Hello Mid-Ohio Valley Gardeners! August has made its exit and September is here. Summer will slowly fade as Labor Day marks its unofficial end. However, fall will bring cooler temperatures and college football.

Many gardeners are reaping the benefits of hours of hard work by harvesting sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables. As the summer harvest continues, plan to grow a beautiful fall garden and extend the growing season.

This week we will talk about the flower garden. Fall is an excellent time to divide perennial flowers in beds, borders and anywhere in the yard. Dividing perennials is an easy and inexpensive way to gain additional plants for your garden or to share with neighbors, friend, and family members. Be cautious, plants with tap-like roots do not divide well. Fall division can start in early September until early October.

Dividing perennials has several benefits. It improves the health of the plants and is an inexpensive way of propagating new plants for other places around the yards or to help a friend start a new flower bed. Dividing will rejuvenate old plants, keeping them vigorous and blooming and keeps rapidly spreading perennials from getting out of control.

Some perennials such as asters and mums may have to be divided every couple years or they can become non-flowering clumps of leaves and roots. Dividing the plant when it is not flowering will allow all the plant’s energy to be used for root and leaf growth.

How do you know which perennials need dividing? Usually the center will start dying out, such as lamb’s ear, black-eyed susan or coneflowers (flowers in rudbeckia family). Spreading bloomers like the iris and daylily will bloom less if the clump is too big. Iris can stop blooming if not divided routinely.

Plants may not bloom or have smaller than normal blooms and flowers and the plants themselves are small or stunted. Lowe foliage may be poor and sparse. Plants that are growing and blooming well probably should be left alone unless you are wanting more plants. Most perennials should be divided every three to five years.

Start by cutting back the foliage so that you can easily see the size and crown of the plant. We want good root growth, so don’t worry about trimming back plants. Using your shovel dig down on all sides of the plant until you can push your shovel under the root ball and lift the plant from the ground. Make sure you water division plants thoroughly after moving. It is a good idea to apply mulch to keep plants moist until good root growth is obtained.

Horizontal stemmed plants (called a rhizome) like the iris grows along the ground, with roots extending down into the soil, and a fan vertically extending leaves. Cut the fan of leaves associated with a rhizome to the height of about 5 to 8 inches. Dig and lift the rhizomes, cut apart with a sharp knife. Keep young and healthy rhizomes for new plantings and throw away dead or diseased sections.

Summer blooming perennials such as coneflowers have spreading matted roots. Divide dug up plants by gently pulling the roots apart. You can use a spade shovel and dig through the center of the plant and separate it into two sections. Depending on how big the plant is, you may choose to make several divisions to achieve a size that is appropriate.

You may also use a spading fork to dig and separate. Daylilies, hostas, and ornamental grasses have clumping root systems. Cut through the crown or center area where the roots and stems arise with a sharp knife.

Do not let plants you have divided dry out! Get them in the ground as soon as possible. Dig the hole twice the diameter of the root ball you will be planting and slightly deeper. When planting your divisions trim off any damaged roots. Be sure that the root crown is level with the surface of the soil, fill in and firm the soil around the plant, leaving no air spaces. Contact me at the Wood County WVU Extension Office 304-424-1960 or e-mail me at jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu with questions. Good Luck and Happy Gardening!

Questions of the Week: Our garden is loaded with sweet and Hungarian Hot Wax peppers. What is the best way to preserve them?

Personally, I love pickled peppers, hot or sweet. However, it is very easy and convenient to freeze peppers. Peppers are one of the vegetables you can quickly freeze raw without blanching first. Thawed peppers retain some crispness and can be used in cooked dishes such as casseroles, stir fried or eaten raw.

Wash the peppers by scrubbing them with clean vegetable brush under running water. Cut out the stems and cut the peppers in half. Remove the seeds and membrane.

Then cut peppers into strips, dice or slice them, depending on how you plan to use them. Freeze peppers in a single layer on a clean cookie sheet with sides, about an hour or longer until frozen. This method is referred to as “tray freezing. Transfer them to a ziplock freezer bag when frozen, excluding as much air as possible from the bag. The peppers will remain separated for ease of use in measuring out for recipes.

Pickling is another option for peppers. This involves recipes containing pure, granulated, non-iodized canning or pickling salt, high grade white vinegar of 5% acidity, and fresh spices such as garlic, cloves, dill, oregano or basil.

Pickled peppers are processed in a boiling water bath for the altitude-adjusted length of time specified in a tested recipe. The acidity in a pickled product is as important to its safety as it is for taste and texture. There must be a minimum, uniform amount of acid throughout the mixed product to prevent growth of botulinum bacteria. Use only recipes with tested proportions of ingredients. Do not alter vinegar/water proportions in the recipe.

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