Drop

October 2016

Pickaway to Garden

 

Drop

 

By Paul J. Hang

 

Autumn comes from Latin meaning a time of late maturity. My dictionary goes on to define it as, “A time in the development of something that follows its most vigorous and successful phase, before its decline.” An example, He is in the autumn of his career as a real estate developer.  So this time of year follows a productive summer and occurs before winter. At one time it was called Harvest. We also call the season Fall. It’s also the only season with two names. It seems obvious that the season was named for the falling leaves. Fall is a shorter word and is more popular than autumn. But, the leaves also drop. Why don’t we call it Drop?

 

It just wouldn’t seem the same if we called this time of year Drop. “The [dropping] leaves drift by my window, the [dropping] leaves of red and gold…”  just doesn’t have the same emotional effect or the soft sound as the falling leaves.  The world series would be the Drop Classic. The drop colors, the Drop Semester, the drop equinox, “see you in the Drop,” your drop wardrobe, plant a drop garden. No, it just doesn’t have the same tone or conjure the same memories, so I’ll drop it.

 

However we call it, when we see goldenrod and asters in bloom, buckeyes on the ground, bare crabapple trees, cool mornings, cider in the stores, the smell of wood smoke, we know the season is here. One of the seasonal signs I miss is the smell of burning leaves. There are many good reasons why we don’t do it anymore. At one time the street gutters in the evening would be full of smoldering piles of leaves taking the visibility down to a few feet. The air would sometimes be acrid and choking. But, when the times were right, the smell could be pleasant. I wonder why someone hasn’t come out with a cologne with that smell, eau de burnt leaf?

 

Have you heard of the scandal circulating on social media that canned pumpkin isn’t really pumpkin but a mixture of different squash? This greatly disturbs those of us in Pickaway County home of the Circleville Pumpkin Show and all things pumpkin. We take pumpkins seriously. I checked it out at snopes.com. Pumpkin is a variety of squash belonging to the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family which also includes melons and cucumbers. Libby’s, which sells as much as 90% of the canned pumpkin in the U.S., uses 100% pumpkin in their solid pack pumpkin. They use a cultivar of pumpkin called  ‘Dickinson.’ So there you have it. We can sleep soundly knowing that our pies are not squash, we won’t be eating squashburgers and Lindsey’s will not be selling squash donuts.

 

Finally, Fall is the best time to plant trees. Something  I read on bygl.osu.edu (the Buckeye Yard and Garden Line)  we should keep in mind when planting trees. This is from Nina Banock of Cornell University. 1.Tap roots are rarely present. 2. Most (>90%) roots are in the upper 3 ft. of soil. 3. Of these, most (>80%) of the “feeder roots” are in the upper 6-8 inches of the soil. 4. Horizontal spread is 2.5-3.0 times crown spread. 5. Most roots (>60%) are outside of drip line. Plant trees well away from buildings, no tall growing trees under power lines and not too close to each other.

 

Things to do in the garden:

 

Hot caps and covers should be made handy in case a frost or freeze is forecast. Remember that the coldest temperature usually comes a little after sunrise. The earth radiates heat away and the sun hasn’t climbed high enough to begin heating us. You might still save some plants even if you slept in after it became light.

 

Consider bringing in the houseplants that you put outside this summer if you haven’t already. Make sure you don’t bring in any bugs with them; a good blast of water from your hose can wash most of them off. Bring the pots into a sheltered spot for a week or so to help the plants acclimate before shocking them with the warmer temperatures of your home.

 

In October, and even into early November, plant garlic and shallots. 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 4^th of July.

 

Dig up your tender corms and bulbs as soon as they are frostbitten. Dahlias, glads, tuberous begonias and cannas should be dug and stored in a cool dry place. Most basements are too warm. Caladiums should be stored at  65 - 70 degrees. Go to ohioline.osu.edu and bring up Factsheet HYG-1244-92 to get specific information on storing Summer Flowering Bulbs.

 

You can still divide day lilies and iris. Cut back the iris leaves to four-inch fans. Stop feeding your roses but don’t stop giving them water. Consider cutting back your roses halfway if they stop blooming. If you have dormant roses you can still plant them.

 

Spring bulbs can be planted as soon as you get them. Plant them at a depth three times their length; place some bulb food in the hole with them. For a better display plant them in groups, not single file.

 

If you planted trees this year protect the trunks from gnawing rabbits and other varmints with hardware cloth or the plastic wrap made for this purpose. Even older trees can benefit from this if you’ve experienced this damage in the past.

If you don’t accumulate a lot of leaves consider just shredding them with the mower and leave them scattered on the lawn. Otherwise, compost them. It is still the best time to fertilize your lawn. Use a high nitrogen soluble product. You can still sow grass seed.