Scouting Fall Flowers for Next Spring’s Planting by Carol Martin

Purple Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae): All photos by Carol Martin

Many gardeners, both novice and seasoned, see Fall as a time to put their gardens to bed. While this is an important task, I like to think of Fall as my first step in planning for the new plants I will put in my garden next Spring. Fall is the perfect time to take a look at your garden and evaluate whether you have enough plants blooming to make it attractive and to support our pollinators.

Here are some ideas and plant suggestions to keep your garden beautiful throughout the Fall months.

Growing Your “Third Season” Crops By Joyce D’Agostino

Leafy Greens Photo: Colorado State University

By now, many gardeners are enjoying the bounty of their warm season vegetables such as tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. However we do know that these vegetables do not tolerate frosts well and their production will be done in the fall.

If you would like to continue to harvest into the fall, there is still time to plant a few hardy garden crops. Many of these vegetables are very nutritious and will help extend your garden harvests even after some frosts.

The Top Ten Vegetables to Plant in August by Patti O'Neal

Photo Courtesy Pixabay

There is still time and August is a great time to get another round of crops into the ground for a bountiful fall harvest.  The first average frost date along the front range as been around the 2^nd week of October for most of the past decade.  This gives you nearly 90 days of growing time.  In that time, you can have a bounty of vegetables to enjoy all through fall. 

Top Ten Reasons Everyone Should Plant a Fall Vegetable Garden – And the Time Is Now! by Patti O'Neal

Many people are just beginning to see production on their tomatoes.  So it may be hard to think about what you will eat in October and November when your tomatoes are gone, but now is the time to think about that.  Colorado is well suited to fall gardening and winter harvest and it can be done successfully almost anywhere.  If you’ve never tried it, here are 10 reasons why you should.

Winter Hardy Rainbow Swiss Chard

1.  Gardens can be any size – So anybody can do it.

Fall crops are primarily greens and root crops, so they are very well adapted to container gardening, table top raised beds, raised beds of all kinds.  They are also well suited for intensive planting, so you really can get a big bang in a small space.  So even if you start with one container of spinach this year – do it.  You’ll catch the bug and increase it next year.

2.  There are many vegetables that thrive in fall front range gardens and can be planted NOW!

Beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, kale and chard can all be planted now.  August is the best time to plant arugula, cabbage, endive, spinach, cilantro and September you can plant bush peas, radishes, Chinese greens, more spinach and lettuce and the list goes on. Where it gets really interesting is in the varieties of each crop that is possible to try.  My fall garden has no fewer than 5 varieties of spinach, 10 varieties of lettuce and 4 Chinese vegetables, like Pac Choi and Bok Choi  and 3 kales to name a few.  Salads and stir fries are never the same. September or October is the time to plant garlic.