I approach every September with mixed emotions, and sometimes I feel that that my plants follow me into this cycle. It is almost like every day is a going away party, much like I hope to feel the summer that my son graduates from high school.

Why worry if your house is surrounded by deck and no garden to look out from your windows? …

When is it safe to plant in May?…

The sticky smell of petunias, the cinnamon flavor of the snapdragons…

Every year is different, but this year we chose snap dragons, plum petunias, wine petunias, pink angelonia, pink and red geraniums, dusty miller, whit alyssum for the edges, red and purple verbena, trailing sweet potato vine in both green and purple, euphorbia, and, my special secret, dahlia bulbs.