"By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer's best of weather, And autumn's best of cheer." Jackson

Soon in the gardening world there will be great sighs of relief heard around the world. Here in North Florida especially. We are over the hard part of summer. We will still have warm days, but God always teases us in September with cool breezes and the light flutter of falling leaves. In our gardens that are full, the flowers will start to fade. At home, this is the month I move back outside. My porch becomes the foyer, and soon I'll be able to leave the front door open. I will be able to rock on the front porch and read. I look up from my reading to watch the birds, the butterflies and the bees. As many flowers fade, others perk up and will give us another show. A few weeks ago it was as if God opened a door and let out all the butterflies. While at work they were thick some brushed my arms lightly as I walked through the flowers. One even landed on me. It was wonderful.

As the weather changes, the flowers change. We're heading into the 'Golden Month' where so many trees and shrubs start to turn to yellow. We start to decorate for fall and delight in the spoils of our work. The most popular flowers for fall are the chrysanthemums or garden mums. These are one of my favorite flowers for many reasons. They're perennials (they come back every year) and they come in a variety of bloom styles and so many colors. You can find mums in many different shades of reds, yellows, whites, oranges, pinks or bronzes. My favorites are the bright yellows the dark reds and, of course, white. As soon as the mums come to the nursery I start bringing them home. I have many pots sitting in my different gardens. Summer annuals that are spent, I dump. The potted perennials I plant in the garden. I drop the fresh mums into these pots. You notice I said "drop" not plant. As long as you keep the potted mums watered they will last up to six weeks or longer in bloom. Always buy the plants with tight buds, just a little bit of color showing. This way you get to watch every day as more and more flowers open. The key is to keep them moist, not soggy. Mums can be grown in full sun or just a half-day of sun. They will not open if they're in too much shade. Throughout the fall as the mums in certain pots fade or bloom out I plant them in the perennial garden or under my climbing roses. Just cut back the spent flowers and many times this will let enough light in to the buds below and before you know it the plant will be in full bloom again. Over winter, mums will burn down to the ground only to come back strong in spring. If you've never planted mums, I encourage you to try some this fall. You won't be disappointed. Another fall flower is cassia bush. This is a wild senna and blooms large yellow clusters. The plant gets tall in one season, but winter helps us to control the height by taking it down to the ground each year. The whole plant folds up at night, leaves and all, and puts itself to bed. I have a summer cassia that blooms all summer, but the leaves and flowers are miniature compared to the fall cassia that is getting ready to put on its autumn show. Philippine violets are another fall bloomer. These are large perennial shrubs that have beautiful purple flowers. As the weather changes the leaves of this plant turn to beautiful reds and oranges. The contrast of the purple flowers with the bright foliage is amazing.

Of course, for the vegetable growers the fall peppers and tomatoes have already arrived and will be even more plentiful as the month moves forward. Now is the time to get your warm weather vegetables planted out. Next month will be for cooler vegetables like greens, spinach, collards, lettuce, turnips, onions and many more. I do my winter vegetables in pots and set them throughout my herb garden. Big Sam, my Labrador, loves my lettuce and gets scolded, but only when he gets caught, which wasn't too often last year. He's taller this year and I have a feeling his reach will be even better.

In the rose garden over the next few weeks I will be doing a lot of clipping. The bushes are huge and a few have gotten totally out of control. I will cut back some by one third, others in half. They will have plenty of time to flush and bloom many times before winter. We fertilize our roses heavily in September and October. Then stop. They will continue to bloom, but we stop the fertilizing in October to discourage new growth going into winter.

Your lawns will need to be fed also. Some people put out weed-n-feed. If you do make sure the temperature is correct (cool) and you water well to prevent damaging your grass. In October and November your grass will need the winterizer blend of fertilizer. This will feed the roots and prepare the lawn for cold weather.

Just think, in only weeks we'll be planting pansies and johnny-jump-ups. I'll be replanting fresh herbs and drying the summer spoils. I can hardly wait. This past week I went home to upstate New York. I haven't been home in summertime for ten years. The open farmland and meadows of wild flowers were magnificent. Purples, yellows, blues with white Queen Anne's Lace. Wherever you looked fields of flowers were everywhere. It made my garden seem so small, so ordinary. But then I remembered my roses. No there were no roses, wild or tamed like the one's He's given me. I felt extremely blessed while looking on God's gardens. There is nothing to compare. It is a privilege just to see the glimpse of what there is to be.