Just pitched mine today. I only had 3 this year and that included my potted cherry tomato. I did pull annuals out out of many pots that include hardier plants I save and overwinter.

You are both way ahead of me. I haven't even begun. Sigh. Next couple of days are planned for clean-up and, as is constantly needed around here, weeding. 10 days with a really rotten cold has me behind schedule. I will use both of you as my impetus to catch up!

Rouge, terrible drought here too and also 100° temps for a couple of weeks.

I wish us all a successful fall and a winter filled with dreams for next spring!

Today's the day. I have only five containers. I'm planning on emptying those today. They are only annuals so they'll get pulled into the compost bin and the soil will be piled next to the compost bin to be used next year. That's it. I wish I could have 10 containers every year, but not happening. I'd like to be able to take plants in for the winter and and propagate plants for next year, but that's not gonna happen either. Oh well. Hoping for a lot of rain and ..... there's always next year!

You know, the last few years, my containers have looked halfway decent well into November. This year, not so much. But I think I may keep them a bit longer. I have to say the ones with the coleus, impatiens, begonias and New Guinea impatiens are still doing pretty well. Even the pots in the sunnier spots have sweet potato vines and geraniums that are still not too bad.

:)

Dee

Dee sounds like you should stick with those winners then and maybe give up on the petunias? ☺️

I've been taking mine down as the plants decline. Most are still going relatively strong, though -- geraniums, salvias, etc. I did plant up a replacement pot for the front with some fall-colored marigolds and with some pansies in one of the backyard planters.

I don‘t have a place to over winter annuals. It’s probably a good thing this season. The squirrels have been horrendous. I have ten pots with annuals and those little beasties have destroyed seven of them. I have two pots of New Guinea Impatients they some how missed. I read an article that said marigolds are a deterrent……not here. The little beasties uprooted my two pots of marigolds several times…… so discouraging. I will be removing the remains this week.

Sherry

So sorry Sherry. I feel your pain. I have a resident chipmunk (literally - it lives inside the wall of my house!) that is always digging and even tipping over some pots. It's exasperating.

LOL gardenho, I keep saying I'm done with those darn petunias but each spring I succumb to their charm. In my defense though I have severely limited my purchases - this year only two or three. Considering I make up about 25 pots between my patio and my daughter's, I think that is showing some impressive restraint!

:)

Dee

My little beasts are chipmunks! and squirrels too I’m sure. I‘ve found that sprinkling cayenne pepper in my pots first thing in the season really deters them for quite some time. Any signs of them returning I just go thru and sprinkle again. I buy the large containers of it from costco.

lol Dee yes, you are doing good! I know they are very hard to resist. I go to a greenhouse that has every color available and I swear I feel like a kid in a candy store! They have so much thats its overwhelming and I end up having a hard time deciding. 🥴

It is strange how some years squirrels will be a nuisance and not in other years. I had bought new irises by mail order one year, and had just finished potting them up and left them on the ground outside the back door. I came out to check on them and a squirrel had come along and dug them all out and ran off with them. lol I did find one across the yard with bite marks all over it. But...I think I was feeding the birds then and that was drawing a lot of squirrels into the yard. When I am not doing that, I barely see a squirrel. They must find other feeders to use.

They also used to pull out all my sunflower seedlings. One year I replanted three times! And the third time I did what gardenho did....cayenne pepper. I worried they would rub their eyes and get a nasty surprise, I didn't like to do it,. but....three times?! lol They didn't touch them after that.

I have some critter that sits on my bottom front step to eat cherry tomatoes and leaves the remnants of one there, all the time. Pretty sure it is a chipmunk.