"Echoes of Eden" Dayle King Searle

       So your garden yielded more pumpkins than you needed for Jack-o-lanterns this year. What do you do with the extra ones now that Halloween is over? My son thinks they are great for target practice, but I have a more practical use for them. Pumpkins are very nutritious. They are high in vitamins A & C, potassium, antioxidants, and fiber. They can be used to make pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies, and of course, pumpkin pie. I've even been known to substitute pumpkin for the squash in butternut squash soup, and the flavor was great.        When it comes to preserving pumpkin, I prefer freezing over canning. Home canning can't create the same, thick pureed pumpkin you get with commercially canned pumpkin. Instead the recommendations are to peel and cube raw pumpkin and can it that way. Too much work for me.      Instead, I bake pumpkin like I would squash. When the flesh is soft, I scoop it out of the rind, allow it to cool, and put it in freezer bags. A lot of instr

     I know it's too late to grow pumpkins for Halloween this year, but now is the time of year we think about them, so here are a few tips on growing good pumpkins for Jack-o-lanterns. Keep them in mind for your garden next year. 1.  Pick the right seed      Some varieties of pumpkins are better for cooking. They tend to be smaller with thicker flesh. Other varieties are better for carving. They tend to be larger with thinner flesh. Not that you can't cook a carving pumpkin or carve a cooking pumpkin, it's just that choosing the right variety makes what you intend to do with the pumpkin easier. Read the seed packages to determine what kind of pumpkin it is. 2.  Plant in the right spot      Pumpkins like a lot of sun and plenty of room. I plant mine next to the corn. The pumpkin vines are able to spread through the corn. An added benefit is that critters like raccoons and skunks don't like walking on the prickly stems of pumpkins, so they stay out of my corn.

       If a poll of "favorite autumn plants" was taken in southeast Idaho, I have no doubt dwarf burning bush ( Euonymus alatus 'Compactus') would win hands down. It doesn't just get red in the fall, it gets fire engine red. That is, it gets fire engine red MOST of the time. But what about when it doesn't? Who wants a burning bush that doesn't burn?                 Look on line, and most sites will tell you that if a burning bush doesn't get red it probably isn't getting enough sunlight. In most places this might be true. But here in southeast Idaho we are at a high altitude with a thin atmosphere and very intense sunlight. I have seen burning bushes growing on the north side of buildings in about as shady of circumstances you can find, and they are still bright red in the fall. So what else could be the problem?      As I was driving around the other day I noticed a row of burning bushes that seemed to be struggling to turn

Amur maples ( Acer ginnala ) produce a vibrant autumnal display with orange, yellow, and red leaves all on the same tree.   These trees are small, only reaching 15 to 20 feet in height. They are often grown as multi-stemmed trees and can become shrubby if not pruned regularly to maintain their tree form. But it is well worth the effort, because doing so shows off the twisting branches which give the tree a picturesque form.

               Plants are my favorite part of a garden, but coming in a close second is garden art. A bird bath nestled in a shrub bed or a figurine peeking above perennial flowers can act as a focal point or accent that makes the composition feel more complete.         Good quality garden art--pieces made from materials that will weather well--can be pricey, but in autumn stores are looking to clear out seasonal merchandise, so garden art can be purchased at a considerable discount this time of year. On the downside, the selection will be limited. Still it's worth looking. You never know when you'll come across a piece that will speak to your heart and make you smile every time you see it in your own flower bed. 

           We don't usually think of grass as "blooming", but the heads on grass are their flowers. Ornamental grasses are at their peak in late summer and early autumn. And if not cut back, they can continue on adding interest to the landscape into winter.          Feather Reed Grass ( Calamagrostis  x acutiflora) comes in multiple varieties. Some have variegated foliage and some reach 5 feet in height. What they all have in common is that they bloom early. This makes them ideal for areas like southeast Idaho that have a short growing season. The flowers are what give most grasses their ornamental interest, and having an early bloom time ensures that these grasses will bloom in a short growing season.

         Every spring I see crocuses, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and a host of other spring blooming bulbs and think, "I want more of those in my yard. I'll have to plant some next fall." Then fall comes and goes, and I forget to get it done--until the next spring when I see more crocuses, daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths.         So if you're like me and love spring blooming bulbs but never seem to get them planted in the fall, consider this your reminder. IF YOU WANT THESE IN YOUR YARD NEXT SPRING, YOU HAVE TO PLANT THEM NOW!

