The lingering garden

Disregard those dictators who say the gardening season is winding down. There are at least eight more weeks of glory to be mined from the garden, and maybe even more.

I was recently jolted out of a late season stupor by the sight of a sizzling florists' storefront. Lined up in tiers were fall mums, sunflowers, bird of paradise, gladiolas, cyclamen, orchids and pansies. It was as bright and electric as a midway at a carnival. With plants and flowers like these available, it should inspire us all to enhance the September garden with pockets of tropical colour.

Right now, pots and window boxes may need horticultural liposuction. Take a serrated knife and surgically remove plants that are on life support. In my window boxes I carefully sawed out some wan looking petunias and made way for the fresh faces of fall. It's easy to find pots of mums, small enough to tuck into containers. Wedge them into the empty spaces, tuck some fresh potting soil around them, water and wait for many more long weeks of colour.

The screaming yellow and oranges of mums call for a moderating influence, team them up with the cool colours of cabbages and kale. These ornamental vegetables are also available in small sizes and will grow contentedly through the coldest months of the autumn. Cabbages and kale come in shades of slate blue, cream, magenta and green, with smooth or ruffled edges on the leaves. As the weather cools, so does the intensity of the colour, just make sure to keep watering them, especially as the temperature drops. These plants are not grown to be eaten, but the leaves do make impressive garnishes.

For a delicate touch among the heavy hitting mums and cabbages, plant the petite little winter pansies and violas, called the icicle series. If you want them to come back in the spring, they need to be planted in the ground, but I still like to poke a few into window boxes and containers. The icicle pansies come onto the scene with a full marketing assault every fall, but there seems to be a lot of satisfaction with their fall and spring performance. For unbiased reviews of these plants or any other gardening topics check out GardenWeb - it's the biggest community of gardeners on the internet.

With shrewd planning the garden proper should be enjoying a second wind in September too. For sheer uncomplicated joy in the late summer garden one can't be without members of the coneflower family. Along the Niagara Parkway there is a gorgeous planting of Rudbeckia nitida 'Herbstsonne' with Joe Pye weed and bergenia. 'Herbstsonne' which means autumn sun, will grow six or seven feet tall, requires no staking and will remain erect and lovely through the fall.

In my own garden various members of the coneflower family power through the summer and fall with very little attention from me. Some get a little droopy during prolonged drought, but revive promptly with a dash of water. In the more gentle light of autumn, when the sun stays low on the horizon the gold of the coneflowers is pleasantly diffused. If they are combined with equally undemanding ornamental grasses it's like having a swatch of the tall grass prairie in your backyard.

So saddle up for September, it's golden time to be in the garden.