When I was a kid, the arrival of Indian summer was the last summer hurrah! It was still light enough to play outside after dinner, and warm enough to wear shorts. Even though school had begun, we still had a couple of weeks of warm summertime fun. Well, now I realize that it was also a couple more weeks of summertime flower color for my parents to enjoy in their gardens! Somehow, I think they must have planned ahead to ensure that the gardens were beautiful.

That's right. Now is the time to tuck into your garden beds and patio paradise containers some of your favorite late summer and fall blooming perennials and shrubs. This list of flowering plants includes just about every flower color that you can imagine. You may be the type of gardener who has a complete plan of colors, sizes and shapes in mind. Or you might be a gardener that loves just to collect plants of all colors, sizes and forms. You know who you are and what your style is.

There are plenty of late summer and autumn bloomers to choose from. Our plant selection is a veritable treasure chest of Indian Summer colors. Come into the garden center and begin choosing today. Don't forget to pick up a good quality compost to amend your native soil. Oh yes, and to promote the non-stop blooms, feed with a quality fertilizer.

Then sit back on that Adirondack chair, chaise lounge, or hammock--and enjoy your Indian Summer garden in full bloom!

Chrysanthemums are a mainstay of the fall garden. Pots of these colorful perennials really brighten up a porch, patio, or entryway.

They can also be used to decorate indoors; the fall colors are beautiful for holiday table settings. Mums come in a variety of types including daisy (single layer of petals), button mums (tiny spheres made up of dozens of petals), and spider mums (long arching petals with tips curved upwards). Yellow, rust, gold, bronze, and maroon, as well as pink, white, red, and lavender, are just some of the many exciting chrysanthemum colors.

It's that time of year that so many of us look forward to. Next to Christmas, Halloween and the Fall Harvest Season is the most popular time of year, and at Oconomowoc, we want to celebrate it with you!

We offer pumpkins and gourds in addition to other fall décor to help turn any home into a fall harvest paradise. Oconomowoc Landscape Supply and Garden Center is the perfect place to shop for all of your Halloween and fall decorating needs. Hurry in while supplies last!

Many gardeners are saddened when the dreary months of winter approach, because they believe it to hail the end of color in their garden. A yard filled with beautiful flowers in summer and fall suddenly seems impossible to duplicate when the weather is cold and the sun is hiding. But there are two plants that are becoming increasingly popular and cheering up winter gardens.

Let us introduce you to "Flowering Cabbage" and "Ornamental Kale." These ornamental plants look much the same as their cousins bred for the table, but have been bred specifically for their showy colors and ruffled foliage. They come in a variety of colors, ranging from white to pinks, purples, or reds. (The ornamentals are edible, but not bred for taste.)

More importantly, these plants can survive winter temperatures as low as 5 degrees. While a sudden severe cold can be deadly, these plants will do just fine if given time to acclimate. More interestingly, a light to moderate frost will even help intensify their brilliant colors. They actually prefer the cold and don't do at all well in the summer months.

Both flowering cabbage and ornamental kale prefer to be planted in the full sun but will tolerate some shade (although their colors might not be as intense). As with all other annuals, they do best when planted in rich soil amended. We recommend feeding them every two weeks to keep them looking their best. They also do very well in pots, making them great for adding a bit of color on patios and around entrances.

We invite you to visit us to see their vivid color displays. Then bring some home and cheer up your garden.

Perhaps one of nature's greatest miracles are flower bulbs. They go into the ground as a crusty brown bulb, and over the course of four to five months burst through the soil and become beautiful blooming flowers. And who doesn’t love to see daffodils or tulips and other flower bulbs in their full blooming glory? For many of us, it’s the first sign that spring has finally arrived.

Tulips, crocus and daffodils are the traditional standby bulbs. But for those that like the unusual, there are many spectacular varieties to choose from. They can be layered in containers or in your flower bed so that the colors just keep popping up. It’s best to consider how many layers (or rows) you want to plant and work from low bulbs in the front of your planting bed (or outside edge of container) and then gradually increase the height towards the back of the bed (or inside of the container).

