Whether it’s jumping in piles of freshly fallen leaves, carving pumpkins or cutting bouquets of the last blossoms of the year, the garden offers so many fun fall activities.  In the hustle and bustle of daily life it’s easy to miss some of these wonderful times.  We encourage you to take some time for yourself.  Wander through your yard stopping often to see what nature has for you to see and do.  This winter when you look out at the white world, you’ll have great memories to warm you.

Are always the biggest and brightest of them all.  America’s Best has several of these late varieties available to bring beauty and color to your landscape.  To go along with your mums, our staff have created some fun fall color bowls with flowering cabbage and kale, Swiss chard, pansies, violas, alyssum, snapdragons and more. 

Well over 200 scarecrows decorate the landscapes in DaneCounty.  We know because they were built here.  We want to thank all of you who came out and participated in our annual workshop.  If you missed it, mark your calendars now for the last week of September and first two weeks of October, 2011.  You can share in the fun by browsing the many pictures of scarecrow-making we have to share.

Just a reminder – even though it’s getting late in the season, it’s important to keep watering, especially trees, shrubs and perennials planted this year.  One of the main reasons plants don’t make it through the winter is because they were too dry when the soil froze.  The “one inch per week” rule remains in effect.  If we don’t receive that much rain, please give your plants a drink.  They’ll be so glad you did.

Two weeks ago I talked about preparing to bring your plants inside.  On this subject, there is another product I would like to mention.  Earth-tone’s Horticultural Oil is a quick, easy and organic way to spray away any pests that might be lurking on your plants.  The hose-end bottle attaches quickly to your garden hose making short work of the project.  Horticultural Oil controls aphids, mealy bugs, mites, powdery mildew, scale, and whitefly, as well as many other immature plant bugs and pests.

Cat Bowling is the all-time favorite computer game we’ve ever shared.  If you’ve never done it, be prepared to have a great time; if you’ve played before, well, I don’t need to tell you how fun it is.  Enjoy!