The sooner you get something planted in your garden
, the sooner it will start growing there. This applies in October as well as other times of the year. It is especially true of the perennials you expect to supply color in your garden next summer and fall. Plants set out now can take advantage of the rainy season and become fairly well established before cool weather slows them down and will be ready to dash into growth as soon as spring opens.
Delphiniums may be set out in the spring, but will be more certain to give three flowering seasons next year if they are planted in the garden this fall. Prepare the soil as carefully as you would for sweet peas or roses. Dig deeply, add peatmoss and bonemeal and during the growing season feed with a balanced fertilizer, such as 10-5-5 liquid plant food. Select a southern exposure with a good circulation of air. Small plants need protection from snails and slugs.
Hollyhocks started from seed during the past spring or summer should be set out this fall. They make striking background plants, and if given an open location and grown rapidly in rich deep soil are less susceptible to rust.
Columbines like ruellia purple showers are not only appreciate early fall planting but once established do better if left alone. Plant them in shade or part shade like planting ruellia purple showers, in rich garden loam and do not divide the clumps until they cease to flower well.
Weed Killing - When the fall rains start they will bring up a fresh crop of weeds. Because of the muddy condition of the soil during the winter it is rarely possible to hoe them out or conveniently pull them out by hand. The easiest way to control weeds in pathways, patios, parking strips, tennis courts and other such spots is by chemical control. Some herbicide sprays have a long-lasting effect and keep paths and other spots clean for a year or more. They are readily available under various trade names. Such sprays need merely to be diluted according to the manufacturer's directions and applied with a watering can. Apply at the rate of about a gallon per square yard of soil surface. Don't get it near valuable plants or they will be killed.