November (Dorothy)

I guess I jumped the gun on the fall color last month. I was really anticipating our Midwest trip and the friends, family and FALL COLOR we would see. We drove as far east as Bowling Green, KY to see a friend and the Corvette Museum and as far north as Green Bay, WI to bow down at Lambeau Field. The foliage turn in KY, IN and IL was pretty good, WI had peaked, IA was great and the Cottonwoods in southern CO and northern NM were electric. When we got home in late October nothing had really changed here. I was disappointed and we decided to go camping at our favorite spot in the Chiricahua Mountains, Sunny Flat, for a few days. We hiked to Maple Camp and what a sight. The maples were the best we had seen anywhere. Reds, oranges, yellows and the Sycamores were golden. We just returned from that respite and our own back yard is amazing with color. Does anybody know where I'm going with this? The Dwarf Burning Bush, Crabapples, Dwarf Plumbago, Rugosa Roses, Japanese Maple, Peaches, Apples, Spiraea, Bradford Pear is just starting and the Autumn Sage and Pineapple Sage are still in bloom. So you see Dorothy, you can travel to OZ (ok Lambeau Field) in search of something and quite often it is right in your own back yard!

Which brings me to Thanksgiving and plants that don't go dormant in the winter. I hope that all of your fall gardens are going well. Our herb garden supplies us with fresh Sage and Parsley for our Turkey Day stuffing and I can almost always find oregano and chives under the frosted tops. I have lettuce, radishes and spinach up that I planted only 2 weeks ago under floating row cover. So there is still a lot of gardening to be done this year.

As I type this it has been very dry so don't forget to water. Plants naturally do 80% of their root growth in late summer, fall and winter so it is especially important to keep them hydrated during this time. I usually give anything permanently in the ground a good soak every 3 weeks in fall and winter if conditions are dry. Plants in containers will need water much more often. Just stick your finger in and if it is dry 2 inches down it is time to water.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.