Ripe

September 2013 Pickaway to Garden Ripe By Paul Hang A recent vodka TV commercial reminded us that summer lasts for 93 days and we should make the most of it. Drink up. A TV pundit said that when August ends the summer is over. Is summer over when school begins? Certainly it is for students. Is summer over when the weather turns cool? By that barometer summer was over during the dog days of July and August. But then it returned again when the weather turned hot? Beginning on the first of September there will be just 21 days of summer left before the Autumnal Equinox and the official end of summer and the beginning of fall. Summer is ripe for the picking. Last month was all about ripening, this month ripe seems more appropriate. We have gone from a process to a result. September finds most plant life shutting down. The plants have fulfilled the process begun in the spring. The growing cycle is coming to an end. The result? Seed. September’s full moon is called the Harvest Moon and will occur on the 19th. Farmers will reap the ripe seeds of crops whether corn, beans or even the flesh of fruits surrounding seeds such as apples. Producing seed is what plants are all about. It’s their destiny, if everything goes well. Water them to keep them from wilting but once seed has set water will not revive them. They are in decline to die for good if annuals or just to prepare for winter and revival next spring if perennials or first year biennials. Some seeds are not to be celebrated. Burs are ripe for the sticking. Seeds covered with hooks, spines, barbs and sticky fine hairs are just waiting to catch a ride on an animal including the human kind. Cockleburs of the burdock plant are football shaped husks covered with hooks and the inspiration for Velcro. Those brown rice-sized two-pronged burs with many common names such as devil’s pitchfork or bootjack are also called stick-tights by some. Most burs stick tight; just try to remove them from a long haired dog or a wool sock. And how about the flat three cornered pods covered with tiny hook shaped hairs of the tick trefoil, which we called stick- tights? Thistle, milkweed and poke weed are ripe. Just as with burs, if we let them go to seed, they will be back. However they provide so much seed and fruit for birds and food for butterfly larvae it seems a shame to cut them down. I do pull the thistles even though it doesn’t seem to do much good. Besides, it seems every thistle seed head comes with a goldfinch. Gardening is all about making choices. If the weather doesn’t indicate the end of summer, and who would dare forecast it, the signs determined by the diminishing day light will. Signs like the changing colors of the leaves, first a leaf, then a branch signal the coming whole tree and forest of fall colors. The proliferation of fungi, the flocking of birds preparing for their flight south, the plunk of acorns hitting the forest floor these are the signs that the season is ripe. Sunday, September 8th 2-5 pm at Stages Pond on Hagerty Road a program on “The Impact of Invasive Plants” will be held to discuss control measures and tour the sites where control measures have been instituted. Things to do in the garden: As plants "give up the ghost" remove them from the garden. If they are annuals pull them up, if perennials cut them off. Dispose of the debris in a "hot" compost heap, bury them or put them in the trash Collect, dry, and store seeds for next year. Use only heirloom varieties, hybrids will not grow true. Harvest and cure winter squash and gourds if they are ready. Leave a two inch stem. Gourds should be finished with growth before you cut them from the vine, store indoors at 60 degrees. In the butterfly garden you will surely want to leave the host plants as they are harboring the overwintering eggs and larvae of next year’s butterflies. Those plants that you don’t want to re-seed by all means remove the seed heads before their seeds are scattered. Or, leave them for the birds. Clean up old fruit from around fruit trees. September is the best time to plant grass seed. If you only fertilize your lawn once a year, or if you have never fertilized it, fall is the best time to do it. Cooler, wetter (usually) fall weather promotes good root growth and your grass will start out next spring healthier and ready for more vigorous growth. Want to really get your lawn in shape? Fertilize in September and then again around Thanksgiving. Labor Day and Veterans’ Day are easy to remember. Read directions for amounts. In October, and even into early November, plant garlic. Cloves from store bought garlic may not work as some are treated to delay sprouting. You can also order favorite varieties from seed catalogs. Separate the cloves and plant 4 inches apart. Harvest garlic around the 4th of July. In those areas that are not to be fall planted, plant a cover crop or “green manure” that will be turned in in the spring. Buckwheat, annual rye, sweet clover, winter barley, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, and hairy vetch make good green manures. Now is the time to plant spring flowering bulbs. You can plant onion seed now for early green onions and bulbs. Yes, onions are bulbs. You can still plant cool season vegetables. Planting irises and peonies this fall takes advantage of the warm earth. A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs at a depth about three times the height of the bulb. If your peonies haven’t bloomed well because of shade from nearby competing trees, now is a good time to move them to a sunnier place in the yard. Watch for yellowing of gladiolus leaves. Dig the corms and hang until the tops turn brown. Then store in a cool, not freezing, well ventilated basement or garage. Do the same with caladium, cannas, and dahlias when their tops turn brown. Fall is a good time to divide Lily of the Valley, primroses, peonies, day lilies, coral-bells and bleeding heart. Adding bulb food and humus will be rewarded in the spring. Now is a good time to test your soil. The called for amendments will have time to work their way into the soil and be available to the plants for the next growing season. Information on soil testing is available at the OSU Extension Office 474-7534.