Listing things is a passion, heres a list of fun stuff to plant for fall

Grasses

Camellias

Berries like Viburnum and Callicarpa, all great as cut flowers and birds love them too!

more great additions to the garden and vase....Anemone, Sedum, Tricyrtis, Heuchera, Dahlia 

Two of my favorites for foliage are Itea (medium shrub) and Plumbago (low ground cover) , Plumbago doesn't do too much until fall but then you get a carpet of blue followed by red leaves. Itea Virginica has interesting summer flowers and as the name states, its native to the US so it should technically be happy to be in your garden. 

August

After I installed a bunch of filters that have built in regulators onto the lovely city water fed irrigation systems, I tucked everything in for the summer and set out for Europe for some rest and research, mostly Pizza related. The very last Photo is of a self sown Basil, I am guessing African Blue? It makes a long lasting bouquet and tastes great in everything.

July

Vegetable gardens are poppin. The stand out so far is this mini chili pepper CHUPETINHO from Brasil ( second photo). I cant wait to pickle them. Chilis are a great options for city gardens because of their sizes vs yield ratio. And they grow very well in pots. In addition to pickling, oven drying and then blending with salt makes an addictive seasoning for the pantry. 

June

Everything Espalier. period. Again with the city vs space. Harvest the heat of a masonry wall and grow up. 

Foliage is key because flowers come and go. If you want all season interest hedge your bets with interesting foliage. This mix of yellow, blue, and green is cooling in the summer heat like staring into a chlorinated swimming pool.

Roses are everything!!! Fragrance is a major consideration for me. This Apothecary rose is pretty amazing. I also recommend Rugosa frequently for their brightly colored, disease resistant leaves. They have an outstanding rich, rosey perfume, and great hips in the fall. To get a better understanding of the full spectrum of interest that Roses provide visit a rose garden the fall. The Scott Arboretum has a nice collection of hips. Also their Espalier Ginko is no slouch. Talking about fragrance, sniff out the massive Osmanthus close to the Ginko, you will smell it before you see it.  

May

Installation of veg gardens, cutting gardens, enjoying sweet peas. Most of our regular maintenance customers are getting fed and amended. We apply mulches to keep the weeds down and check our irrigation tubing for any leaks. Changing the batteries in non hardwired irrigation timers is on our to do list. Get the fountains up and running and the bird baths filled. 

I took a trip up to Trade Secrets and got lots of inspiration for ornamental vegetable layouts, bulb combos, and trough goals

Lessons learned this season,

• Plant Tulips, lots and lots of them. They are great for cutting and can take the space of warm season vegetables until the soil warms up.
• The Rhododendron Yaku series is great in pots. One of the trickiest things about gardening in the city is space. The Yaku series stays small , has great foliage and beautiful flowers that change color as they age. 

April

This month has been nuts. I don't even know what is going on, one day its 70 and sunny and then its snowing. I made sure to plant spring flowers that can take the fluctuations. I am loving Anemones, Ranunculus, Poppies, and Violas especially. My seedlings from March are growing on very well, too well..... anyone want some sweet peas? anyone?

March

Seed starting some unusual edible flowers and some flowers for cutting and arranging like fragrant sweet peas, calendula, and a white borage. I soaked the sweet peas to aid in germination. Now I just have to figure out where to plant all this stuff. 

January/ February

All the christmas decor has been removed, stored and the dried out christmas trees have been carted to their final resting place to be chopped up and recycled. I tied up all the loose ends, packed a bag and flew halfway across the world. Asia is an awakening of the senses and if you like plants I fully recommend going there. There are plants everywhere. I was visiting the Bali Botanical Garden and I asked what other gardens I should see. I was told the whole place is a beautiful garden, it doesn' t stop and start with boundaries and designated spaces. Everywhere you look there are examples of composed and wild beauty. In the traditional markets they sell foreign fruits like apples and table grapes to use in the beautiful offerings. The offerings are amazing and personal. I spent my time in Thailand and Bali and you see offerings and temples in Thailand but something about the color and natural elements in the Balinese temples and offerings struck a cord with me.  

December

Planting lots of winter containers and window boxes. We like to give a clean structural foundation with evergreens to which we add holiday accouterment that can be removed after the holiday season. My customers often ask for color and I have to explain that aside from the ubiquitous berries, branches, and ornaments, there really isn't much in the way of knock out color. Winter is more about texture and structure. Within what might seem to be a limited pallet, you can achieve an eclectic and interesting composition. While I personally love traditional boxwoods trimmed up and underplanted with ivy or wintergreen or even cleanly mulched with pine bark, there are lots of evergreen options that stray slightly from green. Below are some great options brake out the evergreen box. 

NOVEMBER

EVEN THOUGH ITS NOVEMBER AND EVEN THOUGH THIS IS ZONE 7, TEMPERATURES REACHED INTO THE 70'S! IS IT TOO LATE FOR A COUPLE GREEN ROOFS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? THE MOST REWARDING PART OF GARDENING IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT IS GIVING BACK A BIT OF NATURE TO AN OTHERWISE INANIMATE MANMADE LANDSCAPE. THE ROOFS OF THESE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED AND REHABBED CITY DWELLINGS WILL CREATE A BIT OF GREEN SPACE WHERE TRADITIONALLY THERE WOULD BE NONE. I AM GRATEFUL TO HAVE SUXH AWESOME CUSTOMERS AND TO BE ABLE TO BE APART OF THIS PROJECT.