Extend the blooming season until frost

Autumn is a difficult time in the home landscape. The late summer drought and early cold temperatures have pretty much doomed the annuals that were so pretty a few months ago. Most common perennials will have already flowered in spring and mid-summer. However, it is possible to have lots of color in your garden this time of year.

The quickest way is to plant winter-hardy pansies. Lavalette Nursery has a wide selection in many colors. Plant them now and they’ll bloom throughout the fall and during warm spells this winter. They’ll survive the extreme cold of winter and the light snows. Next spring, they’ll bloom profusely. All you have to do is make sure they get enough water and an occasional dose of plant food.

But if you want a showcase of a fall garden, you’ll have to do some preparation next spring by planting some perennials that will come into their own in autumn. Lavalette Nursery has a large selection. For a list of recommended fall-blooming perennials, click here.

Give next summer’s garden a head start

Spring is traditionally the time for planting, but perennials put into the ground in the fall have a head start -- months of growing time which results in larger plants and more flowers next summer. For more information about planting perennials in the fall, click here.

Garden chores best done in the fall

Most of the mainstay perennials in your landscape are preparing for dormancy and annuals are near the end of their lifespan, but this doesn’t mean you can’t have lots of beautiful blooms in your landscape. Now is the time to replant containers and window boxes with pansies and mums. Both will bloom until a hard freeze, and the pansies will bloom during warm spells throughout the winter.

Autumn is also a time to prepare for spring. Here are some suggestions:

-- Plant spring-flowering bulbs like tulips, alliums, daffodils and hyacinth.

-- Make new beds. More plentiful rainfall in autumn makes the ground easier to work. Remove any grass and till up the soil, amending it with organic matter.

-- Clean and sharpen your yard tools and coat with oil so they’ll be ready to use next spring.

For more autumn gardening tips, click here.