Fall divisions and some fall favorites

I was at a garden center the other day and my neighbor, who is an equally fanatic gardener, said she wanted some of my daylillies to divide. She was also coveting my phlox, which is crowding out my garden bed - and to have someone thin them out would actually be a great favor to me!

But now isn't the time to dig up garden phlox that is a late summer bloomer. Springtime is better - especially when the weather is mild and misty. That is beautiful transplanting weather.

However, there are some spring bloomers that can be divided and put into gardens now.
Generally speaking, if it blooms in the spring, dig and divide in the fall. Likewise, fall bloomers, like mums, are best taken up in the spring (in fact, if you want mums to flourish in general, buy them in the spring). I once made the mistake of ignoring a seasoned nursery man (Wayne Paquette, Quakin' Grass Nursery, Brooklyn) and planted my favorite mum, 'Sheffield Pink' in the fall. It's tips blackened and they died.

While many mums are available now, the ones that will are the best, and good perennials, are also available in the spring - not to say I don't have two mounds of mums that have lasted ten years and were planted...in the fall. It can be done, but it is better to do it in the spring.

These plants can be divided in fall:

Iris
Foxtail lily
Moss phlox
Oriental Poppy
Peony
Pulmonaria (lungwort)


Now is the time to also plant your iris, as well as divide them. I found a fabulous Iris farm that does mail order for the most beautiful, lush iris in unusual colors. You can contact them for a free brochure.
Their address is: www.schreinersgardens.com.

Hostas, which can be considered fall flowering, or summer flowering, are perfect to divide when their crowns are emerging.


I recently posted about my vole woes. Well, if I didn't have a horrible vole problem, I would be taking photos of one of my favorite fall bloomers: Monkshood.

Ironically, it took me years to plant it because all part of the plant are considered poisonous (ha!). So I've posted the photo above.

Another glorious fall bloomer in blue is plumbago, which is a great groundcover or dotting a stone wall. The cobalt blue flowers are tiny explosive bursts, and it also turns a nice fall red.

One other fall bloomer that is a must in my garden (again being attacked by voles) is snakeroot, or bugbane. It likes shade, and is fragrant, being the last attractor of hungry butterflies and hummers.

One last thing -my neighbor, who works at the garden center, spray painted the spent heads of an astilbe bright blue. It's a tact I've only read about and was quite startling. Other dried flower heads can also get bursts of color from a spray can, such as hydrangea.

I'll check in later with some of my fall favorites to share.

Meanwhile, Happy spray painting!