Monday, September 2 was Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, which will officially say goodbye three weeks later on Sept. 22, the Autumn Equinox. We have plenty of hot days left on the Middle Peninsula, but it isn’t too soon to begin thinking about what worked in your gardens this summer and what requires change.
One way to tell that fall is upon us is to take a look at the garden. The summer vegetables are close to their end, although the okra is still producing gorgeous green pods, and Jim has plenty of sweet peppers left for stir fries and shish kebabs.
The flower beds are looking pretty ragged and leggy. I have entirely too much Rudbeckia fulgida, a species of “Black-eyed Susan” that is native to much of Virginia. This herbaceous perennial is extremely hardy, but spreads aggressively by rhizomes and will take over a bed or border unless you remain vigilant. I like the cheerful yellow flowers, but tire of pulling out the strays that wander where they don’t belong.
If you grow pe...