Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

Crystal Rennicke

September’s photo challenge was one of my favorites so far. The theme was “leaves” and I really enjoyed the photos that were submitted. It made me appreciate the beautiful colors of fall and the changes that each season brings.

As autumn begins, take some time to appreciate the beauty around you, plant a few bulbs for next spring, and use our quick weekend guide to cleaning up your garden this fall. Take advantage of this time before that first snowflake falls!

Happy Gardening!
—Crystal

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READ ON TO DISCOVER...

• Plant of the Month
• Yard Smarts
• Question of the Month
• Frugal Backyard Tip
• Submit Your Story

Park Seed

Plant of the Month

Mesa Yellow Blanket Flower
An All-America Selections winner, this new and improved blanket flower can be sown in spring and bloom in summer through fall with bright daisy-like flowers. It’ll keep blooming profusely through fall and it’s a perfect plant for small-space gardens and containers.
Botanical name: Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Mesa Yellow’
Hardiness:Zones 4 to 9.
Size: 20 to 22 inches wide; 18 to 20 inches tall.
Growing Advice: Start seeds indoors a few weeks before the last anticipated frost. Transplant it after the soil has warmed in spring and watch it take off!

Click here for our Top Ten list of Fall Plants for Color.

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RDA-GID

Yard Smarts

Go Shopping!
The end of summer is the perfect time to find garden bargains and get a jump on planting for next year. Many garden centers receive a fresh supply of plants in fall or markdown their inventory this time of year. To ensure success, mulch the soil around your new plantings and water thoroughly until the ground freezes or plants go dormant.

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Question of the Month

RDA-GID

Growing Roses from Seed
Q: I have a yellow rose that has rose hips and seeds. If I plant these seeds, will they produce the same roses that they came from? This is the first time I’ve had rose hips, and I’m not sure what to do with them.
–Wanda Kyser, Grand Bay, Alabama

Melinda: Part of the wonder of nature and gardening are the surprises. And that is what you will likely get if you grow plants from the seeds in the rose hips.

Some of the offspring may look like your yellow rose, but the rest may look like the pollen donor or a mixture of the two parents. To give it a try, remove the seeds from the ripe (they turn color) rose hip. Use a knife to slice through the rose hip, remove the seeds and rinse off the pulp surrounding the seed. This prevents sprouting.

Store the seeds in a cool, moist environment. Some rosarians place the seeds on moist paper towels inside a sealed plastic bag. Others plant them in small containers or flats filled with moist potting mix.
Keep the seeds in your refrigerator for at least 6 (preferably 12) weeks. Remove them from storage and grow them like other seedlings indoors. You can move transplants outside after the danger of frost has passed.

For more expert advice for fall, click here.

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Frugal Gardener Tip

RDA-GID

Saving Seeds
For some gardeners, fall marks the start of yet another gardening cycle—saving seeds produced by the plants they nurtured all seasons. It’s a frugal and rewarding legacy we should try to keep alive. Wanna give it a try? Here are a few tips:

• Stop deadheading your fading flowers late in the season because cutting off the spent blooms usually removes the seedpods.
• Don’t save seeds if you planted different-colored blooms of the same variety in one area (like a bed of various-colored geraniums). After a few seasons of saving seeds from those flowers, they’ll eventually produce plants with unattractive, muddy-colored blooms, thanks to cross-pollination.
• If you have more than one variety of the same flower in your yard, don’t expect to save the seeds and grow the exact same plants next year. The varieties will likely cross-pollinate each other.
• Collect the seeds and dry them completely by spreading them on a piece of newspaper for a day or two. Keep the newspaper out of direct sun and in a spot protected from breezes that could scatter the seeds.
• Store them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, like a refrigerator or a ventilated basement. Label your containers and think spring!

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Submit Your Story

Have you committed a Backyard Blunder? Send your funny stories to our Just for Fun section using our Submit Your Story form.

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