'bout time for some REAL FALL WEATHER, I say!

Maybe NOW I can get some work done!
:)

I'm ready for some cool weather. Was too beastly hot this past summer to do anything. Then that drought, was hard keeping stuff alive.

I recently made an existing flower bed bigger and am dividing and moving plants. First I need to battle them stinking wild onions in it, though!!! I don't dare use sprays for fear of killing new transplants, so, I'm digging them one by one!! VERY time consuming!!

Nancy

It's 46 degrees down in Hope Mills right now. I am looking forward to some fall weather. The leaves are finally starting to turn. Yippeee! Theresa.

Ok, kitchen and other room was a jungle last night...worried all night about the plants I left out, BUT all is ok didn't dip but just into high 40's last night and the plants I missed bringing in but don't look like they suffered during the night...
Shewww, that was a scare. Will be getting everything fixed today and tomorrow for the cold winter ahead....nothing like a cold night to get me off my duff and moving....
;) Fran

I agree, Theresa. I look forward each year to the beautiful, but short-lived colorful foliage in my area. Keep waiting this year...guess it may come now.

Returning from dinner late last night, I noticed that my potted plants and roses on the front entry were reveling in the cooler weather.

Also, like Jeffie says, a great time to finish heavy duty garden construction projects.

It was 39 here this morning. Fortunately, I had gotten all my 200+ cacti in Sunday Afternoon. I like cool weather, but hate COLD weather. At least the skeeters are no so active now!! :-)
Bill in SC
BTW... fired the wood heater up this afternoon for the first time this season..

Yeap it was very cold here this morning... Like 35 Tuesday Morning, BUT we got a temp greenhouse up today (Tuesday) and I am not longer in a panic!
:) Fran

I HATE the loss of summer...boo boo boo. I'm not going to pretend I love the "change of seasons" anymore. They can change all they want, as long as they skip winter.

and i HATE wearing socks.
sometimes i think i didn't move
far enough south. friends in
florida are putting tomato plants
in the ground now ... not that i'd
want to get pummeled on a regular
basis like floridians. nevermind,
i'll stay right here & wear socks :)

this is the first fall i've had
so much left to plant. how late
can i safely plant perennials, like
mallows, hibiscus, indigo salvia? or should i stick
with my plan of burying them in their
pots?

I'm with you guys. I HATE wearing socks, and I am no fan of winter. It should last for 6 weeks (or just long enough to give us the cold period we need to grow some things) and should never get below 30. I also would like just one good snow, preferably at Christmas. Summer can last about that long too and be a high of 90 and the humidity needs to stay below 50%, preferably lower. Spring and fall can cover the rest of it. I'm not too picky, am I? By the way, doesn't it seem like we skipped fall this year and went straight from summer to winter? I can't recall very many nice days.
I still have some plants to get in the ground too. Is it too late to put gingers in? Or would they be better in my garage til spring? -Ais.

glad you asked the ginger question, ais - i've got one staring at me from the deck. i'm sure Tjohn will know what to do.

it does seem like we went from summer to LATE fall, quite suddenly. i was caught in la-la land, thinking i had ample time to get things planted. i like your made-to-order climate :)

marsha

I would think those hot weather perennials could safely be planted as long as their roots aren't disturbed much. Hibisicus that are tranplanted need to have to done early so they can recover from having those big fleshy roots severed, but potted ones should be OK.

In Passalong Plants one of the authors describes having a ginger lily laying out that he meant to plant in the fall. One day the temps dropped from 70 to 10 degrees, and all he had time to do was to throw a layer of pine straw over the roots. There the rhizomes stayed until the next summer, when they started coming up.

Yes, we skipped fall all together and went straight to winter, or in MY case to whinner, I can't take the cold at all. I don't like being cold and when I get chilled then that is it I am frozen until I find some way to warm up either a hot tub of water or hugging the electric heater.

AS far a my gingers go, I brought them inside. This is the first time I have gotten any and I don't want to chance it, just like my EEs.

We got the water plants inside the greenhouse last night and now I need to move things in there around so that I can get the other stuff in there I didn't get planted.
I have a question about how hardy some things are and when I figure out which ones I have questions about I will post them....
:) WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

ditto on the socks thing. But, ya know...it could turn warmish again next week and we not get much frost again til early December. The annuals and any other flowers are worth covering for that reason...there could still be a month left in 'em with a little help tonight.

Okay- it's COLD up here tonight. Just after midnight and it's down to 35 degrees. Saturday's prediction is 32. I protected the hydrangeas, took my last cuttings and seeds from the impatiens and I'm letting them go to the frost. I hate doing it, they are my faithful friends, but sooner or later I need to clean out all the beds here so I can move on to holiday projects. I also buried my pots of mini roses and gave them all little mounds of fresh mulch. And Claire, you'll love this- I left the ES hydrangea out there with NO protection. HAHAHAHAHA. Like I care, right? RIP ES, make my day!

I hate socks too. But I get so cold I can't stand it, so I've gotten used to wearing tights under my jeans or slacks. I've got so many blankets piled up tonight it's like one of those lead blankets they use on you at the dentist to take x-rays.

-Nan

sage advice, claire ... "it could turn warmish again and not get much frost till december"
this has certainly been the case with many previous falls. our first year in nc we had thanksgiving dinner on the deck. it's definitely worth a bit of effort to cover those annuals this time of year.

i've already been outside to check on things - there's no frost here ... and i see no effects of the 33 degree temp at all.

yay!
marsha