All the Dirt on Gardening

It's only the middle of August but it seemed like the end of September today as I spent most of the day starting the garden cleanup that I usually do later in the year. When the 105-degree days left, they were replaced by mid-80's and rain predicted. That's not August! That's September. At any rate, zinnias, tithonia, cosmos and nicotiana were deadheaded, weeds were pulled, daylily leaves were removed, fallen leaves were taken off daisies that look promising for a fall re-bloom. The approach of fall bittersweet, isn't it? Does approach of the end of the gardening season make you sad? TREES ROCK Scientist, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, was interviewed by the New York Times and the column is at this link . Beresford-Kroeger has degrees in Botany and medical biochemistry. She said in the article that trees are chemical factories with complex strategies to survive. Their flowers contain oils to repel mammals but have fragrance to attract pollinators. Wafer ash trees protect ...