“It’s exciting to see things coming up again, plants that you’ve had twenty or thirty years. It’s like seeing an old friend.” 

― Tasha Tudor, The Private World of Tasha Tudor

Many of the perennials we offer are not as productive as our annual and biennial crops, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t offer an allure all their own. Perennials bring low maintenance beauty and flavor to the garden and table year after year. Here are a few perennials that you can still add to your garden this season.

Perennial Flowers

There are many flower species you can plant this fall, and some, like echinacea, actually perform better when fall sown. That’s because certain flower species, particularly natives, require cold stratification to germinate.

Cold stratification means that the seeds must go through a cool, moist period before they will break dormancy. If you plant these seeds in the fall, they will stratify over the winter and germinate in the spring. 

Here are some of the flower species you can start this fall:

• Echinacea (Coneflowers)
• Rudbeckia
• Butterfly Weed
• Phoenician Mullein (Nettle Leafed Mullein)
• Rose Campion
• Soapwort

When fall sowing flowers, we recommend you prepare a well-draining bed, by loosening the soil and adding compost. Sow seeds according to their growing instructions about 4 to 6 weeks before your first fall frost. 

While we only offer seeds, it’s also worth noting that many flower bulbs thrive when planted in the fall. These include many common favorites:

• Ornamental Alliums
• Tulips
• Lillies
• Daffodils
• Crocuses
• Ranunculus
• Hyacinth

Perennial Herbs

There are also many perennial herbs that you can plant in your fall garden. These include culinary herbs like chives and oregano and medicinal herbs like lemon balm and horehound. Here are a few options:

• Anise-Hyssop
• Salad Burnet
• Catnip
• Mint
• Lemon Balm
• Short-Toothed Mountain Mint (native species)
• White Horehound
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Bergamot (Bee Balm)
• Sage
• Rosemary

You can often get away with direct sowing some herbs, but for late summer and fall planting, we typically recommend getting them started indoors. This will allow you to control temperature and moisture conditions, ensuring good germination. Aim to transplant them out four to six weeks before your first fall frost.

Woodland Medicinals

Fall is the ideal time to start native woodland plants like goldenseal and American ginseng. While these may also be medicinal herbs, I think they deserve their own category.

These native plants are both potent medicinals that have dwindled throughout the Appalachian region because of habitat loss and over harvesting, often for commercial use. By planting some this fall, you can help restore these incredible species.

Goldenseal and American ginseng are both forest understory species. They thrive in cool moist forests, often growing on northern slopes. Our growing guides offer thorough advice for getting these sensitive plants established. 

• American Ginseng 
• Goldenseal

Rhubarb

Most people start rhubarb by ordering crowns, but starting rhubarb from seed is actually quite simple. It’s also much more cost effective. Rhubarb thrives in cool weather and is a great option for fall planting. 

• Victoria Rhubarb

Perennial Alliums

One of our favorite categories of perennials is the allium family. These easy to grow plants pack a ton of flavor in a low-maintenance package. 

• Shallots
• Walking Onions
• Potato Onions
• Chives
• Garlic Chives

Chives and garlic chives should be started indoors by seed like the other culinary herbs, but the rest of these plants are started by bulb. We ship all of our perennial alliums in fall depending on your zone.

Fruit, Nut, and Flower Trees, Shrubs, and Vines

We only carry seeds, but many of our customers are dedicated gardeners in other areas too. If you’re looking to add more perennials to your garden, autumn great time to establish longer lived perennials like fruit, nut, and flowering trees, shrubs, and vines. While many of these are often spring planted, fall planting can be advantageous in the southeast as these crops can enjoy cool, moist conditions while they get established. 

July marks the start of fall planting in the gardens at Southern Exposure. We’re located in zone 7a, and while July may seem too early to be thinking about fall, it’s essential to give crops plenty of time to mature before autumn’s cold weather arrives. During July, we’re working on getting brassicas like cabbages and broccoli transplanted. 

We always get questions when folks see them on the planting list during one of the summer’s hottest months. If you’ve ever wondered how we work with cool-weather crops in hot weather, here’s some advice.

Choose Fall Varieties

The beauty of open pollinated and heirloom crops is that they offer unique traits. Gardeners, farmers, and seed savers have bred some varieties specifically to tolerate the hot dry weather of late summer to produce a bountiful crop.

