As the last of the maple leaves fall away from the trees, and the vibrant colors of fall give way to shades of brown among the planting beds, I’m left marveling once again at the quick yet nearly imperceptible transition of the seasons.  It seems but just a few days ago that daisies and dahlias and crocosmias were dancing in the summer breeze.  I didn’t get nearly as much accomplished around the property as I had set out to.  Grand plans gave way to other events, both expected and not.   So, there were hits and misses, wins and learnings. Here are some of my takeaways:

Grow more – I could have taken better advantage of succession planting to get better harvests.

Grow up – Use more trellis systems to grow climbing varieties that will leave more ground space available and produce more yield overall.  I just saw that even winter squash can be trained up!

Grow bigger – Because of the limited depth of some of my planting beds, I chose to grow short, stubby carrots and parsnips this year.  Such a pain to peel!

Grow deeper – Time to make those shallow “raised beds” have more depth for more options.

Grow more flowers – not just for the bees, but for cutting, too.  They’re a worthy indulgence and can really spike my happiness meter.

Some of the wins – maybe because I’m writing this in the fall, I’m especially partial to what’s still blooming, but both the Pineapple Sage and Hot Lips Sage delivered 3 seasons long.  Also have been impressed by new additions of Penstemon ‘Blackbird’ and English Mallow.  Tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, beans, apples, grapes, raspberries and peas did well.  Also, pleased with my little test planting of Meidland roses, daisies, crocosmia, lavender, sage, a mugo pine, boxwood and a lingonberry (!) along a tough strip of the driveway.  

Some of the failures, ‘er learnings – beets were anemic, winter squash didn’t set till late, Kale got eaten by slugs, lettuces bolted. Next year, I’ll check soil pH to make sure nutrients can be taken up; plant squash in one of the sunnier beds; be more liberal with the Sluggo (or try Sheep’s Wool pellets?); and grow lettuces in their own bed where they won’t get overshadowed by other plants and forgotten.

One more learning: Big flowers need big support.  The giant Dahlias I planted were brilliant but fell often under their own weight.  Anyone have some fun ways of keeping them propped up?