The Autumn Garden Planting Guide

Spring blooming tulips, anemones, and ranunculus

Believe it or not, autumn (aka fall for all you pumpkin spicers) is one of the best times of year to plant for the fleeting beauty of the season and also to get a jump start on the glorious spring blooms that await us. I know we are all allured by the colorful mums (saw my first peach mum pic and I so want one), the whimsical pansies, pollinator friendly asters, and the bucket load of all the other trees, plants and shrubs one could hoard if you do not carefully exercise some restraint. But don't ask me about fall planting restraint because I am not that person.

But what you may not realize is that fall is the perfect time to fill the garden with the things that come of life in spring-bulbs and bare root plantings like peonies. My heart goes pitter patter when I think of the many hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, peonies, frittillaria, and so many other plants that I could fill pages and pages of blogs.

What makes fall such a great time to plant you ask? So many reasons. The cooler weather is the perfect time to get plants in the ground without the added plant stressors of heat and hot weather. The cool fall weather also helps keep more moisture in the soil because evaporation is slowed. October and November are a great time to get bare roots planted as well as other plants rooted in soil. Planting at this time gives the roots just the right amount of time to grow in the ground before the bitter cold of winter gets here. That frigid cool is what can kill our plants if we haven't given them enough time for root development or enough coverage to keep their roots warm. (And yes I have planted in December and January but you need to know your plants well before you take that on). Yes, the cooler fall weather slows the growth of top part of the plant we can see (all the beautiful foilage and flowers ) but the roots are actually the most important part of the plant. Roots are where the plant gets it's nutrition and water-the health of the plant begins in having healthy roots.

The shipment that came today. Woo HOO!!!

As I write this, we have just gotten a few shipments of some bulbs and corms of the spring cut flowers we soooooo love-tulips, narcissis, peonies, ranunculus, anemones and more. I always get to excited when the first shipment of fall planted beauties arrive. We plant ranunculus and anemones in the high tunnel in November or December (whichever is the soonest we can find the time). Ranunculus and anemones are some of our favorites-in our climate they do best in a high tunnel. You can also grow them by planting them out early in spring but you need to constantly be aware of your temperature so they don't freeze and we find they perform best for us fall planted in the high tunnel. And then we have the tulips of course-one could go on all day about all the tulips-all the colors, shapes, and sizes. I also love a good narcissis too-you know the beautiful daffodils-peach, solid white, pink, big center cups, little center cups, and butterfly daffodils-just too many choices. Last year we planted 500 peach daffodils and oh my how I love! And then we have peonies-I always think about my grandmothers when I think of peonies. I have several that came from my grandmother's gardens and it's pure delight when they bloom-fully fragrant and beautiful.

Here are a few tips so all your plantings will be a success. Soil preparation is important and leaf compost is awesome. Be aware of the weather- planting when temps are in the 40 -50 degree range is ideal and no hard freeze coming to give your plants at least 4 weeks or more to develop a good root system. Pick plant varieties that do well in your hardiness zone. These tips will help you welcome spring blooms and put a big smile on your face!

This year I'm excited that we will have several bulb offerings and even peony roots you may purchase at our Autumn Garden Gala-that's our free community autumn on-farm event. And if I can figure it all out there will be a listing for them on our website as well. What can I say though? This is one of my favorite times of year just because of the exciting hope of planting all these beauties that will come to life in spring. Why don't you come along and join us? You will thank yourself come spring, my friend!