Embracing the Beauty of Fall

Fall is truly my favorite time of year. Not only is it the season of my favorite holidays (and Tony’s and my birthdays) but the season brings an exquisite Autumn color palette featuring rich shades of burgundy, vibrant orange, earthy browns, and deep forest greens. As the days progress, the temperatures begin to cool, even if only by a few degrees, providing a refreshing change from the heat of summer. Additionally, the humidity gradually decreases, making time spent in the garden much more comfortable and enjoyable. I’m looking forward to the upcoming change of seasons and new year.

Recently, on Better Lawns and Gardens, I had the pleasure of speaking with Katie Dubow, President of the Garden Media Group. In September, the company marked an impressive milestone, celebrating 25 years of forecasting garden trends. Their ongoing research continues to shape the gardening world, and according to their latest findings, the prominent theme for 2026 will be “Lemonading.”

 Lemonading, the ability to reframe problems with creativity into ideas and solutions. This new phrase provides opportunities for people to enjoy life and stylize it to their own personality and needs. How does Katie and the Garden Media Group Dream Team think lemonading will shape gardening in 2026?  The company’s research shows that people will be:

• Looking for joy, relaxation, seeing their efforts make a difference, not only in gardening but in their world.

• More “kidulting” with new software, using games and technology from our youth (and adulthood) to relax but also to be a better gardener.  

• Setting yourself apart with collections, bento-style vignettes, especially rare and exotic plants, unusual pets, and re-shaping outdoor spaces.

• 2026’s Color of the Year: Faded Petal. A beautiful vintage soft pink color is muted by light ash. See their flower and shrub species recommendations you can add to your landscape to showcase this new color in the link below.

Katie and her all-female staff’s predictions make sense in today’s accelerating by-the-day-world. Each of the categories is explained in depth in the Annual Report.  It’s a fun read and I will be very interested to see how much is spot on target for our future. We’ll see.

The Garden Media Group’s Annual Report can be downloaded free here.

During our final Art in Bloom Garden Tour of the year, in the New York’s Hudson River Valley, participants experienced wonderful weather and vibrant floral displays while visiting distinguished estates and notable botanical garden exhibitions. At the New York Botanical Gardens, attendees viewed The Van Gogh Flower Show, which featured an impressive selection of sunflowers, artistically arranged frames and easels with real floral compositions, as well as landscape beds designed to evoke Van Gogh’s iconic floral paintings. Additional gardens included Stonecrop Gardens, Kykuit at the Rockefeller estate, and the Gothic Revival Lyndhurst Mansion.  

A serendipitous discovery at the Lyndhurst Mansion was that it was used as the exterior backdrop of the mansion for the 1960’s gothic “Dark Shadow” soap opera series. It was my favorite soap opera next to All My Children. The house’s interior was decorated for Halloween and so much fun to walk through. I appreciated that the home did allow for interior photographs.

Another of our garden tour stops, Wave Hill, a public garden that offers incredible views of the Hudson River and features a variety of themed gardens with creative beds, art work, and diverse plant combinations. The botanical garden includes numerous plant displays that are suitable for growing in Florida's climate. The Kate French Terrace garden beds showcase color schemes including jewel tones and soft grays, which are well suited for the fall season. I include my favorite in Teresa’s Landscape Design Tips. Does it work for you?

October marks the start of Fall gardening, so consider a soil test and fertilizing if it's been a while. Adjust soil amendments and pH as needed and consult planting guides for this month's What To Do In Your Landscape in October.

My Plant of the Month is a medium-sized shade shrub with evergreen leaves, fall and winter blooms, and no pest issues—an ideal choice for your garden.

In Lizzie’s Gardening Adventures, discover how her garden gives back and how she finally resolves turkey troubles. She rules her roost!

Horrific landscape malpractice has kept me awake for decades and is as scary today as ever. Just because “Halloween” season is approaching, doesn’t mean you have to create your own “Nightmare on Elm Street.”  Learn how to properly prune your landscape.  

Please comment below if you have any gardening questions or thoughts. I hope you enjoy the newsletter and are looking forward to the cooler temperatures and holiday season. I know I am.

