Veggies to Plant in Autumn

 Deadheading pelargoniums

The garden is very quiet.  We stopped feeding the birds a few weeks ago and they don’t hang around begging, they just fly to new pastures. The mice that accompanied the birds and picked up the leftover seed crumbs seem to have packed up and gone too, I haven’t seen one for ages. The same can’t be said for the neighbours though, I have heard a few complain they seem to be infested with the little fur balls. Fly my beauties, fly.

Deadheading annuals

Try as I might I never seem to get around to deadheading the annuals in containers. I’m sure if I did the display would last until the end of October. There’s just something a bit yukky about nipping the soggy petunia flowers from their stems and trying to flick them from your fingers. Geraniums are OK, I don’t mind pulling their old flower heads off and the plants certainly produce more flowers so they do get looked after a bit. The rest are left to their own devices for the year until the frost gets them.

Late Vegetable Planting

There is still time to plant late vegetables as the soil is still warm. Up until the end of October there is a good range that can be sown to supplement the leeks, parsnips and Brussels that will be maturing nicely.

Broad beans

Autumn-sown broad beans help to slow down nutrients leaching through otherwise fallow soil, which allows its structure to deteriorate. They are ready a good month earlier than those sown in April, and they don't get black fly. 

Asparagus

Asparagus varieties are now available for autumn planting, which helps them establish that bit quicker. You do wait for two years before you can cut them - or four in my case because I keep forgetting they are there (and the dog sits on the young shoots).

Peas and pea shoots

For a late spring crop, it's worth trying sowing seeds now. If you sow direct into the ground, plant them one inch deep and relatively closely at about one inch apart, to make up for a higher loss rate. I enjoy the pea shoots too and these grow well in a tunnel all winter.

Garlic

This is the easiest crop to grow. Plant the cloves individually to a depth of 2.5in deep on light soils and a lot less deep on heavy soils one inch below the surface. They will do well in planters too.

Onions, spring onions and shallots

There are quite a few varieties of onions from sets that can go in now. This is the easiest way to grow onions, and they can be harvested earlier on in the year.

Winter lettuce and Lambs lettuce

It is useful in that it does not need high light levels and tolerates low temperatures, and so can be sown up until the end of October outside; it can be picked until December or into the new year with some fleece or milder weather.

Spinach

I pick it younger and just wilt the leaves rather than ruin it with overcooking. The young leaves are great in salads, too. 

Spring cabbage

You can thin early plants for spring greens and leave the rest to heart up. Watch out for pigeons.

Don’t forget the Perennials

You might see some late perennials in gardens at this time of year. They have been waiting patiently to flourish giving us a last burst of colour.

Japanese anemones are always a favourite. Tall and bold, their simple flowers in shades from pink to white really celebrate the season.

Commonly called Ice Plants, the thick fleshy foliage of sedum varieties add interest throughout the year, from the moment it develops in spring. Their flowers come in eye-catching colours from pure white to pink and red, proving as attractive to us as they are bees and butterflies.

As well as flowering plants, don’t forget that many perennials form attractive seed heads too, and these can be enjoyed right through autumn and into winter.

Favourites include cone flowers (Echinacea and Rudbeckia), globe thistle (Echinops), sea holly (Eryngium), agapanthus, ornamental grasses, and bulbs like the Pineapple Lily (Eucomis).

Asters , Michaelmas Daisies  and Verbena  are also favourites.