Now through November is a great time to divide and replant perennials that have grown well for several years but perhaps haven’t bloomed well this past year.  While daytime air temperatures are cooling down, soil temperatures will remain warm and inviting to newly-transplanted perennials so they can develop extensive root systems before slowing down for the winter, giving them a full season's root development over those planted in the spring. Set them out in the cooler late afternoons or evenings, and water them in.

Here are some specifics to consider.
 
Bearded Irises
Divide clumps if they have less than an inch of soil space between rhizomes or if they didn’t bloom well last spring.  Trim foliage fans to about eight inches from the rhizome. Discard the old, leafless center sections, even if they appear firm since they won’t bloom again.  Trim white- and cream-colored roots of the newer sections to two inches in length.  Trim shriveled brown or black dead roots off completely.  Point the green fan growth in the direction that you want them to grow.  Plant the rhizome so the roots are under the soil surface but the rhizome’s top half is uncovered.  Don't fertilize them, and don’t mulch them, since the rhizomes need to be open to the direct sun and air.  Water them in well after planting and every other week to keep the soil barely moist so the roots can develop more fully. 
 
Coral Bells
Coral Bells send out stringers of baby plants.  If they’re already rooted, separate them from the mother plant with a trowel or knife.  If they’re not yet already rooted, then clear a 4” area of soil and nudge the base of the baby into the soil so it’ll root for transplanting later.  On the separated rooted baby plants, remove dead and outer leaves, leaving several new-growth center leaves to continue photosynthesis. Mother plants that are fully developed into a clump of plants can also be separated into individual plants by gently pulling it apart and planting them. 
 
Daylilies
Dig clumps of daylilies and trim foliage back to about a foot tall.  Separate smaller individual groups of fleshy roots as they’ll easily come apart, or insert a spading fork or shovel between them to wiggle or slice them apart into groups of several each.  Plant new groups about an inch deep in well-drained soil amended with organic matter, with each of the root “fingers” extending outward and downward.  They’ll bloom nicely in full sun but will tolerate partial shade, as long as they get a full 6 hours of sun daily.  Smaller varieties will do fine in pots that are large enough to allow extensive root growth.
 
Lilies
Dig up clumps of lily bulbs, separating the individually-rooted bulbs gently.  If any of the “scales” on the bulbs fall apart, they can be replanted in their original direction so hopefully they’ll root. There may also be some tiny bulbs at the base of the flower stalk that you can pot up to bloom in a couple of years.  Leave all the roots on the individual bulbs as you replant them, or slightly trim any really long ones.  Keep a three-inch layer of humus on top of the replanted roots, and keep the soil barely moist as the bulbs don't ever go fully dormant even after losing all their top foliage.
 
Shasta Daisies
Shasta daisies are perhaps the easiest of this bunch to dig up and separate because the individual young plants grow so loosely together so are separated the most readily, without cutting or ripping. 
 
Yarrow
Yarrow multiplies by underground rooted runners so is easily pulled or dug up, separated, and replanted.  Yarrow can suffer from some transplant shock, so keep the transplanted area protected from direct sun, and keep the soil moist, until new growth is apparent.  Depending on the variety and your garden’s growing conditions, it may become more vigorous than you’d like, especially in richly amended soil.
 
For More Garden Tasks
See September and October
 

     The bit of chill each morning alerts us to the changing of season, from summer to fall and the resulting refocus on cool-season veggie and posy crops.  Even though daytime temperatures will continue to be blasting hot – this week’s threatened highs are in the high 90-degrees – but we know the trend is ultimately toward cooler temperatures.  So we can begin the first of several sowings of overwintering types of edibles and posies. 
 
Seeding Veggies
    Last night, I sowed into my seed trays bok choy, celery, chard, chives, cilantro, collards, several other greens, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsley and spinach.  Next week, directly into the beds where they’ll mature, I’ll sow beets, carrots, garlic, kohlrabi, peas and radishes.  I’ll wait another month to purchase seedlings from nurseries of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower since they’re always much stronger than ones I start from seeds.
     This time around, I was much more careful than I’ve been in the past about allowing only 2 seeds to fall into each section of the seed trays.  Even if both of the seeds germinate, this will allow their root systems to develop more fully.  Then, when they’re ready for transplanting, I’ll sacrifice the weaker of the two plantlets by cutting it off at the soil surface so I don’t disturb the root ball.  The cut bits of foliage will go into that night’s salad.
 
Ordering Flowering Bulbs and Planting Seedlings    
     On the pretty side, I ordered several kinds of flowering bulbs from online sources so I’ll receive them as soon as they’re shipped, in a month or so, perfect time to plant into the cooling soil.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have some rain then to water them in!
     I’ll also keep my eye on bulbs becoming available in local nurseries so I can immediately purchase the freshest, largest ones for planting.  I know to choose big, plump bulbs as these have the most stored food and will produce the largest and most numerous blooms over the longest period of time. This is definitely NOT the time to wait for bargain prices at the end of the season!
     When considering which bulb varieties to purchase, try to stay with ones that supposedly thrive within our local zones 9 and 10, especially if you’re interested in their potentially multiplying each year.  Bulbs suitable for colder zones won’t get enough cold from our “winters” so probably won’t bloom or even survive past this first year. 
     I know this because in the past I’ve purchased quite a selection of different colors and shapes of daffodils, only to have them never reappear the following year.  And this situation gets even worse with our increasingly warm winters due to climate change. 
     As overwintering flowering seedlings become available in nurseries, both annuals and perennials, I purchase some that promise long-time color until early spring.  Some, like Johnny-Jump-Ups, I keep in mind to plant on top of the bulbs in large containers to offer color before, during, and after the bulbs do their thing.
 
2021 Tomato Results
     This wasn’t a great year for my tomatoes, with 1013 fruits from 30 plants.  Although this total number sounds good, 828 of them were from cherry-sized fruits, and only 185 of them either medium or large sized.  The real successes were for two Sungold plants that yielded 667 fruits that I actually picked and ate, with many more going to my neighbors’ additional harvesting. The other good producers were Black Cherry, Celebrity, Green Zebra and Stupice. 
 
185 Medium- to Large Fruits
14 Black Krim
1 Black Russian
3 Brandy Boy
7 Carbon
63 Celebrity – 3 plants
2 Cherokee Carbon
11 Cherokee Purple – 2 plants
30 Green Zebra
0 Kellogg’s Breakfast (that’s right, none)
5 Paul Robeson – 2 plants
6 Pineapple
32 Stupice
7 volunteers – 2 plants transplanted from my compost pile
 
828 Small and Cherry Fruits
1 Atomic Fusion
93 Black Cherry
1 Black Zebra
3 Brad’s Atomic Grape
1 Indigo Gold Berries
11 Isis Candy
20 Jaune Flamme
667 Sungold – 2 plants
31 volunteer – another seedling transplanted from my compost pile that I have no idea what it was!
 
Taste Winners
My favorites in the flavor department are – in alphabetical order – Black Krim, Celebrity, Cherokee Purple, Isis Candy and Sungold.  I’ll grow these varieties every year, usually with multiple plants because they’ve been so successful.
 
For more gardening opportunities and tasks, see September Monthly Tips