Three for Thursday: Late Fall Tasks

Three for Thursday is the brainchild of Cindy at From My Corner of Katy.  This week, I'm moving it indoors.

Bringing the tender woodies inside

Clockwise from top rightL Fuschia species, Oxalis triangularis 'Purpurea', Coleus,  Pelargonium species, and Duranta

There they are, this year's collection of plants I will attempt to overwinter in the house.  I moved the Pelargonium out of the blue pot, I don't know why, and stuffed the Fuschia in there instead.  (I did divide the Pelargonium and replanted only a third of it.)  The Fuschia has gotten larger, but it could have gone into the pot where the Pelargonium now sits.  I did learn an important lesson about the Fuschia this summer - it doesn't like to be in a hanging basket when temperatures are in the 90sF.  So next summer (assuming it survives), it will be in an earthbound container, but I don't know which one.  I have a feeling the Pelargonium will be back in the blue pot.  New this year is the gold-foliaged Duranta.  Wish I knew where its tag is, but I had intended to treat it as an annual, so I didn't worry about the tag.  But then it looked so good and was growing so well, I didn't have the heart to let it succumb to the cold.  Whether it succumbs to my abysmal watering habits remains to be seen.  Have I mentioned how much I love that purple-leaved Oxalis?

Seed collecting with the Seed Keeper Kit
I know I've posted about the Seed Keeper kit before, but this is the new deluxe kit, which I received free to trial.

It's got more helpful items included, such as a magnifying glass and a seed cleaning thingy.  Having a Seed Keeper has helped me keep my seeds organized.  It even encouraged me to collect seeds from the tree peony, Paeonia suffruticosa 'Ofjui-nishiki'.  I have no interest in growing one from seed, so whoever would like to give it a try, I'd be happy to send you some or all of them.

Bulb Forcing

'City of Haarlem'

While I potted up most of my bulbs for forcing a few weeks ago, I'm just now putting the hyacinths on their water.  Then they'll go into the dark of the cabinet in the garage for a while.  I'm going to wait another week before I start the paperwhite narcissus, as they sprout pretty quickly.

And on a side note, while driving, please be alert to deer.  It's the season of craziness, when they bolt into the road regardless of the approach of vehicles. The timely sounding of my horn warned off a group of them about to dash into the road from a field in the middle of the day, although dawn and dusk are the most dangerous times.  My husband informed me there was an injured deer lying on the pavement of a four-lane divided highway a few mornings back during the morning rush.