the Austin Garden | September in the garden | Are Turks Caps edible?

Eight landscaping tips: the principal of three depths; the mystery of the unseen; and tricking the eye. These are three of writer Jan Johnsen's top suggestions for folks wishing to enhance their garden space. Garden Design ❦

Austin Organic Gardeners: join landscape designer Liz Cardinal (Austin Edible Gardens) at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept 13 for a free on-line class about getting your fall gardens up and running. AOG ❦

Are Turks Caps edible? A definite 'yes' from the folks at Foraging Texas, who celebrate the flavors and health benefits of the flowers, fruit and young leaves of Malvaviscus arboreus, and suggest we can make a sort of pink lemonade and even pancakes with the blossoms. Foraging Texas ❦

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Nursery news: 20% off all pottery, statuary and fountains at Garden Seventeen this Labor Day weekend (Sat - Mon.) Plus free coffee from its on-site sister company 604 Coffee. /

The Natural Gardener is set to re-start its classes at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays this month. Sept. 14: Butterfly Gardens; Sept. 21: Organic Gardening 101; Sept. 28 Herb Gardening. Class size is limited; gardeners must sign up on the Thursday prior to the date of the talk to attend. TNG. ❦

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Support the Austin Garden. This newsletter relies on donations from readers. Please consider making a donation today. Many thanks ; - ) PayPal ❦

Central Texas Gardener: Drake White (from the Nectar Bar) is a habitat specialist for pollinators and wildlife in general. Linda Lehmusvirta spoke with her about pruning and planting, and how to put out the welcome mat for monarchs for their return journey. KLRU In another segment, Daphne Richards offers a plant clinic for people with a variety of horticultural ailments. TCMG ❦

Hancock golf course-to-park: there's no kite-flying or picnicking upon the great lawns of this central golf course right now. Please join us to help heal the land and open up what will someday be a crown jewel in Austin's park system. (painting: Linda Anderson) Hancock Conservancy ❦

September in the Garden

by Chris Winslow

It's difficult, because while the merciless heat of the summer continues to keep us sheltering inside, we are actually meant to be up and about and getting to work. This heat is going to be with us for a while so the best advice is stay hydrated, and garden early in the morning:

1. Cut back annual summer flowers, mulch, and feed. We have approximately 75 to 90 days till the first frost . . . plenty of time to get a renewed flush of color.

2. Keep an eye on the weather forecast, and as the summer continues, be ready to water your trees, shrubs, turf grass and landscape beds when everything dries out again. Slow, deep watering will encourage a deep root system and make your landscape more able to withstand drought.

3. Plant new vegetables for fall and winter harvests during the last week of this month: broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.

4. Buy bulbs. The season to plant tulips, hyacinths, crocus, jonquils, daffodils, grape hyacinths and anemones is just around the corner.

5. Mulch all beds and trees with compost mixed with mulch. This mixture will protect plant roots from heat and cold extremes, and conserve water.

6. Inspect trees for fall webworms, and if you find them, come up with a strategy to get rid of them using Thuricide or Dipel.

7. Fertilize lawn towards the end of the month. (Use organic fertilizer.)

8. Be on ‘brown patch alert’ for your grass, and be ready to treat this disease with the organic Actinovate.

9. Keep on the lookout for a world of fall bedding (annual) plants. As temperatures cool, we can begin to plant dianthus, snapdragons, and petunias.

10. Watch for black spot and mildew on roses. With cooler weather, these pesky rose diseases will begin to show up. An organic spray of Neem oil or wettable sulfur should help in keeping it at bay. ❦