Annuals 

• Start seeds for early fall annual flowers, they take 6wks to be ready to go into the ground/garden in September. Try seeds like zinnia, marigolds, snapdragons, etc…
• Plan and prep annual beds for fall. If you had annual beds in spring, this might mean only having to add a couple of inches of compost to the soil and working it in. 
• Hold off on buying any pansies and violas even if you see them, it’s still too hot and they will melt in a heartbeat.
• Continue watering and feeding the summer annuals you have to keep them looking the best they can through the Dog Days of Summer (hottest, driest days).
• Containers may need watering twice a day in extreme temperatures or drying winds.

• If you’ve had cannas for 4-5 years, it’s time to divide them to keep them from overcrowding. After they finish blooming and their foliage dies back, you can dig up the rhizomes, cut any remaining stems down to about an inch, and then break apart the rhizomes (or use a sharp, sterile knife if they don’t break apart easily). Try to get some roots and at least one “eye” one each segment of rhizome for best success at replanting.You can replant rhizomes immediately after dividing.
• Be prepared to stake the majestic Philippine lily if you have one growing. The stalks for blooms can grow 4-6 feet.
• Give you last application of fertilizer to bulbs growing in the ground. 3-1-2 ratio. We like Espoma Bulb-Tone.
• Check bulbs growing in pots daily for water needs.

Shrubs

• Hold off for another couple of months to plant shrubs, it’ll be the absolute best time of year to do so.

• Apply 3” of mulch to shrubs if you haven’t already. You can find many free options such as the leaves you’ve saved from last fall, grass clippings, etc…Or use your Bonus Bucks to stock up on our bagged mulch.

• Finish pruning non-flowering shrubs this month so you avoid stimulating new growth that could be damaged by freezes.

Trees

• Hold off for another couple of months to plant trees (Oct/Nov), it’ll be the absolute best time of year to do so.

• If you’ve planted recently, keep up with the ‘slow-trickle’ method of watering new trees if rain doesn’t fall for 5-7 days.

• You may even have to employ the rescue watering method for trees if we are experiencing extreme temps and drought. 
• Watch for fall webworms, they are starting their most damaging time. Look for webbing around groups of leaves in the canopies of your trees. The easiest way to control is to use an extension pole and rip open the webs every few days to allow wasps in to eat the caterpillars. (Bt is also an effective control, if you can reach the webs, AND when the webworms are young.

Herbs:

• Retire your older basil and hand it over to the pollinators who enjoy all the blooms. It is a great fall nectar source for bees and small butterflies. Many of the basil plants that we planted in spring are starting to get woody, tasteless(bitter) and tired. Planting another round of basil is wise.  Fresh basil will provide tasty flavor for our recipes.
• Harvest herbs regularly (morning harvests are best when oils are most abundant). Use fresh, dry or freeze them.  

Veggies:

• Now is the time to plant tomatoes and warm season veggies like  peppers, eggplants, squash, cucumber.
• Later fall plantings are broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brusselsprouts, lettuce, etc…so save room in the garden.
• Bump tomato transplants up to the next sized container so they grow into large transplants that are producing or close to producing flowers by the time they need to go into the garden in a few weeks (Sept 1 – 15th) (They need protection from the hot afternoon sun while getting established.)
• We plant early in fall in order to get a harvest before a freeze because cooler temperatures make crops mature at a slower pace.
• When planting in established veggie beds that have been mulched, pull back mulch enough to set new transplants in the soil, and then replace mulch.
• Water in new transplants with a water-soluble fertilizer.
• Potatoes can be planted mid-month.
• Cut back tall okra to produce side shoots to harvest in early fall.
• Place shade cover over new seedlings in veggie beds for a couple of weeks to protect them from getting scorched in the hot weather.
• New transplants may need to be watered daily, while established veggies should be fine with watering twice a week.