Dig Up your Dahlias

For our climate, it's recommended that you dig up your dahlias in the fall and store them in a paper bag in the basement over the winter. Then replant them in the spring. You should let the stalk die off naturally allow the tubers to sit out in the sun for a few days.



This is my big salad plate dahlia. The tubers have really multiplied and grown! You can break these up and each one will have a flower next year.


I separated the different colored dahlias, so I would know which was which next year.

Pumpkin Pudding

She's as cute as a pumpkin, but no you can't have her! She's my niece and I love her.



Ingredients:

Pudding:

• 16 oz. can pumpkin
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of baking soda
• 12 oz. can EVAPORATED milk
• ½ stick butter
  

Topping:

• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease the baking dish with butter.


Stir the pudding ingredients together.


Add the can of pumpkin. Mmmm


After it's mixed together, pour it into the baking dish.


Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and cinnamon.


Bake at 350 for approximately 45 mins.


The edges get brown and crispy which is my favorite part. Mmmm

Cosmos

My cosmos is in full bloom this week! It's gorgeous. The photo doesn't do justice to it. It's so pretty and whimsical.



And it's also about 10 feet tall now!


Close-up of the flower.

How to divide your plants?

My friend Miriam asked me a very good question which I thought I would post here for anyone who wanted to know the same thing.

"I want to divide some of the plants in our garden (thyme, hardy hibiscus, etc). Can I do it now?

Do I cut them back and then divide or vice a versa?

Do I replant them outside or inside?"

Different plants are divided or rooted differently, so you have to read up on what their care requirements are and understand how they grow and propagate.

• Most herbs can be rooted by taking cuttings a few inches below the top and putting it in water or something light like vermiculite until it roots. As soon as it roots, put it in potting soil.
  
• Keep herbs indoors and anything that won't survive the cold of the winter.
• Herbs can be cut and rooted at anytime. If you put them back outside, keep them out of direct sun light until they are strong.

• As for perennials like peonies, lilies, irises, tulips, and dahlias; they can be dug up, divided by pulling the roots/bulbs apart and then planting them back into the ground. You can cut these back because they are done blooming until next year.

• Most perennials should be divided in the Fall when they go dormant.
  
• From what I read about Hibiscus, you don't want to cut them back because they bloom from the top.
  

If anyone has anymore questions, feel free to leave me a comment. I hope this helps!

Divide and Conquer

With all the new plants in the garden, I began sketching and documenting the location of each plant. We also redefined the edge along the garden beds. During the dog days of summer, the border tends to recede and get overrun by weeds. I extended the middle garden bed to create a more prominent focal point that can be seen from both the back deck and the front street view.

The task is overwhelming. I find that it helps to start by removing all spent leaves and branches. Trim your perennials back. Do not compost diseased leaves. Then shape the garden bed and make a clean finish.



In addition to moving my plants around, I divided a lot of my perennials - lamb's ear, foxglove, black eyed susan, jethrow tull, scabiosa, and arugula. I also repotted my houseplants, so they can get through the winter.


Since there were so many basil bushes, I found a new way to re-use them by turning them into "potpourri". Instead of lavender bundles, I have made basil bundles by hanging them upside down to dry.


Look how my cathedral bell has developed into a deep purple. I love this vine!


We also took a day trip to Cranford, NJ where they had their Fall Scarecrow contest. This garden witch was my favorite scarecrow by The Green Thumb Garden Club. There are lots of really good ones, but of course this had to be my favorite!


Next weekend:

• Staple molding around kitchen windows and doors.
• Place trim into canister lights.
• Clean and trim shrubs and garden bed.
  
• Plant perennials in middle garden bed.
  

Flower List

Now that there are so many plants in the garden, I began documenting them. I don't want to lose track and dig them up by accident next spring. I'll be updating this along with some pictures as I work on the garden bed this fall.

Left-Side:

1. Broom
2. Jethrow Tickseed
3. Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria)
   
4. Lily
5. Pink Coneflower (Echinacea)
6. Black Eyed Susan
7. Malva Sylvestris (Mallow)
8. Obedient Plant
9. Delphinium
10. Wild Indigo

Center:

1. Siberian Irises
2. Pink Peony
3. Dahlias
   
4. Lamb's Ear

Right-Side:

1. Purple Irises (from mom)
2. Star gazer lilies
3. Kansas Peony
4. Arugula
5. Pink Coneflower
6. Burgundy Irises (over 25 years old) with Jethrow Tickseed in center
   
7. Red Peony
8. Trio of Pincushion flowers (Scabiosa)
   
9. Row of Jethrow Tickseed
10. Row of Pink Foxglove in front
11. Firecracker Plants
12. Red Hybrid Tea Rose
13. Black Eyed Susan

Left Side of House

1. Hosta
2. Coral Bells
3. Daffodils
4. Muscari
5. Polemonium
   
6. Astible
7. Knockout Rose
8. Bleeding Hearts
9. Daffodils
10. Forget Me Nots
11. Shirley Temple Peony

Right Side of House

1. Yellow Mums
2. Cactus
3. Lavender
   
4. St. John's Wort
5. Fuschia Mums
6. Burgundy Irises
7. Pink Tulips
8. Orange Mums
9. S. Linnaenum (we've nicknamed it "June")
   
10. Sedum
11. Yellow Day Lily
    
12. Knockout Rose
13. Sedum
14. Jethrow Tickseed
    
15. Burgundy Irises
16. Arugula
17. Mint
18. Dogwood Tree
    

And I'm Spent

That's it chickadees! I can safely say that the season is over! I spent the weekend harvesting the rest of this year's bounty and hacking down everything else to make room for next spring.

• 54 Eggplants
• 7 Bellpeppers
• 250+ Tomatoes
• And everything else