Fruits, Flowers, and More: Is there frost in the air?

Boston Fern after its haircut

My large poinsettia

The weather has simply been lovely in western NY this summer. The days are still sunny and warm, but with a gentler heat that feels like fall. Actually, I believe today is the last official day of summer; tomorrow fall is here! Even though daytime temperatures are still in the 60's and 70's, we have had 2 nights that dipped into the high 30's. Oh, yea, that frost is coming.

That means I need to start bringing in plants I want to keep over the winter. Our local newspaper had an article by a Master Gardener that warned against bringing inside unwanted bugs with houseplants on route to their winter homes. He recommended making your own insecticide (1 teaspoon dish soap in 1 quart water), and spraying all plants before moving them indoors. That sounded pretty simple, so armed with my spray bottle, I began to gather my favorite pots. First I needed to wash the outside of the pots; some were quite covered with dirt from sitting in the gardens. Most plants needed pruning, especially the Boston Ferns. I have 2 potted ferns. Actually they were 1 plant that I divided a couple of years ago. They love their summer homes, and have grown to be huge. They needed "haircuts" just to be manageable inside. After each potted plant got clean and trimmed, I gave them a thorough insecticide spray. The spray seemed harmless to all plants I treated except one. One of my 4 poinsettias drooped from the insecticide; it now looks pretty sick. Did I saturate it too much? The other poinsettias seem to be fine.

What happened? This poinsettia didn't like the insecticide.

The only problem is to find a place for all of them inside. I gave 1 Boston Fern and 1 poinsettia to my daughter. I'm lucky to have a nice sun room that becomes an atrium in the winter months. Even so, I may be giving more away - can't wait for that greenhouse!

The lemon tree leafed out nicely this summer, after dropping almost all its leaves last winter. I had thought it was dead, but my husband's philosophy of "It'll come back" actually proved true this time. There's even a tiny lemon on one branch. We'll see what happens this year.

So I'm on my way to fall. I have more plants to bring in, especially some of those geraniums. There are cuttings to take of the coleus, and re-potting to do with my "palm" tree. No it's not a real palm tree, but I don't know what it is. It just keeps growing, and this summer the roots have grown right out of the bottom of the pot. This thing is becoming a tree, and may not get to come back in the house. I really need that greenhouse! :)