Beaumont-Wilshire: The Real Dirt
With the summer heat receding it is time to get out in the garden again. Instead of just watering to keep the garden alive, autumn gives us the opportunity to actually develop and nurture our gardens.
Autumn is the best time to plant perennials and bulbs. The soil is still warm while the air temperature is cooler. This allows the newly settled plant to develop its roots while limiting its top growth, all in preparation for winter cold. Drier soil this time of year also protects it somewhat from the compacting our feet cause when the soil is wet in the spring.
There is no need to turn over the soil when planting in your garden. Dig a hole twice as large as the root ball. If you are worried about drainage, mix some sand and ¼ /10 gravel thoroughly into the soil at the bottom of the hole. Add sand and gravel moderately to the soil you use to backfill around the new plant.
Often in the NW, rains do not come regularly until late October, so we are not relieved of the watering duties. In particular need of careful, deep watering are the plants we have just placed in the ground.
Autumn is a beautiful season in Portland. Many lovely plants are in bloom now: Black Eyed Susan, asters, chrysanthemums, salvia and agastache, and—among bulbs—hardy cyclamen and fall blooming crocuses. Our lovely deciduous trees display fall colors.
The cyclamen (C. hederifolium) is a great plant, spreading slowly with the help of ants that love the sweet flesh around the seeds. Pink or white flowers emerge in September before a lovely show of patterned ivy-shaped leaves. Cyclamen coum also emerges in the fall, with pink flowers to follow. The leaves of both last through the winter, providing a sweet green ground cover during the coming cool, wet weather.