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Timely tending: October

It's difficult to believe that summer is over and fall garden chores are here. It's time to replace summer annuals with varieties that will thrive throughout winter and into the spring. A variety of flowers will enhance your landscape in cooler weather: alyssum, baby's breath, begonia, blanket flower, browallia, calendula, candytuft, carnation, clarkia, cornflower, dahlberg daisy, delphinium, lobelia, nicotiana, pansy, petunia, phlox, pinks, snapdragons, statice, sweet pea, verbena and viola. With so many to choose from, there is no reason to miss a splash of color in the garden.

Midas touch for the garden

Are you looking for a tree that gives beautiful color in the fall? The golden rain tree, Koelreuteria elegans, fills the bill. The bright-yellow flower panicles can be 18 inches long and usually appear in October. The flowers are showy, but the salmon-color seed pods are are popular, too, because they look like paper lanterns hanging in clusters from the branches. They are often used in dried flower arrangements. Young trees are lanky, with few branches, but this changes as the tree matures. The trunk of older trees is bent, giving the tree character. Once established, the golden rain tree requires little care.

Plant a strawberry patch from late October through early spring. Garden centers should have plants by the bundle or in pots. Good varieties for Florida are Florida Bell, Florida 90, Sweet Charlie, Dover, Chandler and Oso Grande.

Strawberries are grown as an annual crop in our area and replanted each fall. Varieties other than those cited may also produce well. Strawberries can be planted in the ground or in pots; those grown in pots are less likely to be damaged by slugs and snails. Look for containers designed for a strawberry garden.

It's a great time to divide banana clumps and remove plants that have produced their crop. Each banana plant produces one fruit stalk; the original plant dies after fruiting but is replaced by suckers from the root system. Use organic materials such as compost, animal manure or peat moss when planting. Bananas respond to healthy organic soil and should get a dose of potassium-rich fertilizer (potassium is the third number on fertilizer labels), such as a 6-2-12 formula, every other month.

If you plan to add a rose garden, prepare the bed a few weeks before you purchase your plants. This will give the soil a chance to condition. Incorporate plenty of organic matter, such as compost, cow manure, or peat moss (at least 25 pounds per 100 square feet). Be sure the roses are grafted onto Fortuniana or Dr. Huey rootstocks. In Florida, roses grafted on these standard rootstocks are resistant to nematodes, so they should live longer and bloom better than those on their own roots.

Vegetables

Vegetable gardeners can plant winter crops now. Some vegetables that thrive and produce all winter and into spring are cabbage, collards, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, broccoli, beets, carrots, spinach, parsley, kolrabi and onions.

Citrus

Citrus needs fall fertilizing. Apply from 3/4 to 10 pounds, depending on the age of the tree. Trees younger than 9 should receive about 3/4 pounds of 4-6-8 or 4-8-8 fertilizer for each year of age; trees 10 and older should get 10 pounds for each year.

Azaleas

To help prevent petal blight and leaf gall, remove old mulch and debris beneath the plants. Both diseases are caused by fungi that winter on fallen flowers and in decayed mulch. Apply a fresh batch of mulch or pine straw.

Herbs

Plant rosemary, sage, thyme and other hardy herbs that grow well in Florida's cool, dry fall and winter. In most areas, you can either sow seeds in the garden or set out transplants. Dill, basil, chives and parsley are other good choices.

Camellias

Keep camellia plants well watered to avoid bud drop. To encourage large flowers, remove all but the largest central flower bud as soon as you can distinguish the rounded flower buds from the pointed leaf buds.

Gardenias

Research shows that gardenias initiate flower buds by a combination of length of day (usually short), low temperatures and age of wood. Pruning after Oct. 1 will delay the spring bloom and may keep your plants from producing flowers altogether. Use a fertilizer containing sulfur four times each year.

If you are considering a temporary winter lawn or want to cover areas that are dead or dying, rye grass is the answer. Rye grass seed, which can be planted in late October, will germinate in a few days and produce a lush, green lawn throughout the winter. Don't count on it to last much past May, because our humid weather kills it.

Pre-emergence herbicides are most effective in killing germinating weed seeds, but commonly they have little or no effect on established weeds. Winter annuals will appear soon, so this is a good time to apply your pre-emergence herbicide. Use Atrazine or Surflan in St. Augustine grasses and Balan Surflan or Pre M in bahia grasses. Follow label directions. Herbicides may injure turf grass when they are applied improperly.

Most plants can be started from cuttings. Take stem pieces 4 to 6 inches long. Place the cuttings in sand, peat or a mixture of peat and perlite; keep it moist by covering with a plastic bag or misting daily. A rooting hormone may speed root growth.

