Seasonal Decorations
Pumpkins and winter squash are readily available in multiple colors at grocery stores, local farmers markets, and roadside stands. Heirloom pumpkins offer a wide mix of colors and are easy to find. Tip: Select ones that are firm and unblemished. Keep them cool and dry, and they will last for months. Mix with dried flowers such as celosias, sunflowers, yarrows, and gomphrenas to make simple arrangements for your front door, foyer, or table. Combine Indian corn, gourds, and fall leaves with your pumpkins, and place them outside around gates, porches, and patios.

Soil
Before you start your fall planting, amend your flowerbeds and vegetable plots. When the ground is dry, use a tiller or garden fork to loosen the dirt to about 1 foot deep. Amend with organic matter, such as chopped leaves, composted manure, mushroom compost, or peat, to improve fertility and drainage. Add sulfur, lime, or any needed nutrients as indicated by a soil test.

'Autumn' philodendron
This beautiful houseplant echoes the colors of the season. Use it to brighten your home. Other selections include 'Black Cardinal' and 'Moonlight.' They all prefer bright, indirect light. Let the soil dry slightly between waterings.

Blooms on a budget
Sow seeds of poppies, bachelor's buttons, and larkspurs now for flowers next spring. Select a sunny location, and scatter seed on a prepared bed. Rake lightly, and then water gently.

Fall-blooming camellias
Sasanqua camellias are graceful evergreens that are now starting to flower. Excellent selections include 'Fuji-No-Yuki,' 'Chansonette,' and 'Bonanza.' They prefer moist, acid, well-drained soil in a location with filtered light. In the Upper South, plant them in sheltered locations, or overwinter them in cool greenhouses. In the Upper South, you can also try cold-hardy hybrids such as 'Winter's Charm.' These and other camellias are available from Camellia Forest Nursery, www.camforest.com.

Colorful Flowers The cool days of fall give dahlias (shown at right) a boost of blooms. Other flowers that enjoy the beautiful weather include Mexican bush sage, pineapple sage, old-fashioned chrysanthemums, autumn sage, and 'Argentine Skies' anise-scented sage. Replenish beds and borders with these for an extra bit of color.

Herbs
Lots of herbs thrive in cool weather. Add chervil, sage, sorrel, thyme, Italian flat-leafed parsley, and rosemary to your containers or flowerbeds, and use them to flavor your meals.

FLORIDA

Colorful Blooms Start changing your flowerbeds now. Cool days are perfect to set out violas (shown at right), pansies, petunias, dianthus, alyssum, snapdragons, and calendulas. Sow seeds of spring-flowering annuals such as poppies, bachelor's buttons, sweet peas, and larkspurs for additional spring blooms. In Central and South Florida where the days are a little warmer, set out plants of floss flower, baby's breath, dusty miller, gazania daisies, marigolds, salvias, torenias, ornamental peppers, and verbenas. Feed your plants with a fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro Liquid All Purpose Plant Food 12-4-8, Scotts All Purpose Flower & Vegetable Continuous Release Plant food 10-10-10, or Dynamite All-Purpose Indoor and Outdoor 18-6-8. Water every other day for the first several weeks to help new plants become established.

North and Central
Mulch--Leaves and pine needles will be dropping soon. Take advantage of these natural, nutrient-rich sources of mulch. Replenish mulch around all landscape plants to a depth of 2 to 3 inches. Leave 12 inches of airspace around the trunk of plants, though, to prevent stem rot.
Oriental persimmons--Covered with bright orange fruit in the fall, this small tree can be quite attractive in the landscape. You can select trees in fruit now and plant in full sun and well-drained soil. Among recommended selections are 'Fuyu,' 'Hana Fuyu,' 'Hanagosho,' 'Izu,' 'Hachiya,' and 'Tanenashi.' If you also plant a 'Gailey' for pollination, you will have more fruit set. Feed lightly with a fertilizer such as Osmocote Vegetable & Bedding 14-14-14 in March, June, and early September.
Perennial salvias--These plants are at their peak now. Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) has numerous cheery red flowers and fragrant leaves. Mexican bush sage (S. leucantha) is covered with long spikes of purple or purple-and-white flowers. For something different, plant forsythia sage (S. madrensis) which has large spikes of yellow flowers. 'Van Houttei' scarlet sage (S. splendens) produces the most intense burgundy flowers, primarily in the fall. Select some for your garden now.

