Back At It - FALL 2022
I Love the Fall, because in Arizona, Fall means planting season.
This week, with temps at 97 degrees F, I was energized to remove those long, leggy, straw-looking older plants. I blasted some Prince music and went a little crazy with a purple hue to perk up my garden.
Those plants selected and planted were pretty, purple Astors, 2 Blue Salvias and one new Lavender plant- all bearing a shade of purple, the fantasy color!
Additionally, I planted the always popular mums which scream AUTUMN. The front yard was done with the bright yellow mums as a Welcoming site when approaching our house. In the back, where we tend to sit at happy hour and end the day watching the sunset, I planted my favorites with the rusty umber or burnt orange look. To me, Umber is the fall color. I threw in a few pumpkins for added affect, of course!
So for time being, I’ve gotten my “Fix” and now patiently await another 3 weeks at which time the temps will drop to a pleasant spot and hold there until the holidays. Then, I’ll gladly add a few more of my favorite, yet more sensitive, non-heat loving flowering plants.
About the Asters-
They will grow at least 2 feet by 2 feet, if not more. Probably more wide than tall. They do not like the hot midday sun. I find it best to do late season planting, at least six weeks prior to any chance of freezing, then they will bloom giving off that much needed pop of fall color. That color is rich, deep, dark purple. They love moist ground. Ours is on a sprinkler for 10 minutes each morning, with added mulch after planting to keep soil cool and prevent weeds.
Asters can be divided. They are perennials, so give them about 3 years of growth, then you can cut into their clump and divide and relocate. The have rhizomes, so easy to separate and remove. They can spread, making an excellent thick ground cover. They aren’t aggressive and won’t suffocate or squeeze out other plants. I only feed them when I first plant them, and then again at the beginning of each fall. It’s necessary to continually pinch and remove their dried blooms to enhance flowering.
About Blue Salvia, also known as sage, azure sage, blue sage
a tall thin upright plant with green, grey velvety leaves and pretty purplish-blue small bell-shaped flowers. Salvias can get very tall, so makes a nice hedge or a nice background for the rest of your garden. Salvias are great in the ground or in large pots and can get 4 feet hight and 3 feet wide. They grow wild, which means it doesn’t take a lot of care. They grow in a variety of soils, so it is great for Arizona. Pruning is necessary. NO need to be aggressive, just cut a bit back in spring and again after a long hard summer, removing all the dead dry stuff. If you cut back twice yearly then your plant will probably bloom up to 4 times a year. If a salvia doesn’t stand upright, it’s usually because too much water or fertilizer and not enough sun. If it does get limp or floppy, then it can be tied up to a stake. Because it is a wild flower, I don’t amend soil or feed it with plant food or fertilizer. Just leave it be, let it do it’s thing and enjoy.
About Lavender
Lavender originates from the Mediterranean region and loves hot sun and dry soil. This makes it perfect for any Arizona garden. Choose a spot in the garden where the plant will have full access to sun as well as enough room to spread and grow to maturity. The most common form here in AZ is the french lavender. The Lavender will get 2-3 feet tall but can get as full and wide as 3-4 feet and it is loved by our bee friends. I love to walk past and rough it up a bit with my hands to send the aroma to our porch. Please see my old post, A Bees Banquet, here on this site for more info on Lavender
Tips: this summer, throughout Arizona, we experienced an unusual amount of rain. The rain and wind blew a lot of ‘stuff’ away and the top soil is terribly dry and undernourished. So this past week, with every planting, I added organic plant food and bone meal to the soil and tilled it up. I started with healthy 2 gallon plants so they are already established and can withstand our terribly beat-up ground. I also watered them each day to get them off to a good start. I don’t recommend using sprouts at this time of year.
** notice ** I see we have access to marguerite daisies available this year. They only come available here approximately every 3-4 years. Although I don’t think that this year they are lovely and currently I have only found them in white or yellow and since they are straggly this year I didn’t purchase any, but if you are a fan, they are here.
Below you will see that one of the asters is going through plant shock, but will pull through it a week or two. Just have to be sure to keep pinching off those dried pieces for a while. The Salvias are loving life in their new home.
Happy Planting.