1. Variegated Dogwood, Cornus alba ‘Variegata’ Zone 2 - 8

2. Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’ Zone 7b - 10b

3. Giant Double Begonia, Begonhia spp. Zone 9 - 10

4. Variegated Liy of the Nile, Agapanthus praecox ssp orientalis 'Variegata Zone 7 - 10

5. Ornamental Allium, Allium aflatunense, Zone 7 - 10

Flowers that are in bold can be planted in Florida. Alliums must be planted in the Fall.

Begonias, Boxwoods, Caladiums, and Cypress, Oh My!

Begonias, Japanese Boxwoods, Caladiums, and Japanese Cypress, (Cryptomeria japonica ‘Globosa’)

What to Do in Your Backyard in May

Average temperatures in May: High 87 Low 62

Rainfall 3.47 inches

What to Plant:

Vegetables:

Amaranth, boniato, calabaza, cassava, chayote, cherry tomato, collards, dasheen, Everglades tomato, ginger, lima bean, longevity spinach, Long-squash, Luffa, snap bean, Malabar spinach, malanga, New Zealand spinach, Okinawa spinach, okra, papaya, hot pepper, peanuts, pigeon pea, pineapple, roselle, Seminole pumpkin, Southern pea, sugarcane, sweet potato, Swiss chard, tamarillo, yam, and yard-long bean.

Annual and Perennial Flowers:

African iris, ageratum, angelonia, Apostle iris, balsam, beach sunflower, begonias, black-eyed-Susan, blue daze, blue sage, bromeliads, browallia, bulbine, bush daisy, butterfly weed, cat's whiskers, celosia, cigar flower, coleus, coneflowers, coreopsis, cosmos, crossandra, Dahlberg daisy, dusty miller, gaillardia, gazania, gerbera, goldenrod, gomphrena, impatiens, Jacobina, Jewels of Opar, lantana, Justicia, leopard plant, liatris, lion’s tail, marigolds, melampodium, Mexican heather, milkweed, moon vine, New Guinea impatiens, nicotiana, nierembergia, Nun’s orchid, ornamental sweet potato, pentas, periwinkle, phlox, Porter weed, portulaca, purslane, salvia, scorpion tail, Stoke’s aster, sunflowers, terrestrial orchids, toad lily, torenia, verbena, whirling butterflies, yellow alder, and zinnias.

Herbs:

Anise, basil, bay laurel, cardamom, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, lemon balm, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, sweet marjoram, mint, tarragon, and thyme.

Bulbs:

Achimenes, agapanthus, Alocasia, amaryllis, blackberry lilies, blood lilies, bulbine, caladiums, calla lilies, cannas, crinums, crocosmia, Colocasia, day lilies, eucharis lily, gladiolus, gloriosa lilies, hurricane lilies, lily of the Nile, peacock ginger, society garlic, rain lilies, spider lilies, St. Bernard’s lilies.

Shrubs and Trees:

In Florida, most shrubs and tree species can be planted year-round.

Lawn Maintenance:

• May is still our dry season. Set irrigation for 1.15 inches two times a week if there is no rainfall.

• Check rain sensors are working.

• Rake out brown leaf blades in turf that declined from winter.

• Some areas of lawns may have died during the winter or with the drought; add new sod or plugs.

• Make sure lawns and shrubs are watered thoroughly with rainfall or irrigation before final spring feedings with slow-release no-phosphorus fertilizers.

• Retrofit irrigation systems to separate turf zone and landscape bed zone.

• If needed, apply an iron-only or minor nutrient fertilizer to regreen yellow lawns.

• Check for chinch bugs in yellowing areas of St. Augustine grass; treat at needed

• Walk yards on weekly basis to look for sod webworm moths flying up from turf.

• For low maintenance, reduce lawns areas needed for family and pet areas.

• May is a good month to seed Bahia lawns.

• Avoid mowing with dull blades; sharpen blades every five mowings.

• Measure leaf blades to make sure the lawn it being cut at the proper height – remember the height of the blades is typically the depth of the roots.

• Take a new route at each mowing to avoid ruts in the lawn.

• Dig out or spot kill weeds and replace with plugs of grass or sod.

• Aerate older compacted and hard to wet lawns.

• Turf needs at least 5 hours of sunlight a day. Select shade-tolerant grasses or an ornamental ground cover for difficult shady spots.

