Seed catalogues are not just sales tools, but you can learn a lot from them too. This page is showing the disease abbreviations of bell peppers, so you can know the potential problems to expect with the ones you grow. Seed catalogues started arriving this week. I think it is always a good time to see if the selection you grew that did not do well could be replaced with better a one. Before you jump ship to a new one, you should ask if it was the plant’s fault or something like planting in a damp spot where they like drier conditions. Or with a known soil test, you may not have the soil in ..read more

Empress or Lady Clare Camellia in bloom The white selection of Empress Camellia Will camellias grace our holiday table this year? Most years our Empress sometime called Lady Clare camellias are in bloom, and we have a special trug we fill with them. Today, a friend of mine in Marion, has lots of types blooming, but the hard freeze we had after Thanksgiving killed all of mine that were in bloom. I think the real fear is that later this week the temperature drops too low and delays blooms. Anything below about 25 degrees generally holds all the blooms back. Here is a fun note. If you don’t h ..read more

Paperwhites ready to plant If you want blooming and fragrance for the holidays, these are perfect. Right now bulbs are plentiful in garden centers, and you can grow paperwhites either in soil or water with pebbles or stones around the bulbs to hold them in place. Now if you are growing them in soil, place in a pot with a drainage hole so when you water them the water will drain and the bulbs will not rot. Most folks I know like to do them in water. While this is easy there are a few mistakes that will spell trouble. First, the bulbs should not be covered in water, as they will rot. The only ..read more

Sorrel is a nice addition to give some winter color. Bright lights Swiss chard has electric color on their stems. Red Giant Mustard should overwinter well. A healthy pansy plant ready to be planted Violas are more cold hardy than pansies but much smaller blooms. Finally, I think it is time to plant pansies. The night temperature is cool, and we are still having nice days. So go ahead and buy your plants and get to work. Now when you buy plants it is easy to just pick some up and not pay attention to the plant, but not me. I like to pick plants that are fresh, have not bloomed too muc ..read more

October Glory Red Maple Chinese Pistache in full fall color Colorful fall leaves of ginkgo or maidenhair tree Just be patient. Fall color reaches it peak here generally the week before Thanksgiving, so really fall has arrived by our fall color of the trees and generally the temperature. This week, which has been the coldest so far, was only down to the mid-thirties at my house. Most of the fall color we are seeing in trees is the results of drought, so they generally have dry edges that makes their color look muddy. But I hope if you are planning to buy a tree or trees for you yard, now ..read more

A green type of Japanese maple in fall color A brilliant red colored Japanese maple in fall When it comes to small trees I don’t know of any that is as unique as Japanese maples. They have so many growth habits from prostrate to upright, and in colors from variegate foliage to all season red foliage to green. I have a number in my yard and don’t know the named selection unless I look on the tags, but one of the great anticipations of fall is the amazing fall color of my green selections (which I think were seedling selections and unnamed) that are now small trees. I have several red foliag ..read more

Sparkling Burgundy prostrate camellia An upright type of sasanqua camellia Alabama Beauty sasanqua camellia The cooling weather coming will make the beautiful fall camellias last a long time. That is one thing I like about sasanqua camellias; they will bloom until the shrub blooms out or we have a hard freeze. Most of these shrubs cover themselves with blooms, and while not large, are very effective in the way they bloom. Colors include pink, white, red, and every variation of the these colors. They also have single flowers to the most double flowers and all the type in between. As for s ..read more

Fall is spider lily time. Red ones are the most common types. White spider lilies in a mass. These are not common in our area but can be ordered from bulb companies. Mexican sage is glorious in my garden now. While this plant needs control, this native ageratum does great in my garden. The fragrance of tea olives is delightful this time of the year. This is the orange flowered selection. As weather cools, fall is a great time for flowers in my garden. Fall flowers like Mexican sage, spider lilies, and wild ageratum have replaced the summer flowering coneflowers. Their display, while ..read more

Buy marigolds with only a few blooms for best results. Cosmos are a new comer to the fall lineup and are a nice addition with marigolds Almost all of us can use a bloom or two to freshen our plantings this fall. To me, marigolds are the perfect choice because their colors  remind us of fall, and they will bloom consistently until a freeze occurs. Now this late into the season I think for best results buy 4 inch potted transplants. I have seen good ones available in many garden centers around Birmingham. I purchase plants with a bloom or two open, but ones with lots of green buds are b ..read more

It’s fall decorating time. And for most of us, we like to buy mums, pumpkins, and squash to adorn our house inside and out. While there is no great secret to buying these goodies, here are a few tips I use to get mine to last longer. Mums always grace our front entrance, and I pick ones showing color and maybe an open bloom or two. Now remember these plants are always pot bound, and oftentimes the water just comes out the bottom holes. Often what we think is enough water really was not. After I purchase the plants and get them home I like to stick pencil holes in the root ball to help water ge ..read more