Perhaps you have some special tropical plants you would hate to lose in a winter freeze. Root cuttings before winter and keep the young plants in a protected area or in a sunny window on cold days. If we get a hard freeze, you'll have replacement plants for the spring.

Start papaya trees from seeds. The seeds are covered with a pulp that must be removed before planting. Soak them about three days to soften the coating. Rub off the pulp, and use a brush to rough up the surface. Rubber gloves will protect your hands from the enzyme in the pulp and seeds.

Plant seeds in small pots filled with a mixture of peat moss and perlite or any other suitable germinating mixture. Sow two or three seeds per pot to compensate for low germination. Seedlings can be planted in the ground when they are 6 to 8 inches tall, but it may be best to transplant them into gallon containers and keep them protected during the winter because papaya trees are very tender. Trees planted with care in March should produce harvestable fruit in November.

Insect control is a problem in organic gardens, but some caterpillars can be controlled with use of Bacillus thuringiensis (Thuricide, Dipel or Biotrol). Most organic gardeners also approve of using pyrethrin, rotenone and ryania, products that contain natural materials derived from plant parts and provide some control over certain insects. For a fact sheet, send a long, self-addressed, stamped (37 cents) envelope to Organic Gardening, 12175 125th St. N, Largo, FL 33774-3695.

* Fall armyworms can be a problem in lawn grass. They grow to about 1 1/2 inches and feed during the day. Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel) or Sevin may be used to control lawn caterpillars.

If you enjoy bird-watching as well as gardening, many plants are attractive to birds. Some native plants and the birds they attract are:

* Marlberry (Ardisia escallonioides), fruit-eating birds

* Beauty berry (Callicarpa americana), mockingbirds, cardinals, thrashers

* Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco), fruit-eating birds

* Pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifolia), mockingbirds, robins, woodpeckers

* Florida privet (Forestiera segregata), warblers, vireos

* Firebush (Hamelia patens), hummingbirds

* Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine), cardinals, mockingbirds, waxwings

* Red mulberry (Morus rubra), woodpeckers, blue jays, mockingbirds

* Wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa), cardinals, blue jays

Are you finding half-eaten fruit on your citrus trees? If so, you are experiencing the night raid of the dreaded fruit or roof rat. These rats belong to the climbing group, and it is common to find them in garages or crawl spaces above the ceiling.

Roof rats prefer fruits, nuts and cereal instead of the meat, fish and garbage preferred by their relative the wharf rat. Control measures include large traps baited with a shelled nut, apple or other fruit cubes taped to the trigger; peanut butter also can be smeared on it. Anticoagulants baits also work well.

Baits must be placed in feeding boxes when they are used outdoors. Place them in the tree, where the rats can reach them easily. Shield the traps from birds or other animals by covering them with a box or large tin can. Using baits indoors may result in a dead animal in the walls or ceiling, leaving a stench that lasts for several weeks, followed by a hoard of flies.

The crazy ant, Paratrechine longicornis, is not native to Florida, but it has adapted well to our climate and does well in South Carolina, Texas and many countries in the tropics. The name "crazy ant" comes from its characteristic erratic and rapid movements.

The crazy ant worker is tiny, with a slender body and long legs; it does not sting. Crazy ants feed on trash, in tree and plant cavities, in rotten wood, between walls, in ceilings and in the soil under objects. Workers are omnivorous, feeding on live and dead insects, seeds, fruits, plant sap and many household foods. Baits labeled for ants will control them. Remember to follow the label instructions.

Remove the seed pods from queen palms when they first appear. Otherwise, the seeds will mature, fall to the ground, rot, draw flies and sprout. Cutting the seed pods when they first appear will not harm the tree. Their only purpose is to produce seeds for reproduction. If you do not want hundreds of palm seedlings, eliminate the source before they cause a mess.

The eggs of the palm weevil are deposited on palm buds, especially Canary Island date palm. The weevil will attack healthy and weak trees. The larvae will bore into the bud or leaf sheaths, often killing the tree. Treatment with Sevin may be successful, but large trees may require the services of a pest control company.

Trees do not heal in the true sense because injured tissue is never repaired. After a wound or even a pruning, injured cells leak their contents onto the surface, where they are oxidized and form a barrier that slows or prevents further infection. New growth rings are laid down in the spring, and callous tissue begins to grow over the injured area and closes the wound.

Pruning cuts should be made at the branch collar. Wounds with jagged or torn bark should be repaired with a sharp knife for a clean edge.

Research shows that using tree-wound dressing does not prevent decay.

- Compiled by Pamela Brown and Nancy R. Volmar of the Pinellas County Extension Service/Florida Botanical Gardens. If you have questions, call them at (727) 582-2100.