Question: This is our first fall growing in the south. Growing down here is a a lot different than in Massachusetts where I grew up. What do we need to plant now for fall and to get ready for spring color? I cannot wait to see the Azaleas in bloom! Nancy, Mobile, Alabama
Answer: Nancy, planting iris, lilies and bulbs is the first step in the fall gardening program down south. Iris come first. Old rhizomes should be taken up, cleaned and replanted at once. Cut off any diseased parts and soak cleaned pieces in multi-purpose fungicide. Let the rhizomes stand in this bath for two hours then remove them to a sunny place for about 24 hours, until thoroughly dry. Replanting these rhizomes will give you an idea of how many of the new iris you will have room for. Along with the blues, purples, yellows and whites, order rose pinks and deeper shades.
Daffodils Follow
Daffodils should be considered next. It is advisable to buy ten bulbs each of ten different kinds. These will soon multiply and in a few years will require lifting and dividing.
Lilies – Regals Madonnas
Lilies are musts! Among the Madonnas, the Cascade strain is best of all. The centifoliums are never failing and come up year after year increasing the size of the clump. The regals are also effective and worth while. Give them a place where the roots are shaded by other plants like verbenas or petunias. Follow the directions for planting sent by the grower and you will have your just reward in beauty and fragrance at lily time.
Order Seed
Seed for fall planting must be ordered: You will need the varicolored and rich velvety Phlox drummondi to use along with the bulbs. The Covent Garden Market strain of gypsophila is best. This babysbreath is a wonderful asset to the bulb planting. Along with this broadcast seed of dainty blue Nemophila insignis, baby blue-eyes, on the outer edges of the planting. Vary it with linaria (Fairy Bouquet) and for an added low touch of radiance use Virginia stock. Sow these seeds as soon as you get your bulbs in.
Perennials for spring-flowering can be sown in flats now. Dust seeds with a fungicide before planting and keep flats covered with cloth until seedlings show. Don’t let them dry out, but never overwater. Try some of the long-spurred aquilegias. Dianthus of many kinds are available and easy to grow. The fragrance is so pleasing that they are needed in the garden as well as the house. Some of the hybrid kinds are striking and beautiful but are characterized by lack of fragrance.
