SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - By Barbara Henry

One of the downsides of writing this column is that I have to think a month ahead. During the lovely days of August I have to think ahead to September and that is the beginning of Fall and the heating season and winter is just around the corner. So it takes a lot of effort on my part to think ahead to the cold weather!

Betsy Emery hosts the visitsacandaga.com website and she posts this column every month including lots of lovely photos. Also all the previous articles are archived if you need to look back at something. When I sent her last month’s column she sent me a link to http://www.visitsacandaga.com/Butterflies.htm. It shows butterflies for our region and has wonderful photos. Check it out. It is a very interesting website for our area so visit it regularly. Thanks, Betsy for all your hard work on the website.

It’s time to bring the houseplants back indoors. Give them a rinse to get rid of any hitchhikers and keep a close watch on them for a few days in case you missed any stragglers. Take cuttings from your coleus and begonias to enjoy new plants indoors throughout the winter. Let your amaryllis plants dry out completely. I take the bulb out of the pot and lay it on its side in a sheltered area so it doesn’t even get any dew. Then it comes inside in a cool, dark place until November or December depending when you want to bring it out again to bloom. Watch for frost warnings and be sure to dig up your tender bulbs such as dahlias, cannas and tuberous begonias. They store well in some vermiculite in a cool dark area.


It’s hard to think about saying good bye to the veggie garden and particularly those lovely tomato plants but you can cover them during a light frost and very often we get a couple of weeks of good weather after the first frost. Before the first hard frost why don’t you pick your tomatoes and put them in cardboard boxes. Keep them well separated and they will ripen slowly. You need to keep an eye on them because some will start to rot but it does keep your tomato harvest going for a few extra weeks. Still you have your broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts that actually taste better after a frost. And lettuce and radishes are nice to have back in the garden after the hot weather.

The Fall garden looks lovely with the mums and asters now in full bloom. The big mums that we buy now from the garden centers are in full bloom and probably won’t survive the winter because they don’t have enough time to establish a root system to take them through but they are a lovely way to have color in the garden right up to the last minute. It’s a good time to dig and divide perennials now because unlike the mums which are just beginning their bloom season, perennials are beginning to shut down so see where you have some bare spots or where the daylilies, for example, are just getting to big for the area where you put them.

My favorite occupation at this time of year – as I am sure you all know by now! is planting spring blooming bulbs. I do moan and groan when the boxes of bulbs come in and think why on earth did I buy so many. But come spring it is all worth it. We will also be planting daffies at our Blue Star marker planting at the Bradt Building.

We look forward to getting together again after the summer break and our garden club meets on September 8. We meet in the basement of the Bradt building at 1:00 p.m. and Jean Sweet, a Master Gardener will discuss designing and planting our bulb gardens. We look forward to getting together again fter the summer break


The Master Gardeners will have exhibit space at the Fonda Fair again this year so stop by and see us in the Cooperative Extension building.


I also want to give you early notice of our community meeting on October 6 when Jeanine Loya will be giving a presentation on cactus and succulents. We hope all our friends will join us in the meeting room upstairs at the Northville Library. She will have plants for show and tell and plants to raffle off.


As always, questions can be sent to POBox 675, Northville, NY 12134.