You knew we couldn't have a Second Spring flower series without talking about this one. Walk into almost any garden center in fall and there they are... Rows and rows of big round plants covered with flowers. 💛 Yellow 🧡 Orange ❤️ Red 💜 Purple 🤍 White 🩷 Pink Bronze, burgundy, gold... 🌼 𝗠𝗨𝗠𝗦! Nothing says: "𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫." quite like a mum sitting beside the front door. 😂🎃 But today I'm going to tell you something that may go against every instinct you have at the garden center. When you're standing in front of 50 mums trying to choose one.., 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄. Walk into almost any garden center in fall and there they are... At least... Not if you want flowers that last as long as possible. We'll come back to that! 🌼 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭...𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐒 𝐚 𝐌𝐮𝐦? "Mum" is simply our shortened name for: 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐔𝐌. And chrysanthemums come in an enormous variety of flower forms, sizes, and colors. The big rounded plants that suddenly appear everywhere in late summer and fall are often sold as 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬. And there's a very good reason they're associated with autumn. Mums naturally respond to the shortening days of late summer and fall by developing flower buds. So while we're pulling out tired summer annuals... Mums are preparing for their big performance. Talk about good timing. 🌼🍂 🛒 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲...𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐈 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 Imagine you're standing at the garden center. Mum #1 looks AMAZING. 🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼 Every flower is wide open. It's a giant ball of color. Beside it is Mum #2. It's healthy and green... But many of its flowers are still: 🟢 Buds. A few have started opening, but it's nowhere near as impressive. Which one does your gardening brain want? 𝐌𝐔𝐌 #𝟏! Of course it does. We're gardeners. We're weak around flowers. 😂 But if your goal is to enjoy blooms for as long as possible... 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐌 #𝟐. A plant covered with unopened buds still has much of its flower show ahead of it.

We've spent a LOT of time talking about what we can do with our plants as the season changes. We've learned how to: ❄️ Protect them from frost ♻️ Reuse our potting mix 🏠 Bring certain plants indoors ✂️ Take cuttings or divisions But there's another way your garden can give you a head start on next year. And this one requires almost NO storage space. We're talking about...🌱 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒! Those tiny little packages your plants have been quietly making all season. And here's the amazing part, inside something small enough to fit on the tip of your finger may be everything needed to start an entirely new plant next year. That's pretty incredible when you stop and think about it. It's also pretty incredible when you stop and think about how much money we spend buying seeds while our gardens are outside... 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄. 😂 So today we're learning how to collect some! 🌱 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓? Technically, lots of plants produce seeds we can collect. But...𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄. And not every saved seed will produce exactly the plant you're expecting. For beginners, the easiest place to start is with plants that: 🌱 Produce obvious seeds 🌸 Are easy to identify ☀️ Have seeds that can mature and dry on the plant 🧬 Are open-pollinated varieties if you want offspring more likely to resemble the parent Some plants make seed saving ridiculously easy. Others turn it into a science project. We're starting with ... 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐘. 😂 🌼 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐀 – 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃 Remember our calendula? If you've stopped deadheading a few flowers, you may already have seed heads developing. After the flower fades, allow the seed head to mature and dry. Calendula seeds are wonderfully strange-looking. They're curved. Bumpy. Sometimes almost like tiny little dried caterpillars. Once you've seen them, they're pretty easy to recognize. Let the seeds mature and dry well before collecting them. Then store them for next year. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬.

Something strange is about to happen inside our homes. That houseplant that has been perfectly happy for months suddenly isn't drinking as much water. Another one drops a leaf. Your pothos isn't growing as quickly. The plant beside the window starts leaning toward the glass. And you think, "𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐈 𝐃𝐎?!" 😳 Probably nothing. Your houseplants know something has changed. The days are getting shorter. The angle of the sun is changing. Your furnace may soon be running. Indoor humidity changes. And although your house feels pretty much the same to you, your plants notice. So today we're temporarily leaving the patio and heading into our 🏠 indoor plant nook! Because fall isn't only a transition season for outdoor gardens. Our houseplants are going through a seasonal shift too. And one of the biggest mistakes we can make is continuing to care for them exactly the way we did in July. ☀️ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 #𝟏: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 This is probably the biggest seasonal change happening indoors. During summer, your houseplants may have enjoyed: ☀️ Longer days ☀️ Stronger sunlight ☀️ More total hours of usable light As fall progresses, the days get shorter. The sun's position changes too. That means a plant sitting in exactly the same location may receive significantly different light in November than it did in June. Your furniture didn't move. Your plant didn't move. But the sun did. ☀️😂 🪟 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊 Walk through your house during the day. Look at where the light actually falls. Ask... ☀️ Which windows are brightest now? 🌿 Are plants leaning toward the light? 🌱 Is new growth becoming stretched? 🎨 Are variegated plants losing some of their pattern? 🍂 Is a plant dropping leaves? Some plants may benefit from moving closer to a brighter window as fall progresses. But don't go from dark corner to intense direct sun without thinking. Plants can still experience leaf damage when suddenly exposed to much stronger direct light than they're accustomed to. Gradual changes are usually easier on the plant.

