Last year, a few vegetable plants persisted into autumn, and I was hooked on the idea of having a fall garden. The weather this season has been outstanding, and after a first light frost on September 11, it has been surprisingly mild. It was the perfect year for having a fall garden!
Sometimes poppy seeds germinate partway through the summer and provide the most wonderful fall colors. Someday I should plant them with the fall garden seeds on purpose!
The marigolds just keep giving.
Even the bolted lettuce seems beautiful this time of year... it won't last long now.
I didn't realize the roses could keep going for so long...
A single radish with lots of room and no crowding can create some neat patterns... and the blueberries provide wonderful autumn color.
Nasturtiums are quickly becoming one of my favorite flowers, and the asparagus plants turn a lovely shade of gold this time of year.
Kale makes the fall garden feel really productive with its beefy, hardy leaves.
Rainbow swiss chard, another star in the fall garden, has made up about 50% of our salad greens lately. It is surprisingly tender, ever since the weather turned cool.
Another plant that is winning my heart with it's profuse sprays of fuchsia colored blooms ~ Love Lies Bleeding Amaranth. The leaves have been making up the other 50% of our salad greens these days.
What are your favorite fall garden plants?
Are you saving seeds from your plants? I try and save lettuce and other greens if they flower. This year, they seem to be reluctant to actually set seed, they have bolted, but nothing further. Don't know if that's the way it will go now, or what!
ReplyDeleteYes, Jacki, I love seed-saving! We are super fortunate to have a Seed Library in our community, and we encourage people to save seed to help build a bank of locally-adapted varieties. Did your lettuce ever set seed this year? I saved a bunch of lettuce seeds and then noticed that they were teeming with aphids. I decided to leave it out on the deck to let the aphids gather on the sides of the bucket, which they tend to do. But then I was thwarted by gusty winds that blew the bucket down the driveway! So much for that seed... Also my nasturtium seeds froze through before I could gather them. It's always a fine line at 3,000 feet to leave seed outdoors long enough to mature but not so long that you miss the seed-saving window. I try my best though. I did gather a lot of Wee Willie Sweet Williams seed, my new favorite perennial flower. How did your seed saving go?
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