BOISE, Idaho — The first frosts and freezes of the season have arrived in Idaho, pretty much putting an end to most outdoor gardening until next spring. Now it’s time to start putting the garden to bed for winter and planning next year’s garden.
Garden master Jim Duthie shows us more pictures of what some of our fellow Idaho gardeners have been doing. Whether it’s vegetables or flowers, they show us how you can grow it.
There are lots of rewards for growing a vegetable garden, including sharing your bounty of fresh produce with your friends and neighbors. Bonnie Altree Drescher has been doing just that, setting out her excess produce in her driveway for free to anyone who wants it. She says she loves feeding her neighbors instead of her compost pile.
Lindsay Bennett picked a peck of peppers. In fact, her final harvest included a few pecks of peppers of all kinds of different varieties. I don’t know if Lindsay will pickle her peppers, but they certainly will make a lot of good salsa.
With Halloween just around the corner, pumpkins are always popular. But Shari Kuzman found one pumpkin that grew through a fence. That will make a very interesting Jack-o'-lantern – one with a split personality.
Aloe vera is always a good plant to have around for its medicinal properties. But Kellie McDaniel found that aloe vera also produces some beautiful blooms. Interestingly enough, aloe vera doesn’t bloom until it’s at least four years old.
Teri Spano shows us the splendor of her beautiful backyard water feature, flanked by some colorful sumac specimens showing their brilliant fall foliage.
And Carol Neal Lofsvold also has some gorgeous sumacs in her backyard garden, peaking in the finest fall colors right now.
Now that the vegetable garden is winding down, many flowers are putting out a final burst of color before fall freezes arrive. Kathy Smiley has a beautiful selection of colorful zinnias showing off their fall splendor.
There are few more exotic and elegant looking blooms than fuchsias in hanging baskets. Diane Bettencourt hates to see the growing season come to an end, and hopes to overwinter her beautiful fuchsias. With proper care, they can live indoors through the winter and bloom again next spring.
Finally, Billie Marshall shows us her pretty garden. She says she comes out every day and sheds a little tear, knowing that it’s soon to come to an end with a killing frost. And while nature gives us a little break from outdoor gardening for a season, most Idaho gardeners will agree that next spring can’t come too soon, so we can do it all again.
While most outdoor gardening is coming to an end because of colder weather, there are still things you can do. Mums and flowering kale will provide some color well into the fall, and now is a perfect time to plant flowering bulbs that will bloom in the spring, as well as garlic, that will be ready for harvest in early summer.
Join the nearly 5,000 members of the KTVB You Can Grow It Facebook group, and post your gardening pictures, share tips, and ask questions.
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