It's that time. You walk outside. There are brown leaves. Spent flowers. Old stems. Empty containers. Plants that look like they've officially submitted their resignation letters. And suddenly you get the urge to: 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍. 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆. 𝐔𝐏. 😂 Pull it. Cut it. Sweep it. Bag it. Scrub it. Stack the pots. Put everything away. Then stand on the patio admiring how wonderfully CLEAN everything looks. But before you go into full garden-cleaning mode... 𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄. ✋😂 Because here's something gardeners are learning more about: 𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. Some plant material absolutely SHOULD be removed. Especially when pests or disease are involved. But other stems, leaves, and seed heads may be providing: 🐝 Shelter 🐞 Overwintering sites 🦋 Habitat 🐦 Food 🌱 Seeds for next year So today's cleanup isn't about making everything spotless. It's about figuring out: 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐄𝐒. 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐒. 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. Welcome to 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐏! 🧹🍂 🔴 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓: 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 Let's start with the easy decision. If you had a plant with a serious disease problem...𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑. Remove affected: 🍂 Leaves 🌿 Stems 🍅 Fruit 🌱 Plant debris And clean up material that has fallen around the container. Why? Because some plant pathogens can survive in infected plant material. If we leave that material sitting beside next year's garden, we may be giving the problem a head start. That's not the kind of Second Spring we're trying to create. 😂 🍄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐆𝐎 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓? This is where we need to be careful. A properly managed hot compost pile may reach temperatures capable of destroying some pathogens and weed seeds. But 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄. So if you're dealing with plant material affected by a serious disease and you're uncertain whether your composting system can handle it, the safer option may be to dispose of that material according to your local yard-waste or trash recommendations rather than putting it into your home compost.

It's moving day! The temperatures are dropping. Our Second Spring garden is cruising along. But some of the plants we've enjoyed all summer are beginning to look nervously toward the house. 🌿 "Sooooo...is there room for me in there?" Maybe.😂 Because today we're talking about: 🏠 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄! Every fall, container gardeners face the same question: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫? Sometimes the answer is: 𝐘𝐄𝐒! Sometimes it's: 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄... And occasionally it's: 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝟎-𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐭. 😂 Because overwintering doesn't necessarily mean dragging every container into the living room. We have options! We can: 🏠 Bring the entire plant indoors ✂️ Take cuttings 🌱 Divide a plant 🪴 Move something into a protected location ❄️ Leave cold-hardy plants outside 🗑️ Say goodbye to plants that have completed their season The trick is figuring out which option makes sense for WHICH plant. But before anything crosses the threshold, we need to talk about: 🐛 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒. 🚨 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 #𝟏: 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 Please don't look at your lovely herb pot and think: "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆!" then carry it straight to the kitchen windowsill beside your houseplants. Because your herb may not be traveling alone. Outdoor plants can be carrying: 🐛 Aphids 🕷️ Spider mites 🪰 Whiteflies 🐜 Ants 🥚 Insect eggs 🐌 Slugs or snails 🪰 Fungus gnats or other organisms in the potting mix And outside? Many of these aren't a huge problem because predators, rain, weather, and the larger ecosystem help keep things in balance. Inside your warm house? You may have just opened: 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋-𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐒. 😂 Warm temperatures. No frost. No rainstorms. No predators. All-you-can-eat plants. They'll leave you a five-star review. 🔍 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝟏: 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 Before bringing ANY outdoor plant inside look carefully. And I mean REALLY look. Check: 🌿 Tops of leaves 🔍 Undersides of leaves 🌱 New growth 🌿 Where leaves meet stems