Landscape care:

• Plant Easter lilies, amaryllis, and poinsettias in the landscape.

• Put declining tulips, hyacinths, and other forced bulbs into the compost pile.

• Walk yards on a weekly basis to catch pest issues promptly.

• Look under the foliage and move hand over shrub foliage to notice any pests flying up.

• All winter-damaged ornamental grass fronds should be removed.

• Reshape and prune shrubs with dieback or winter damage.

• Avoid shearing across the tops of shrubs and perennials unnecessarily; remove out of bound shoots with hand pruners.

• Have older trees checked by certified arborists before hurricane season and prices go up.

• Look for sap-stained bark, hollow areas, oozing, in twin trunks as signs of tree problems.

• Shape young shade trees to have one central leader with evenly spaced branches.

• Maintain a 3” mulch layer under trees, shrubs, and garden beds to help conserve moisture, reduce weeds, and enhance landscape.

• Older shade trees seldom need fertilization.

• Lift up and remove tree limbs affecting traffic along walkways.

• Keep new trees and shrub plantings moist with additional hand-watering if there is not enough rainfall.

• Use low-volume irrigation to conserve water.

• Create rain gardens to redirect excess water from home..

• Correct drainage problems before the rainy season arrives.

• Make sure new plant selections have adequate room to grow.

• Select plants for pool and patio areas that do not drop messy flowers or foliage.

• One application of a slow-release fertilizer could feed your plants through summer.

• Feed palms with an 8-2-12-4 or similar slow-release palm fertilizer according to label.

• Fertilize all flower beds and shrub plantings with slow-release fertilizer as the rainy season returns.

• Deadhead spent flowers from annuals to encourage new blooms.

• Plant shady gardens with shade-tolerant flowers, shrubs, bulbs and foliage plants.

• Cut back perennials finishing their spring bloom.

• Complete pruning of azaleas and camellias this month.

• Transplant palms when the rainy season returns.

• Feed container gardens weekly or use a slow-release fertilizer as labeled.

• Control rose pests by using systemic products for insects, only water the roots, not the foliage, and providing good air circulation.

• Kill adult lubber grasshoppers by stepping on them or cutting them. Look for pairs.

• Turn compost piles every two weeks. They may need to be watered 2x – 3x this month.

• Feed water lilies and lotus monthly.

• Begin rooting cuttings of favorite shrubs and perennials.

• Collect and sow seeds from your favorite plants or save them until the proper time.

• Pull or spot kill weeds among shrubs and flower beds.

• Reapply mulch if not 3” thick.

Vegetable and fruit plantings:

• Check your herbs and vegetables every day. Check for insects and soil moisture.  

• Feed vegetable plantings monthly.

• It’s too late for most tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants; select summer tolerant vegetables.

• Maintain 3” mulch in the garden and use low-volume irrigation to conserve water.

• Keep bananas and papaya moist and feed monthly to have flowers by late summer.

• Give citrus, grapes, and other fruit trees a late spring feeding.

• Prune blackberries and blueberries when fruiting is over.

• Harvest maturing crops to keep the plants producing.

• Remove declining fruit plantings and add new varieties.

• Trellis vine crops to save space and prevent diseases.

• Use soil solarization treatments to control nematodes and diseases.

• Control fruit worms and leaf spots on vegetables with natural sprays as needed.

• Control aphids feeding in new shoots with an insecticidal soap spray.

• Incorporate aged compost with planting sites to improve sandy soil.

• Purchase seeds now for planting in August; seed displays are often removed from stores during summer.

Foliage & houseplants:

• Give weak and thinning foliage plants a spot in the shade outdoors to recover.

• Check water needs daily.

• Plants that are wilting often need to be checked for overgrown root system and not enough soil. If root bound, water plants well, then next day, cut a third of the roots off, and add more soil. Replant in same pot or move to larger pot.

• Remove yellow leaves and faded flowers.

• Reshape taller tree-form foliage plants and remove declining limbs.

• Move orchids outdoor under trees for the summer.

• Divide African violets, bromeliads, and orchids.

• Place plants in bathtub or sink, wash pests and dust away with soapy water.

• If you go on vacation, move plants to bathtub or sinks and fill with several inches of water to keep them watered while you’re away.

• Feed outdoor foliage plants with a slow-release fertilizer.