A pleasant and dry weekend encouraged me to stay outside and start clearing flower and vegetable beds of the mostly “spent” annual plants. If things still flowered and looked okay, I took a pass for now and concentrated on plants beyond their prime. Most of my 200 zinnia plants still look great! I didn’t have the heart to pull them out when I found bees and caterpillars lounging on the flowers as the day warmed up.
I did observe some unruly weeds in my neighbor’s woods. Native pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) has a stunning look right now, and you might be tempted to encourage it in your little plot of land, but I suggest you don’t. Its value is limited to the time when the leaves sprout in early spring (no more than six inches). Then, the leaves can be cooked in two or more flushes of water for poke salad. But don’t cook it wrong! The roots, stems, berries, and older leaves have oxalic acid, saponins, and alkaloids that can make you very sick. The roots are the worst. Cattle, swine, and sheep can get sick, too, but birds do not seem bothered and happily spread the seed.
Because it self-sows easily and a bit of pokeweed root can send up a new plant, I always have a little bit around to clear. I try to dig it out early in the season (or now) when I can comfortably cover my whole body in gloves, long sleeves, and long pants. Even a bit of sap on the skin can make you break out in a severe ulcerous rash. No, thank you. Bag up what you find and put it in the trash.
Warning! While you rustle about in your garden beds and fallen leaves, ticks are ready to latch on to your clothing. Tiny nymph ticks are very hard to see and prevalent now. Try to wear those old light-colored khakis or white socks to make the ticks easier to spot. Grab them with a piece of tape, fold the tape over, and throw them away.
Back to my regular, scheduled garden tasks. I removed my tomato plants, and I spread winter rye seed over that part of my raised garden. Winter rye will germinate at cooler temperatures and stay green through the winter months. In spring, I will cut the rye back to a few inches then turn all of it into this part of the garden bed to return organic, nitrogen-rich material back into the soil. I have cleared tomato leaf debris and cut the tomato plants at the soil surface, but I left the roots in place. These plants weren’t showing signs of soil-borne diseases. By leaving the plants, I leave the microorganisms in place in the soil to overwinter. I will disrupt it only when I turn in the rye next spring. Next year, I will grow beets and maybe kale in this part of the vegetable garden. Common diseases of tomato will not affect those vegetables.
I saw my cue to dig some summer-flowering bulbs this past weekend: Gladiolus, Crocosmia, and Acidanthera bulbs had finished blooming and leaves were yellowing. Wow! I really planted them deep! The soil above the bulb had become very firm. To lift the bulbs without damaging them, I used my large spade and dug around the clumps. I gently lifted the sections up to separate the bulbs while still attached to their leaves. Like with garlic: If you only pull the leaves, they break away from the bulb. I did my best to sort the bulbs into different containers as I pulled them. Another trick would be to wrap a different colored twist-tie around the flower stems of the different types of bulbs. The Gladiolus bulbs were larger and grew differently from the Crocosmia and Acidanthera. Since I hadn’t marked all during the growing season, I may have mixed up the last two somewhat.
These bulbs will now be left to dry in my dark basement. Once the leaves are crispy, I will cut them off and layer the bulbs in dry shredded newspaper. I like to use old plastic pots for this until I am ready to plant next May. By the way, looks like we will finally have frost around October 24. Dahlia will need to be pulled up after that.
Did you write down notes of what flowering bulbs you wanted when you saw holes in your gardens last spring? Can you find the notes you wrote? It is time to make those purchases and plant those bulbs. I wanted purple sensation Allium, and I have planted them—three groups of three—in among my early June perennials. I chose Allium because meadow voles and moles shouldn’t be interested in tasting them. We’ll see.
Another Allium, garlic, can be planted now and in the next four weeks or so. One bulb of garlic will have four to seven cloves, which grow into four to seven bulbs by next August! A three-foot-by-three-foot garden plot of loose, amended garden soil will support up to 36 garlic plants. Use seed-garlic from a garden center or online; store-bought is usually treated with an anti-sprouting agent. Clear away about two inches of topsoil and put to one side. Space individual cloves every six inches or so—making six rows of six plants each. Cover with your reserved topsoil and tap down gently. Then, layer about six inches of straw mulch over the top to keep your cloves toasty until spring. I haven’t planted my garlic yet, but I have purchased the cloves to plant. One step at a time!
I made a new discovery in the garden again. When I was debating how many zinnia plants (if any) to remove, I reached over to pick off a dead leaf from a zinnia seed-head. Wait! That was no dead leaf. It was a caterpillar of the native Melanchra adjuncta, or Hitched arches moth. Fun! It is similar to a tomato hornworm (caterpillar of the sphinx moth) but more widespread and less of a nuisance.
So many flowers have gone to seed, and I spent the rest of my garden hours cutting back goldenrod to prevent the seed from flying EVERYWHERE. But as I said, insects are still about and foraging. I had one goldenrod in full bloom still, and, sure enough, it was loaded with bees. Just what the Lazy Berkshire Gardener needs: a reason not to cut back all the flowers.
I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I’m willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
