Waiting...

 

The Souvenir de la Malmaison rose by my front door still blooms in late October.

The rose has looked more lush and beautiful than it ever has. Typically, at some point its leaves show signs of black spot, a fungal disease that affects the foliage. This causes my husband to keep pruning and trimming.

This year was very dry and warm. Not the kind of weather conducive to the development of black spot. So there was some benefit in the heat and drought. We, of course, watered the rose regularly with our dishwater, an easy task because the rose is near the front door, which is next to the kitchen.

While Josephine's souvenir from la Malmaison gardens blooms, we are in a season of transition. The summer rose blooms as the geese fly to their winter home. I pick tomatoes and okra, while the winter radishes swell underground. All is in flux. As always.  

And tonight I sent off the last gardening column in 30 years of writing it, first for one small town newspaper, and then two. It might not seem like much from the outside, but it consumed a lot of head space and time for me. It's been a good run, but it's time to end. 

And now it has. 

I will turn that energy to this blog, and other things. 

We'll see what happens now. 

In transition. 

In Between

 

We are in that in-between phase of the seasons...

The summer garden has started its decline and the cool season plants are bursting with life.

And yet...

This hardy hibiscus in front of my house keeps blooming. I started it from seed early this year and planted it out in early summer. It has achieved most of its mature size in just one season, from seed. It is the "Luna" variety of hardy hibiscus. The seed packet contained a mix of colors. Besides this luscious pink, white-blooming ones also grow in my flower garden, although they are not as robust as this specimen.

If I keep them watered, they should live through the winter to bloom again. 

Water will be the key to winter survival for many things. We are in moderate to severe drought conditions here in Northeast Kansas. Summer brought us a couple of extended periods of high heat (100-plus degrees F. for a week or more). And so far autumn has been a little warmer than the norm. If it remains dry, perennial plants and trees -- especially young trees -- will require water throughout the winter, as long as the ground does not freeze. Evergreens are particularly susceptible because they continue to transpire (lose water through their leaves) even though their "metabolism" slows considerably in winter.

As they transpire they pull water from their roots. Drying winds will cause that to occur even more. In the spring they are likely to show signs of "burning," their leaves brown and dead because of it. Keep your valuable evergreens watered -- but don't drown them.

This hibiscus plant is planted in a choice spot, where it is easy for us to water it with our dishwater. We always capture dishwater in tubs and use it to water the flowers and herbs next to the house. 

When I planted the fall vegetables, the kale, winter radishes, collards, cabbages, broccoli and lettuce, I laid soaker hoses along the rows for ease of watering. The reward is these wonderfully robust purple daikons (left) and other veggies. Several more cabbages are ready to cut. I'm looking forward to turning some of them into sauerkraut. 

Enjoy this in-between time of beauty and abundance. 

Transitions

 

Autumn has arrived!

A season of transition from summer's big production slowing into a season of rest.

We had our first "frost advisory" last week. No frost in our hilltop gardens, but frost at the bottom of the hill. This is our "pond," which has had no water in it all year. It's been dry since last fall. So many different plants have taken over. I love the way the plants have created this variegated effect, with different colors and textures. The white areas are a froth of grass seedheads covered in frost. The rising sun highlights the plants in the front of the photo, while the bowl of the pond is still in shadow.

We have another advisory for "patchy frost" early next week. So I'll ponder whether to protect some of the tender summer vegetables, or let them go. Since the days following the supposed frost have no frost potential, I will most likely drape them in sheets and blankets, while others I plan to take down regardless. Transitions.

My life contains another transition. I recently decided that after 30 years I would quit writing my gardening column for a couple of local newspapers. Enough is enough. I will put that energy into other things... like making more regular posts here.

More later.....

Bonus Abundance

 I always try to scatter my kale seeds (and others) thinly so they don't require too much thinning. I am too impatient to dry a single seed at a time at appropriate distances, so I just scatter lightly. Yet, some spots (or even a whole row) always wind up looking like this (above), lots of little plants growing tightly together. 

This makes them more difficult to thin, but that's my karma. Of course, even if I'd scattered them at more appropriate distances, they would need to be thinned. You don't sow kale seed one every eight or 12 inches (recommended growing distance) because you must account for some seeds not germinating. 

Thinning plants is rather tedious, and I've often avoided it. However, the thing that gets me out there thinning is thinking of it as a bonus harvest. Clip off the tiny plants just above the soil and you have baby greens -- a free gourmet offering! They can be used in salads, steamed, or stir-fried.

I also harvest the baby winter radish greens, although they grow so fast that they were pretty much toddlers by the time I got to them. I've been using the as my main salad green. Not everybody likes them (they're too much spice and bitter for my husband), but they feel so nourishing to me. Last year I couldn't get enough of the winter radishes themselves, especially the purple daikons, so I'm hoping for a good crop this year. I'm not sure I'll make it through all the radish greens before they get too old if I only use them in salads, so I will try them in stir fry or soup, or just mixed into other veggie dishes.

I also planted collard greens -- a day later than I planted the kale and they are so much bigger than the kale. I've also planted brussels sprouts, for greens only. I haven't ever been able to grow satisfactory "sprouts," but the greens are tasty, especially after a frost. Because they grow more slowly than the other greens, they're still waiting to be thinned... I mean harvested as baby greens. They should make a tasty stir fry.