible to achieve their maximum size.
Continue to snip herbs to use fresh, to dry, or to freeze. Try making some extra pesto to freeze in an ice cube tray. Pop out the cubes and store in a plastic bag for use this winter. Collards, kale, and Brussels sprouts will taste better if harvested after the first frost.
Maintain good sanitation throughout the vegetable garden. Remove diseased plants immediately as well as those that have finished their growth cycle for the year. It is best to compost only healthy plant material.
Bulbs that resist browsing
Ornamental onions (Allium) are some of the best bulbs to plant for resistance to animal browsing. They come in many varieties. Try the popular June-blooming Globemaster with a 10-inch pinkish-purple flower on a 2- to 3-foot stem; it lasts up to a month. The drumstick onion (Allium sphaerocephalon) has reliable burgundy blossoms about 1 inch wide. Lily leek (Allium moly) is a smaller species that is 10 to 14 inches tall with yellow flowers. These are just a few of the many alliums that succeed with little effort in Midwest gardens if planted this fall. Daffodils are also easy to grow and are resistant to animal browsing, while tulips and crocuses are readily eaten.
Secrets to fall blooms
I like to buy mums and asters when their flower buds are just beginning to open. The color will last longer in your garden. Generally, mums and asters will last for four to six weeks depending on weather conditions. Season-extender mums will be available later in fall and can keep color going through October and sometimes later depending on weather. If you are planting mums in a shady site, it is best to wait until the flowers are open before planting. If the mums are tight in bud and then planted into a shady area, the flowers may not open. Typically, pansies will not develop much in the autumn season, so it is best to buy large plants
• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.