Something strange is about to happen inside our homes. That houseplant that has been perfectly happy for months suddenly isn't drinking as much water. Another one drops a leaf. Your pothos isn't growing as quickly. The plant beside the window starts leaning toward the glass. And you think, "𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐈 𝐃𝐎?!" 😳 Probably nothing. Your houseplants know something has changed. The days are getting shorter. The angle of the sun is changing. Your furnace may soon be running. Indoor humidity changes. And although your house feels pretty much the same to you, your plants notice. So today we're temporarily leaving the patio and heading into our 🏠 indoor plant nook! Because fall isn't only a transition season for outdoor gardens. Our houseplants are going through a seasonal shift too. And one of the biggest mistakes we can make is continuing to care for them exactly the way we did in July. ☀️ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 #𝟏: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 This is probably the biggest seasonal change happening indoors. During summer, your houseplants may have enjoyed: ☀️ Longer days ☀️ Stronger sunlight ☀️ More total hours of usable light As fall progresses, the days get shorter. The sun's position changes too. That means a plant sitting in exactly the same location may receive significantly different light in November than it did in June. Your furniture didn't move. Your plant didn't move. But the sun did. ☀️😂 🪟 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊 Walk through your house during the day. Look at where the light actually falls. Ask... ☀️ Which windows are brightest now? 🌿 Are plants leaning toward the light? 🌱 Is new growth becoming stretched? 🎨 Are variegated plants losing some of their pattern? 🍂 Is a plant dropping leaves? Some plants may benefit from moving closer to a brighter window as fall progresses. But don't go from dark corner to intense direct sun without thinking. Plants can still experience leaf damage when suddenly exposed to much stronger direct light than they're accustomed to. Gradual changes are usually easier on the plant.

We've spent a LOT of time talking about what we can do with our plants as the season changes. We've learned how to: ❄️ Protect them from frost ♻️ Reuse our potting mix 🏠 Bring certain plants indoors ✂️ Take cuttings or divisions But there's another way your garden can give you a head start on next year. And this one requires almost NO storage space. We're talking about...🌱 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒! Those tiny little packages your plants have been quietly making all season. And here's the amazing part, inside something small enough to fit on the tip of your finger may be everything needed to start an entirely new plant next year. That's pretty incredible when you stop and think about it. It's also pretty incredible when you stop and think about how much money we spend buying seeds while our gardens are outside... 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄. 😂 So today we're learning how to collect some! 🌱 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓? Technically, lots of plants produce seeds we can collect. But...𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄. And not every saved seed will produce exactly the plant you're expecting. For beginners, the easiest place to start is with plants that: 🌱 Produce obvious seeds 🌸 Are easy to identify ☀️ Have seeds that can mature and dry on the plant 🧬 Are open-pollinated varieties if you want offspring more likely to resemble the parent Some plants make seed saving ridiculously easy. Others turn it into a science project. We're starting with ... 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐘. 😂 🌼 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐀 – 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃 Remember our calendula? If you've stopped deadheading a few flowers, you may already have seed heads developing. After the flower fades, allow the seed head to mature and dry. Calendula seeds are wonderfully strange-looking. They're curved. Bumpy. Sometimes almost like tiny little dried caterpillars. Once you've seen them, they're pretty easy to recognize. Let the seeds mature and dry well before collecting them. Then store them for next year. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬.

It's moving day! The temperatures are dropping. Our Second Spring garden is cruising along. But some of the plants we've enjoyed all summer are beginning to look nervously toward the house. 🌿 "Sooooo...is there room for me in there?" Maybe.😂 Because today we're talking about: 🏠 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄! Every fall, container gardeners face the same question: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫? Sometimes the answer is: 𝐘𝐄𝐒! Sometimes it's: 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄... And occasionally it's: 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝟎-𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐭. 😂 Because overwintering doesn't necessarily mean dragging every container into the living room. We have options! We can: 🏠 Bring the entire plant indoors ✂️ Take cuttings 🌱 Divide a plant 🪴 Move something into a protected location ❄️ Leave cold-hardy plants outside 🗑️ Say goodbye to plants that have completed their season The trick is figuring out which option makes sense for WHICH plant. But before anything crosses the threshold, we need to talk about: 🐛 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒. 🚨 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 #𝟏: 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 Please don't look at your lovely herb pot and think: "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆!" then carry it straight to the kitchen windowsill beside your houseplants. Because your herb may not be traveling alone. Outdoor plants can be carrying: 🐛 Aphids 🕷️ Spider mites 🪰 Whiteflies 🐜 Ants 🥚 Insect eggs 🐌 Slugs or snails 🪰 Fungus gnats or other organisms in the potting mix And outside? Many of these aren't a huge problem because predators, rain, weather, and the larger ecosystem help keep things in balance. Inside your warm house? You may have just opened: 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋-𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐒. 😂 Warm temperatures. No frost. No rainstorms. No predators. All-you-can-eat plants. They'll leave you a five-star review. 🔍 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝟏: 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 Before bringing ANY outdoor plant inside look carefully. And I mean REALLY look. Check: 🌿 Tops of leaves 🔍 Undersides of leaves 🌱 New growth 🌿 Where leaves meet stems

