Quotation of the Week: "The pedigree of honey Does not concern the bee; A clover, any time, to him, Is aristocracy." — Emily Dickinson

Pansy Planting Time

Did you know that fall is an ideal time to bed out pansies? So many gardeners are conditioned to 'spring planting'. Think of it this way, if you plant now, you will enjoy their beautiful flowers through the fall. And after a long winter's rest, your already-planted pansies will be a step ahead come spring. If you're planting spring-flowering bulbs this fall, add some pansies to the mix. It's easy to do double-duty with planting your daffodils, tulips and other bulbs with pansies. And come spring, you'll enjoy a continual display of color. Pansy flowers are edible. So instead of just enjoying them in the garden, they can be added to salads to give them a peppery taste. As if you need another reason to grow them, pansies are easy to dry as pressed flowers. We have the best selection of colors and varieties now- -over 40 to choose from. We receive fresh stock from the growers every weekday.

October Is the Time To:

1. Plant all types of permanent landscape plants other than bare-root and tropicals. 2. Plant trees, shrubs and vines. 3. Choose and plant for permanent fall and winter color. 4. Continue to shop for spring-blooming bulbs. 5. Plant lilies as soon as you get them home. 6. Buy daffodils, grape hyacinths, ranunculus, anemones and Dutch irises; keep them in a cool, dry place until planting time. 7. Purchase hyacinth, tulip, and crocus bulbs and prechill them in the refrigerator. 8. Plant cool-season flowers for winter and spring bloom. 9. Plant cineraria for late winter and early spring bloom. 10. Plant wildflowers. 11. Plant cool-season lawns; this is the best time of year for this job. 12. Overseed Bermuda grass with annual winter ryegrass if desired. 13. Plant cool-season vegetables, year-round vegetables, including carrots and some perennial vegetables. 14. Thin out sweet peas and pinch them back to force branching. 15. Divide, trim, and mulch plants that tend to grow in a clump and that need to be divided, including Kahili ginger, clivia, iris, daylily, moraea, bird of paradise, gazanias, and perennials like Shasta daisies. 16. Cut back zonal and ivy geraniums; finish pruning Martha Washingtons. 17. Divide hardy water lilies. 18. Divide belladonna lilies. 19. Dig up, divide and replant perennials, or mulch them. 20. Cut off runners from strawberries, gather them in bunches, and prechill them for November planting. 21. Feed fuchsias. 22. Continue to treat blue hydrangeas with aluminum sulfate. 23. Stop fertilizing chrysanthemums and enjoy the blooms. 24. Fertilize poinsettias with a complete fertilizer high in bloom ingredients. 25. Feed roses early in October; don't fertilize in November. 26. Water deciduous fruit trees more sparingly in fall. 27. Water roses with up to 1 1/2 inches of water twice a week, unless it rains. 28. Finish pulling out faded annual flowers and cleaning pots and beds for fall. 29. Make a ball-shaped basket of malacoides primroses. 30. Thoroughly clean up the vegetable garden; pull up the last of the summer crops and compost the remains (if you have had fungus or disease problems, skip the composting and get rid of them instead).

Sweet Peas

There is nothing quite as satisfying as the sweet peas. The striking colors and spectacular fragrance are impossible to resist. This is a great area to grow sweet peas and they do quite well when planted while the days are still warm. If it is too cold or the soil is kept too damp, the seed will rot.
I have found there are 3 reasons people are sometimes not successful when planting sweet peas. First, most people plant too deep. Plant the seed approximately ¼ inch deep and 3 inches apart.
The second reason for failure is keeping the seed too wet. After planting, water the soil well. DO NOT water again until the plants have sprouted (unless we happen to have a warm, drying wind).
The third reason some people do not enjoy a long bountiful display of flowers is they plant too late. Now is the time to plant your sweet peas. They do not sprout well when the weather is cool. If you wait until next spring to plant, the roots will not have sufficient time to develop and support a vigorous blooming plant.
Come on in; we carry quite an array of sweet pea varieties. For the novice, the Royal series or the multiflora selection will give almost foolproof results. For the more adventurous, try some of the specialty varieties such as the lovely Knee Hi or the spectacular Royal Family. For those who do not have a convenient fence or trellis, the dwarf varieties such as Bijou work great.
Allison Cummings Green Thumb Garden Pro

Fall Vegetable Planting

It's time to put in the winter vegetable garden or, if you already have begun, to continue the job. First, pull up and throw out or compost the remains of your summer garden. A thorough cleaning now really pays off in fewer bugs and diseases later. Dig up the soil deeply with a spade, turning it over, aerating it, and breaking up the clods as you go. Then use a garden fork to mix in organic amendments such as Whitney Farms All Natural Soil Conditioner. Add a good vegetable fertilizer according to package directions; work this into the top 6 inches of soil. If you're an organic gardener, use instead blood meal, cottonseed meal, bone meal or bagged organic vegetable food (we recommend Whitney Farms Tomato & Vegetable Food). Then use a garden rake to level the ground. Use a hoe to make furrows between rows in heavy soils. Plant tall crops to the north, and short crops to the south. Full sun is best for all winter vegetables.

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Pre-chilling Hyacinth, Tulip, and Crocus Bulbs

To fool hyacinths, tulips and crocuses into thinking they've had a cold winter, put the bulbs in the lettuce drawer of your refrigerator (in a brown paper bag, not plastic--it rots them) for 6-8 weeks prior to planting. If your lettuce drawer takes delight, as some do, in regularly freezing lettuce, it's too cold for bulbs; store them on a low back shelf. They must not freeze. Also beware of fresh fruits that give off ethylene gas, including apples, bananas and pineapples. When these are stored in the same refrigerator with bulbs, make sure they're in airtight bags or containers; if the gas escapes, it can cause flower bulbs to either rot or grow roots and sprout. After you remove the bulbs from refrigeration, plant them in the ground immediately.

What you need: 6 slices bread 2 tablespoons butter 2 cups grated cheddar cheese 3/4 pound ham, thinly sliced 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced and sautéed in butter 8 ounces diced green chiles 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese 6 eggs 2 cups milk 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 tsp. paprika 1/2 tsp. basil 1/4 tsp. onion salt 1/2 tsp. white pepper 1/2 tsp. dry mustard Step by Step: Butter 6 slices of bread and place buttered side down in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with 2 cups cheddar cheese. Place ham on top of cheese and then layer with mushrooms and chiles. Top with Monterey Jack cheese. In a bowl, beat eggs and add milk, salt, paprika, basil, onion salt, pepper and dry mustard. Pour over ingredients in dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 325º. Uncover casserole and bake for 50 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes to set before serving. Yield: 8 servings