The Sept. 22 equinox has come and gone. Now 2:30 in the afternoon feels like 4:30 just a couple of weeks ago. Less light on a daily basis puts all gardens and all growth onto a different footing. Leaves are coloring or dropping, and a lowly universe of fungi, snails, and slugs is emerging: nature’s breakdown crew.
Found in a shady spot where carex, azalea, and oak seedlings grow in leaf litter, this colorful sprouting of pinesap, now Hypopitys lanuginosa (syn. Monotropa hypopitys), is unusual. Similar, and more familiar, are the whitish to pink Indian pipe flowers, Monotropa uniflora, that typically occur earlier in summer.
The rosy-red coloration of pinesap flower clumps is surprising. I was able to get identification and more information from a botanically informed friend. This link for pinesap, bit.ly/Wiki_Pinesap, explores this group of flowering plants in much greater detail. They are uncommon. Pinesaps benefit from woodsy habitat where fallen leaves and mycorrhizae support their requirements — another plus on the “leave” side of the Leave the Leaves debate.
Deer mating season
Deer mating season, called the rut, actually began in August. Bucks chasing does are just another fact of Island life for drivers here. Buck-rubbing of slender saplings and branches is another. It occurs when bucks attempt to remove the velvet on new antlers. The behavior may also involve territorial marking.
Bucks often return repeatedly to the same rubbed trees in more than one season. Girdling the bark puts their survival at risk; the plants require protecting. Place wire, plastic, or burlap wrapping around the trunks when you find buck-rubbed trees.
Early fall
The pretty goldenrod-anemone combo growing together in part sun, part shade remains showy over a period lasting more than eight weeks. In the morning the plants are shaded. By noon they are in full sun and covered in pollinators. The goldenrod is native and self-planted. The anemones are Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima.’ Both are tough, tall, and late-blooming, with spreading tendencies. They pair well with the nearby cascading lespedeza, ‘Gibraltar.’
Solid information about anemones, comments, and good photos are at bit.ly/3DG_Anemones. Generalizing: Fall-blooming anemones prefer some shade, and good soil that is moist but not boggy.
It is often said that next year’s garden begins now, in the fall. We can begin cutting back and clearing the decks, restructuring in ways that were unthinkable in summer, while still enjoying late summer flower power.
As long as transplanted and planted material is well-watered, fall conditions make a good time to plant. Now the light that reaches earth from the sun has changed. The wavelength is more to the infrared end of the spectrum. This penetrates soil, just as a cafe’s heat lamp keeps your order warm, and promotes the growth of root systems unseen and underground. Fall rains usually arrive; if not, watering is critical for transplanted and planted material.
Leaves of deciduous trees are green during the warm part of the year, colored by the chlorophyll they use to absorb energy from sunlight during photosynthesis. A paragraph from the Smithsonian website describes it: “Most of the year, leaves on deciduous trees are a rich green color because of the abundance of chlorophyll within each of the many chloroplasts within a cell. But the yellow and orange pigments you see in autumn are actually always there. They are just masked until other changes happen.”
However, leaves start to color when trees break down natural, recyclable sugars and send them down to root systems for storage, leaving behind other pigments. These may have been present, masked by chlorophyll, or produced late in the season. Please go to bit.ly/SSEC_FallLeaves for a more complete look at these seasonal processes.
Garlicky thoughts
As garlic-planting season nears, garlic is in minds. Fall cooking becomes heartier, with garlic an indispensable ingredient. Garlic beds must be prepped for best crops and results. Seed garlic, if ordered, is due to arrive any day.
Cooking with garlic is widespread across continents, something that actually unites diverse peoples and cuisines, although each may have its preferred types and crops. Garlic is not only a flavor enhancer (and vegetable in its own right, usually roasted), but is also a medicinal food.
When used as a medicinal food, and to get the most benefit of garlic (whether you grew it yourself or bought it at the store), bruise it before using; then wait a few minutes for the compound allicin to be released. Chefs use the flat of their knives to do this, using a forceful, downward push. I use a small olive wood mortar; it holds the cloves for bruising without their jumping around.
Allicin’s biological activity can be attributed to both its being an antioxidant and its reaction with thiol-containing proteins. It is not present in garlic unless tissue damage has occurred. Read more about the medicinal, chemical properties of garlic and allicin here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allicin.
Worming mash
The season’s turning is a good time to worm poultry and clean chicken coops, where garlic also plays a role. These measures are prophylactic for flock health. Flocks are moulting, perches and nesting boxes need cleaning.
Mix in food processor:
7 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 large head of garlic
1 lb. pumpkin seed
dry rolled oats
In the garden
Large black-and-yellow garden orb weaver spiders are harvesting insects to fuel their reproductive purposes. It is easy to blunder into the webs of these “garden allies” if the locations are not noted. A large, tan, spherical egg case results once the mother has consumed sufficient food. She attaches it in a protected spot, where it remains over winter.
Resist the temptation to deadhead mophead hydrangeas (H. macrophylla) now, and leave old flowers as protection against any weird weather the coming winter season may throw our way. Dead canes in congested crowns may be removed; they often pull or crack off easily.
Dig and divide peonies, leaving three or four buds per crown.