           First let me make it perfectly clear that I love making dandelion chains as much as the next girl, and I've done my share of making a wish before blowing the fluff off a dandelion that has gone to seed. I find dandelions absolutely delightful in the right place. The right place just doesn't happen to be in my lawn.          We usually think about spraying for dandelions and other weeds  in spring, because that is when they bloom most heavily and so are most noticeable. However, efforts to kill weeds early in the season often only burn off the top of the weed leaving the root intact. In early autumn perennial plants, including perennial weeds, prepare for winter by carrying much of what they take in down to their roots. This means herbicides applied in early autumn are more likely to be carried to the roots. And if the roots die, the plant dies. So early autumn is a great time to spray for weeds in lawns and landscapes.        Spray on a day when there is no win

     Oh how we love perennials, those wonderful flowers that come back year after year after year. However, sometimes they become overgrown with the centers of the plant dying out, or their clumps become too large for the space we've allotted them, or we just plain want more of them. The answer to all of these is to divide the plant--take one large plant and make several smaller ones so we have even more of the plants we love!      Dividing plants is easy to do. First, dig up the plant.          Next, using a shovel or knife, cut the plant into chunks making sure to include a large section of the roots and the plant in each section. Shaking as much of the dirt as possible off the root ball can help you see where the roots are and aid in this step.          And here we see the results--multiple plants from one clump. These plants can now be planted separately.              The cooler days of late summer and early autumn are a great time to divide pla

          Joe Pye Weed ( Eupatorium purpureum)  is a dramatic plant with dark burgundy stems and large clusters of pink flowers. It is a native wildflower in the humid conditions of the eastern United States, where it can get out of hand. But here in the dry conditions of the west, it is better behaved and can easily be kept under control.         Joe Pye Weed is a herbaceous perennial that  dies completely to the ground in the cold winters of eastern Idaho. In the spring it comes back and grows steadily all summer until it reaches 5-6' tall (though smaller varieties are available.)  Because of this, it needs to be planted in a spot where its absence won't be missed early in the season, but where it has plenty of room to grow. It does well behind early blooming perennials or tucked into a corner of the garden.                 Bloom time for Joe Pye Weed is late summer/early autumn. The individual flowers on the plant are not impressive by themselves, but the

         Hydrangeas are a plant most people associate with the Pacific Northwest with its humid climate and acid soil, not southeast Idaho with its dry climate and alkaline soil. But there are some varieties of hydrangea that are adaptable enough to grow well here. The following are a few varieties I've had enough experience with to vouch for.   Endless Summer Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bailmer')               I was skeptical when I first saw this hydrangea being sold in nurseries in this area. It is a Hydrangea macrophylla , a species of hydrangea that is not particularly adaptable. But happily time has proven me wrong. I have a neighbor who has been growing several of these bushes successfully for over five years. Bear in mind that the flowers on these bushes are blue in the nursery, but they will turn pink when growing in alkaline soil. With consistently repeated applications of soil acidifier it might be possible to keep the flowers blue, but

          So it’s that time of year again, sort of the gardening version of World War Z , only in this case the “Z” stands for zucchini not zombie. Even the most diligent gardener is going to have a day they forget to check their zucchini plant every fifteen minutes, and some of those zucchini are going to race right past the perfect eight inch long point and become squash monstrosities.         What do you do with those huge, overgrown zucchinis? I have recipes for zucchini bread, zucchini brownies, and even mock crushed pineapple made from ground up zucchini. But let’s face it, one, maybe two tops, giant zucchini provide enough ground up squash to make enough brownies, bread, and even fake pineapple to supply a small village. So what do you do with the rest of the crop?             I have the perfect solution--throw those zucchini onto the compost pile. When I make this suggestion to people, it is usually followed by looks of horror and the words “wasteful” and “guilty”

          Everywhere I drive these days I see bright bunches of black eyed Susan. These are wonderful perennial flowers to add late season color when most other perennials are done blooming and beginning to look a little bedraggled.          The plant most commonly identified as black eyed Susan is Rudbeckia flugida 'Goldstrum', but there are multiple species and varieties in the Rudbeckia genus with flowers ranging from 2 to 10 feet tall. Some are perennials, hardy even into zone 3. Others are annuals, but these usually seed freely enough that once they are established you can count on them coming back year after year. The one  thing these plants all have in common is the dark brown, almost black, center that gives the flowers their common name.           Rudbeckias are tough plants that tolerate a wide range of conditions and are fairly drought tolerant. They prefer full sun and well drained soil, but can take light shade, especially in areas like southeast Idaho whe

Beautiful lawns don't just happen. They take care and a lot of nitrogen. Ideally your lawn should be fertilized four times each year--twice about a month apart in late spring or early summer and again twice about a month apart in late summer or early autumn. If you use a mulching lawn mower, you can skip the second late season fertilizing. This is because grass clippings are high in nitrogen and when left on the lawn act as a slow release fertilizer.