I confess. I am definitely a plant hoarder. Every year, I amass a formidable collection of plant starts, and then spend evenings through the season walking around my garden, little pots in hand, trying to find a few square inches where I can fit them in. Then I make tags and put them in the spots I’ve found (or created by taking some other plant out). If the critters don’t pull them out, most of those tags wait months for the magical moment when the weather is mild enough for me to plant them – October at last!
Ipomopsis aggregata
What do I mean by ‘mild enough’? I’m talking about weaker sunlight and fewer hours of it, moderate and relatively cool temperatures, and frequent cloudy periods. In October, my soil stays moist longer, and the leaves don’t transpire faster than the roots can replenish moisture to plant tissues. And these factors make all the difference in the exposed, south-facing, unshaded, unirrigated “outer zone” of my garden, where rapid and fatal withering is a likely to occur in spring or summer. I also have great results with October planted own-root roses, as well as shrubs, trees and vines. Own-root roses should be planted so that the soil covers at least the bottom 3” of the canes. This helps insulate the crown of the plant and encourage formation of new canes. I mulch over the root zone but I don’t let the mulch touch the canes.
Fall-planted shrubs and trees are also the most successful for me. I might not wait until fall to plant late-bloomers like Rose of Sharon, Butterfly Bush or Bluemist Spirea, but you have to pay attention to watering thorough the winter for almost all new plantings. Evergreens especially.
An October Planting
An important tip for establishing new plantings: at the time of planting, apply active mycorrhizae spores to the roots of any new plant! 97% of plants on land partner with these beneficial fungi that either enter or coat the plant’s roots and bring water and nutrients to the plant in a symbiotic exchange for sugars produced by the plant through photosynthesis. Cool!
Two of the mixtures of mycorrhizae we stock are soluble in water so that you can sprinkle your new plant’s roots with the solution on its way into the planting hole.
Townsendia hookeri