Favorite Flowers: Snapdragons

Lavender and white snapdragons

Allergy Index Scale: 1
Perennial, commonly sold as annual
Full sun, 10 inches - 4 feet

The snapdragon is a cool-weather plant, so now with the pleasant fall temperatures, my snapdragons are blooming profusely again.  Since they can tolerate some frost, I plant them early in the spring, generally a couple of weeks before the last spring frost date.  They bloom beautifully all spring and into the early summer.  Then I trim them back, water them well, and see little from them until fall, when most will resume flowering.

Snapdragons are available in a wide range of colors, just about everything but blue, as well as softly-shaded bi-colors.  They bloom along a flower spike, opening gradually from the bottom upwards.  They have a light fragrance, and attract butterflies.  Snapdragons come in various heights: dwarf ones that grow to about 10 inches, medium at about 18-24 inches, and tall that may reach 3-4 feet.  I generally prefer the dwarf snaps, as they fit better into my flowerbeds, don't require staking as do the taller ones, and come in the largest choice of colors.

Getting Ready for Winter

Peas, marigolds and parsley in late October

There are a number of things as a gardener that I do each year to get my garden ready for winter. Any hard work I do now, will save me even more work in the spring.

As flowers and vegetable plants die, I remove the dead plants, so they don't harbor insect pests or diseases over the winter.  Perennial stems I cut back to ground level. A few things that offer valuable food for local birds, such as coneflowers, I leave until spring. Healthy plant stems and leaves can be shredded or chopped and added to compost, but anything that may have had any disease or pest problems should be put in the trash. I also watch out for any kinds of seeds.  If your compost pile doesn't get hot enough, disease organisms, weeds, and seeds may not be killed during the composting process, and you'll just be multiplying these problems.

Favorite Flowers: Pansies

Allergy Index Scale:  1
Hardy Perennial, generally grown as annual, zone 4-8
Full sun, 6 - 9 inches

One of my favorite fall traditions is pansy planting time. Pansies are a classic fall and winter flower for the southern states, in planting zones six through nine. Mine bloom profusely all fall long, off and on in the winter, and then again throughout the spring.  They give me flowers at times when everything else is dormant.  Every winter I've seen them blooming cheerfully in the midst of snow.