Do you not have a problem with squirrels digging up the tulip bulbs I plant lots of daffodil or narcissus in my garden beds. Each year more, this being my fourth fall in this property Hesitate to plant tulips as the squirrels tend to go for them. Tulips are so tempting but I try to stay away from looking at them Actually I have a bed in the front right along the sidewalk and all 60 feet across. There are lots of bulbs in it and in spring, last spring, it was looking good. That big sweep of yellows in spring looks good.

I started some key hardscaping/bed building projects early last spring, and finished up during the hottest days of summer. in the past, i reserved the hardest physical work for spring & fall - but i was so inspired this summer i kept going ... and going. (i have this forum to thank for the motivation, and for bringing out the fearless gardener in me.) so, what i've left to do this fall, and over the winter, are easily executable "master-plan" sort of things: * when the time comes, plant the 500+ daffodil bulbs i've been storing. * till & amend bed to receive the cl "cecile brunner" on order for next spring - it will cover my chicken coop ala martha :) * burn 3 tree stumps to below ground level. * i've removed all the grass, and have tilled-up my (small) front yard. need to finalize bed layout & amend; dig up dozens of liriope; cut down the "failure to thrive" dogwood; build low stone wall along curb; remove the last 2 original (1968) foundation shrubs at front porch & raise/amend the bed. i'll spend the winter figuring out what to plant next spring. * bury all remaining (15?) plants in pots to winter over. it's down to things i'm completely undecided as to where they should go. I've been calling this "planter's block" for years - it was a relief to learn it's not an affliction unique to me :) * leaves. for several months, i'll rake & chop for winter mulch. * i have about a half-mile (exaggerating)of backyard fenceline that borders the woods. i've had it with the weeds sneaking into my beds from the woods side, so i'm laying bales and bales of straw, along with yard leaves, for weed prevention. i hope this will be a visual improvement, as well - i think it will create more contrast between my beds and the flora behind them. * continue using "spare change" to buy kitchen garden cobblestones. i should have enough to adequately raise the beds by spring planting. start studying mosaic work for the center circle. * transfer all the notes on bits of paper into my journal & card file. make new cards for any 2005 plants i've missed. * i've resolved to spend more time this fall/winter on reading, researching, and planning my spring 06 seed & plant purchases. i'll pay particular attention to the kitchen garden & shrub borders. this has been a valuable exercise. happy fall, marsha

Just finished looking a ALL the pictures and enjoyed each and every one!!!! I did the slide show, but probably should have put more seconds in between. I so enjoyed the one picture of the rocks. The suttle shades of color were amazing. I can see that you are very much newly weds! LOL Makes me wonder where the spark went from my 46 + years of marriage. I think there is a tiny flame still flickering somewhere. LOL Connie

Leslie, I know it seems crazy, doesn't it, but it is time...and for folks further north and further west, planting time is painfully close cause those areas tend to get the autumn freezes earliest. I was thinking about this on Sunday and thinking I should dig out the seeds of the tomato varieties I intend to grow for a fall harvest and get them started. I haven't done it yet. I think the late spring has us all off-balance. I keep looking at the calendar and thinking, in a most bewildered way, "how can it possibly be June already?" It is making me crazy. I feel like I am out of step with the calendar this year. wbonesteel, My squash, melons and pumpkins are just starting to run and climb their trellises. It seems late, but then I have to remind myself we had freezing temperatures and frost during the first week in May, so of course everything is late. That doesn't make it feel any better though. And, y'all know, most of us are the lucky ones. We haven't lost our homes, vehicles, landscaping, gardens, and even pets, family members, friends, etc. to severe weather. While we may feel out-of-sync this summer, I cannot imagine what life feels like right now for gardeners who have been left homeless and gardenless. Gardening can be incredibly therapeutic and healing, which they need, yet they are unable to garden right now, and they certainly have much larger issues to deal with. luvabasil, I got the Territorial Seed Company's fall and winter catalog today. Is that the one you received? They have had a fall and winter catalog for at least the last 10 or 12 years, and maybe even longer. I've only received it for the last 10 or 12 years. Flipping through it gets me into a fall gardening frame of mind. For anyone who is reading this thread and saying "Fall tomatoes?", I'd just like to explain them briefly. The tomato plants that are lush, gorgeous, flowering, setting fruit and oh-so-beautiful in June are not likely to look quite so lush, gorgeous and beautiful by late July or early August. Not only is our intense heat and sunlight very hard on them, but so are the multitude of pests. So, lots of gardeners start over with fresh plants for fall, generally planting them in a different location from the current plants. By the time the spring-planted tomato plants are starting to look really awful by, let's say, late-August, the recently-planted fall tomato plants either already are setting fruit or are just waiting for temperatures to fall into the right range for fruit set to occur. You don't "have to" start over with new fall plants if you don't want to. You usually can carry plants through summer and into fall here most years unless a huge insect or disease outbreak occurs. The recommended planting dates to put fall tomato plants in the ground are July 1- July 15. Now, the order is exactly opposite of the spring planting dates. With the summer/fall planting dates, the folks in northern and western OK put in their fall tomato plants according to the earlier dates and the folks in southern and eastern OK put in their fall tomato plants by the later dates. People in the middle of the state choose a date somewhere in the middle of the range of dates recommended by OSU. I have found that the stores here don't seem to heed the OSU-recommended dates and often don't have fresh tomato plants for fall until mid- to late-July. What I have found is that most years, my spring-planted tomato plants simply exhaust themselves fighting the heat, wind, hail, pests and diseases all summer, and also exhaust themselves by producing tons of fruit, so that fresh, new plants usually perform better for me than spring plants carried through summer and into fall. I try to keep the spring/summer plants going as long as possible so usually I still am harvesting fruit from at least some of the spring plants while just beginning to harvest some from the fall tomato plants. When choosing varieties for a fall tomato harvest, you increase your odds of success if you choose early varieties or even mid-season varieties, but not so much with late-season varieties....unless you are growing in containers and can move late-season varieties into a greenhouse or sunroom to keep them from freezing in autumn. Further south of us in central TX and southward, where the heat generally arrives earlier than it does here and lasts a ridiculously long time in summer, their tomato production often is shut down pretty early, so for them, fall tomatoes are a second chance to get more fruit once the temperatures are cooperating. The further north you go, and this is especially true in OK, the less imperative it is to have new fall plants as you often can carry the spring plants throughout the season with some judicious pruning at mid summer to force them into a new vegetative growth spurt. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: OCS Map: Ave Date of First Fall Freeze