Entire State
'Autumn' philodendron--This beautiful houseplant echoes the colors of the season. Use it to brighten your home. Other selections include 'Black Cardinal' and 'Moonlight.' They all prefer bright, indirect light. Let the soil dry slightly between waterings.

Central and South
Watering--Fall is typically dry, so continue to water your lawn once or twice a week. Apply ½ inch of water at a time. Use rain gauges to determine how much water you receive naturally, and then adjust your irrigation to apply the balance.
Flowering vines--Fences, walls, arbors, and trellises provide good surfaces for growing a flowering vine. Some good ones that can take sun are queen's wreath, fringed Amazon vine, black-eyed Susan vine, yellow allamanda, bougainvillea, mandevilla, Mexican flame vine, and Cape honeysuckle.

TEXAS

Blooms From Bulbs
Lay out stages of color for late winter and spring displays now. First set out bulbs of narcissus, Dutch iris, snowflakes (shown at right), ranunculus, and anemones. Plant these in well-prepared soil, and feed with a slow-release fertilizer, cotton seed, or alfalfa meal. Narcissus such as 'Golden Dawn,' 'Erlicheer,' 'Grand Primo,' and 'Yellow Cheerfulness' are often perennials in our part of the South as are snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum). Dutch irises are inexpensive, easy, and come in blues, yellows, bronzes, whites, and bicolors. Ranunculus and anemones are noted for their brilliant reds, blues, yellows, and pinks. As the temperatures cool, add layers of pansies, violas, sweet alyssums, stocks, snapdragons, and columbines.

Panhandle
Grass--Sow seeds of cool-season grasses such as annual or perennial ryegrass and fescue using a seed spreader. Begin by mowing existing grass close to the ground. Evenly distribute 5 to 8 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet. Fescue grass can be a permanent lawn and works well in shady spots.

Entire State
Dividing perennials--Daylilies, bearded irises, Shasta daisies, yarrows (left), coreopsis, and phlox can be dug now and easily separated into single plants. Replant into soil that has been amended with several inches of organic matter such as compost or peat. Use a slow-release organic or inorganic fertilizer.

Central, East, and South
Sowing wildflowers--Seeds of native wildflowers are ready to sow now for months of color next spring and summer. Begin by lightly tilling the soil, and then mix equal parts of cornmeal or coarse sand with the seed to help provide even distribution. Rake in the seed lightly to provide good contact between seeds and soil.

South
Sweet strawberries--Set out transplants of strawberries for early spring harvest. Space them 12 inches apart in rows or masses in sunny areas. Mulch with coastal Bermuda hay to discourage weeds and keep the berries clean and dry.

North and East
Camellias--These beautiful evergreens thrive in the acid, well-drained soil of our area. They prefer partial shade. Sasanqua camellias have smaller flowers than traditional common camellias but bloom earlier and make handsome hedges or specimens. Selections such as 'Yuletide' (red), 'Cleopatra' (pink), and 'Mine-No-Yuki' (white) are among the choices. Larger flowering common camellias such as 'Purple Dawn' (reddish), 'Pink Perfection,' 'Professor Charles S. Sargent' (red), and 'Governor Mouton' (red splotched with white) are among the best and often flower from January through April.

Central, West, and South
Vegetables--Transplants of broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, and onions can be planted now. Direct seed favorites such as lettuce, mustard and turnip greens, radishes, carrots, parsley, beets, and arugula. When the seedlings are about 2 inches tall, thin them so that each plant has room to develop well.

"Around Your Garden" is from the October 2007 issue of Southern Living.