Change Your Bulb
Everyone knows fall is a great time to plant bulbs.
This year why not try something a little different? Garlic.
This delicious bulb is easy to plant and the steps are simple.
Start with a nice full head of garlic – best to use one from the Farmers Market rather than one from the supermarket which could have been treated.
Break apart the cloves but leave the paper husks on.
Plant the cloves about 2” deep and 4” apart in sunny, well-drained soil.
Cover with a layer of mulch and check back in spring.
Cut off flowers in spring to guarantee the biggest bulb.
Fertilize if the leaves start yellowing.
Harvest when the tops turn yellow and start to flop over.
Use a spade to dig up the bulbs, brush them off and let them cure in a shady spot for two weeks.
When the husk or wrapper is dry and papery and the bulb is hard, the garlic is ready to store.
Fothergilla
My Fall Plant Spotlight -Fothergilla.
One look at this deciduous shrub in fall and you’ll have to have one. It’s beautiful in the spring with white, fragrant bottle brush flowers appearing before the leaves. During the summer fothergilla’s textured leaves are a nice medium green.
But it is in late fall that this shrub shines. Orange, red, and yellow leaves combine on one knockout plant. Fothergilla will color best in full sun but can take some shade. One of my favorites for reliable color is ‘Mt Airy’.
Fothergilla major grows between 5-10 feet; fothergilla gardenii between 3-5. If you can’t decide which fall color you like best, why not plant a low-maintenance shrub that can give you them all?