We've added some beautiful flowers to our Second Spring containers: 🌸 Pansies & violas 🐲 Snapdragons 🌸 Dianthus 🌼 Calendula Today we're adding something that can provide some of the most dramatic fall color of all. Except... 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑. 😲 Those huge purple, pink, white, and green rosettes you see filling garden centers every fall? Meet: 🥬 𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐄 & 𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐄! They're leafy vegetables dressed up for a night on the town. 😂 And the colder the weather becomes...𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤. 🌸 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭...𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫? Nope! Look closely at ornamental kale or cabbage. What appears to be one enormous flower is actually a collection of 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒. The leaves form a beautiful rosette, with colors that may include: 💜 Purple 🩷 Pink 🤍 White 💚 Green ❤️ Burgundy And combinations of several colors. That's why these plants are so valuable in fall containers. They give us the appearance of a giant flower...𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦. ❄️ 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬... Unlike many summer plants, ornamental kale and cabbage don't panic when temperatures start dropping. They actually LIKE cool weather. And here's the really fun part: 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞. As fall progresses and nights become chilly, those centers may develop richer shades of pink, purple, red, and white. So while we're watching some summer flowers fade... Our ornamental kale may actually be getting prettier. It's almost as though the plant says: "𝐎𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥? 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫." 😂 🥬 𝐎𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐯𝐬. 𝐎𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞 They're closely related, and you'll often see the names used together. But there's an easy general difference to look for. 🥬 𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐄 Usually has broader, smoother or more gently wavy leaves and forms a tighter head-like rosette. 🌿 𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐄 Usually has more ruffled, frilly, or deeply textured leaves. Think: 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞 = 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞 = 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫.

Yesterday we started adding color to our Second Spring garden with pansies and violas. Today we're going... 𝐔𝐏! ⬆️🌸 Because one of the tricks to creating a beautiful container is having plants at different heights. And today's flower can give us exactly that. Meet the wonderfully colorful... 🌸 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍! Snapdragons produce tall spikes covered with flowers in shades of: ❤️ Red 🩷 Pink 💛 Yellow 🧡 Orange 🤍 White 💜 Purple 🌸 And all sorts of beautiful combinations in between. But before we talk about growing them... We need to answer the question every child—and quite a few adults—eventually asks: 🐲 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍? 😂 𝐆𝐨 𝐀𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝...𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫! Take an individual snapdragon flower and gently squeeze the sides near its base. If you find just the right spot... 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫'𝐬 "𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡" 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬! Release it... and the mouth closes again. It looks a little like a tiny dragon opening and closing its jaws. Hence: 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏 + 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍. 🐲🌸 If you have grandchildren nearby, you now have approximately 15 minutes of free entertainment. You're welcome. 😂 🍂 𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 Here's why they belong in our Second Spring garden. Snapdragons are 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥-𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬. They often struggle or slow down during intense summer heat, particularly in warmer climates. But when temperatures begin cooling? They can put on a beautiful show. That's why you may see garden centers filling back up with snapdragons as fall approaches. While some summer flowers are preparing to call it quits... Snapdragons may be saying: "𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧." 🌸 ❄️ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 Those flowers look delicate. The plants aren't nearly as fragile as they appear. Established snapdragons can tolerate chilly temperatures and light frost. Exactly how long they'll continue blooming depends on your climate, variety, and weather conditions. In mild climates, they can perform for a surprisingly long time. In colder climates, they'll eventually encounter temperatures that are simply too severe.