by Connie Oswald Stofko
I was shocked when I saw the pitiful state of my impatiens. The flowers were limp, the leaves were sagging and the plant looked miserable.
I don’t know when I had watered them last, but, obviously, it was too long. I felt bad.
Luckily, impatiens spring back fast. I checked back a few hours later and they were perky and happy again.
But don’t wait until your plants start wilting to let you know that they need water! Keep watering, especially when we have hot weather and no rain.
Autumn is approaching—we can feel it in the evening when the sun goes down sooner than it did the day before—but gardening season isn’t over yet!
Keep on harvesting your crops. You may not be getting the same number of tomatoes or peppers on your plants as you did in August, but pick whatever your plants are offering.
If you have an overabundance, share your harvest with friends or donate them to a food pantry in your area. FeedMore WNY distributes food to hungry people throughout Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties.
Keep on weeding, too. If you can pull out weeds now before they go to seed, you will save yourself a lot of work next year.
Bonus tip: Before your perennials have died back, take photos of where your plants are. In spring, even if the writing on your plant tags has faded, you will know what plants are where. And your photos will also help you plan for next year’s gardens.
Hi Julie. Most mums that you buy in Western New York should be treated as annuals; that is, they won’t come back in the spring. (See more here.) If you have rabbits, you may want to place the pot in a spot where rabbits won’t be able to chomp on the flowers. It sounds like you’re most concerned about wind tipping your plant over. If your mum is in a plastic pot, you could set the plastic pot inside a slightly larger ceramic or terra-cotta pot. If your pot is plastic, the hole is probably in the center of the bottom of the pot. You could probably hammer a short stake into the ground and set the pot on top of the stake; I wouldn’t try to drive a stake through the top. As you mentioned, you could also set the pot a few inches into the ground or even plant the mum directly into the ground. I hope that helps. And thank you so much for your kind words!
I have 12 huge beautiful mom plants from the Cinderella aisle Garden Club mom sale. I do not plan to have them again next year because I planned other things there so I’m wondering should I leave them in the pot and I can put a steak down in so they don’t blow away or should I Put the pot down into the ground a few inches or should I take them out of the pot and plant them in the ground? I wanna have them last as long as I can keep them watered. . I love the website and receiving your advice and share it with everybody.