The lowest growing bulbs are crocus, which are also the earliest blooming. Other great border bulbs that stay in the 6-8” inch range include anenome, chionodoxa, and puschkinia. In the middle of your flower bed or containers consider using amaryllis, babiana, freesia, leucojum, muscari, ranunculas, scilla, sparaxis and watsonia. For the back of the bed or middle of your containers plant allium, daffodil, Dutch iris, hyacinth, lycoris, narcissus, or tulips to complete your layered design.

Three bulbs need to be chilled for 4-6 weeks prior to planting in order to replicate their natural native growing environment. These include crocus, hyacinth and tulips. Simply place the in a paper bag in the back of your refrigerator and do not remove until your holes are dug and you are ready to plant. Drop them into their holes and cover them immediately.

Two spring blooming bulbs that perform better on their own are bearded iris and aAmaryllis bulbs. Bearded iris re-produce themselves and spread out over time so give them lots of room. The giant Dutch amaryllis perform better forced indoors in containers where their beauty can be enjoyed without venturing outside.

And last but not least, fall is the prime time to plant garlic bulbs, onion sets and seed potatoes. Plan ahead so you can enjoy a delicious summer harvest by planting these bulbs in the ground by the end of November.

Lilies, narcissus and hyacinths need to be planted in the fall as well. Don't forget that hyacinths and Oriental lilies are fragrant. Plant them where your nose as well as eyes can appreciate their beauty.

And last but not least, fall is the time to plant garlic. Planning ahead for a summer garlic harvest requires putting the bulbs in the ground in the fall. For a mild flavor try elephant garlic. The bulbs are larger but just as easy to grow as regular garlic.

So don't be disappointed when your neighbors have beautiful flower bulbs popping up in their gardens next spring and you have bare ground. Plan and plant ahead! Choose your bulbs now and plant in the fall to see the treasure of their blooms in spring.

Bonide Eight
Insect Control® Yard & Garden Spray

Eliminate insects from your yard and garden with Bonide Eight Insect Control® Yard & Garden Spray. This ready-to-use insecticide may be applied to vegetables, roses, flowers, and trees, shrubs, and lawns to control a wide range of flying and crawling insects. Apply to foundations, porches, eaves, and windows to control over 100 different indoor/outdoor nuisance pests such as ants, bagworms, beetles, borers, spider mites, moths, gnats, and tent caterpillars. Spray into hiding places, cracks, and crevices for residual control up to four weeks. Eliminate the insects that invade your yard and garden with Bonide Eight Insect Control Yard & Garden Spray. 

How often should I add mulch to my garden and how much should I use?

Answer:
Most types of mulch take a few years to break down and decompose. How much you use--and how often--depends on why you are using it.

• If you are just looking for aesthetics, maintain at least a 1" layer of mulch over your native soil.
• If you are also trying to suppress weed growth and want your soil to retain more moisture, we recommend maintaining a 2-3" layer of mulch around your plants.
• Always make sure to leave a little space around the stem base of bushes or tree trunks. This prevents rotting and allows your plants to get more oxygen.

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an exotic beetle native to Asia that was discovered in southeastern Michigan in the summer of 2002. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (immature stage) however, feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients, eventually killing the tree.

Since its first sighting near Detroit, it has spread with devastating effect, killing more than 20 million ash trees throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, northern Illinois and parts of Ontario, Canada. But it is a controllable pest and more important, there are products available that will help prevent them from attacking your trees.

Research tests over the last three years have shown that a yearly soil drench (around the base of the trunk and within the foliage drip line) with a product containing Imidacloprid is very effective. The sooner you start, the better, because it works best when started on a healthy tree.

Avoid applying soil drench if there is standing water under the tree. Drenching when the soil is moist is okay (except just before a heavy rain), and may even be helpful for moving the insecticide into the root zone. If you are in an area with heavily infested trees we also recommend using Acephate implants into the trunk of the tree for one or two years and then continuing with just the soil drench in following years.