Plan now for next year’s ‘second spring’

The ghosts and goblins of Halloween are only a couple of days away, bringing the certain knowledge that we are already halfway through autumn. We see the frost-blackened stems of annuals that only weeks ago were blazing with color. Our favorite perennials have stopped flowering and are slowly dying back, leaving us nothing but memories of their summer glory.

One of our favorite gardening magazines recently quoted the philosopher Albert Camus, who wrote that autumn is “a second spring when the leaves imitate the flowers.” What could be more descriptive of this colorful time of year?

Since we gardeners are always planning ahead for next year, take another walk through your fall garden now. Look at the places you will see through your windows during the fall and winter months. Are there empty spots where some fall color or shape will catch your eye? Is there space to add a new shrub that will provide winter interest or color?

There are many varieties of plants that bloom in fall or provide interesting foliage for several weeks after the autumnal equinox in September.

Among the most beautiful of these are the Japanese maple trees (Acer palmatum). These elegant small trees range from 2 to 35 feet tall, with varying shapes and textures. The leaves may be varied in color from the time they emerge in spring, but fall is the time when their gorgeous intense colors burst onto the scene in everything from orange to scarlet to purple. These trees need some tender loving care in our Zone 5 climate, but it’s worth every effort when you glance out the window at their spectacular fall coloring.

Burning bushes (Euonymus alatus) provide blazing red fall foliage and toothed, dark-green leaves during the summer. In winter, their dense growth habit provides interesting shapes when the stems are covered with snow. They are extremely hardy, drought tolerant, and thrive in almost any soil or light conditions. You can plant them as an easily pruned hedge or simply have one as a fabulous focal point in your fall garden.

If you have a shady spot that needs brightening up, consider hardy cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium, Cyclamen coum, and Cyclamen purpurascens). These small plants (4 to 6 inches high) bloom anytime from midsummer through late fall, or late winter through early spring, depending on variety. They produce delicate blossoms ranging from white to deep purple, live for many years, and self-sow readily.

We don’t often think of roses as providing fall and winter interest, but shrub roses, which bloom profusely throughout the summer, produce many rose hips, the pods left over when the flower dies. These bright red berrylike fruits are not only pretty in our gardens, especially when there’s snow on the ground, but also provide much needed nourishment and protective cover for birds when food supplies are low. They are also delicious and nutritious for us humans and have a higher level of Vitamin C than any citrus fruit. A variety of teas, jellies, and syrups can be made from rose hips, although you’ll have to harvest a lot of them to make just one cup of tea. Maybe it’s better to leave them for the birds.

It takes only a little planning this fall, a little planting in the spring, and next year, when autumn comes calling, maybe you, too, will have a “second spring.”

This week in the garden

Keep raking those leaves and dumping them in the compost bin. You’ll love them next spring.

As long as the ground hasn’t frozen, continue to provide water to your evergreen shrubs and trees.

If you haven’t already cleaned up the vegetable garden, get all the crop debris tilled into the soil now. Dispose of plant material that is diseased to prevent problems in next year’s garden.

Clean, oil and mend all hand tools. Winterize the lawn mower. Drain, coil and store hoses in a basement or cellar.

Protect loosely branched evergreens such as arborvitae and yews from heavy snow by tying the branches up with twine.

Get mulch, debris and tall weeds cleaned away from fruit trees and woody shrubs to discourage overwintering insects and pests like mice from nesting there.

Clean your gutters and downspouts, making sure that the outflow will not damage the roots of nearby plants.

.