This is a very sad time in the garden. Plants start to die back, fragrant flowers aren’t fragrant anymore, the bees quit visiting, birds vanish, flowers fade and fall off, leaves turn yellow and brown or maybe red if we are lucky.
So it is time to roll up sleeves and trim things back, mulch a few more tender plants, feed the mulcher/leaf shredder and build a second compost pile. We used to always scrub out the terra cotta pots and bring them inside to the basement for the winter. Two winters ago though, we emptied the pots as soon as they started looking sad early in September and put them into the shed to dry out thoroughly before the frosty season got started. We haven’t had a single pot break yet so I’m thinking that they only break if there is moisture in the pot when freezing temperatures arrive. I’m sure this would be the right time to say which plants did exceptionally well and what needs to be moved, but I think I need to ponder this a bit more. Maybe next week I’ll be more definitive than what I feel right now!