Some of our favorite fall brassicas:

• Waltham 29 Broccoli
• Early Flat Dutch Cabbage
• Savoy Perfection Cabbage
• Snowball Self-Blanching Fall Cauliflower
• Snowball Y Fall Cauliflower
• Red Rubine Brussels Sprouts
• Catskill (Long Island Improved) Brussels Sprouts

Collards and kale are also great choices for fall brassica crops and perfect for direct sowing. They are quicker to mature, cold hardy, and collards are easy to grow in areas where it’s too hot for good cabbage production.

Collards

• Champion Collards
• Georgia Cabbage Collards
• Georgia Green (Georgia Southern, Creole) Collards
• Granny Hobbs Collards
• McCormack’s Green Glaze Collards
• Purple Ultracross Collards
• Variegated Collards
• Whaley’s Favorite Cabbage Collards
• White Mountain Cabbage Collards
• William Alexander Heading Collards

Kale

• Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale
• Lacinato Rainbow Mix Kale
• Premier Kale
• Vates Kale
• White Russian Kale

Time Your Plantings

Timing fall plants can be tricky. Plant too early and you’ll have broccoli trying to head up in the hot weather of late summer or early fall. Plant too late and winter will arrive before your crop matures. 

To plan your plantings, you’ll need to know your average first frost and your crop’s days to maturity. Count back based on your days to maturity from your first frost. 

However, you also need to keep in mind that plants grow more slowly in the fall as the day length dwindles. To take this into consideration, you want to add 14 days to the days to maturity time for any variety you’ll direct sow and 14 to 28 days for any variety you will be transplanting. This longer period helps account for setback and transplant shock. 

Transplant Well-Developed Seedlings & Harden Them Off Carefully

Transplanting in any season can be rough on plants, but it’s even worse during the hot summer months. Good quality soil and attention can help you grow well-established seedlings that will better tolerate transplanting.

Before you set your plants out, it’s essential to harden them off. This means that you slowly adjust them to the temperature, sunlight, and wind outdoors before planting them out in the garden. Start by setting them out for just an hour or two each day out of direct sunlight and then slowly increase the time and sunlight exposure over a couple of weeks.

Learn more about hardening off here. 

Keep a Thick Layer of Mulch Around Plants

A heavy layer of mulch will insulate the soil. It keeps the soil cool and holds in moisture. It also suppresses weeds, which will compete with crops for water and nutrients. Add at least two inches of mulch and add as necessary to cover bare or thin spots as the mulch breaks down.

Water Consistently

Cool weather crops need a steady supply of moisture to grow well in late summer. Try to water deeply 4 or 5 times per week as they’re getting established. Check the soil frequently to make sure it stays moist.

If possible, it’s best to water in the early morning or evening. These cooler time periods will allow more moisture to seep into the soil before evaporating.

Offer Shade if Possible

Shading crops, especially when they’re first transplanted, can reduce the stress on your seedlings. You can use shade sails, easy-up pop ups, or low-tunnels with lightweight row cover. Whatever you choose, it’s most effective to position it so that it provides protection from the harsh afternoon sun when temperatures are highest.

If available to you, low tunnels are likely the most versatile, easy-to-use option. They also provide protection from insects like cabbage whites. As summer gives way to cooler temperatures in fall, you can swap out your shade cloth on the tunnels for a lightweight row cover for additional frost protection.  

As a new gardener, I always hated those articles that were like here’s five full proof crops that any beginner can grow. I’d see wonderful success with tender plants like heirloom eggplants and tomatoes only to have supposedly “easy crops” like bush beans turn to lace when I didn’t notice the bean beetles in time. Sweet corn is one of those crops often touted as easy to grow, but it’s not immune to issues. Here are a few of the common problems I see with sweetcorn and how you can prevent them.

Poor Sweet Corn Germination

The first issue you could run into is poor germination. Sweet corn seeds last a few years when stored properly. If your seeds are more than a couple of years old, you can also use an at home germination test to determine your seeds germination rate.

However, even if you have good quality seed, it’s possible to have germination issues.

The first issue that I like to eliminate when I see corn that’s not coming up is wildlife. Corn kernels are a tasty snack for wildlife, like crows, field mice, and squirrels. If you don’t get good germination, look for signs of soil disturbance, and dig up a few kernels to ensure that they’re still actually there. You may have to hang up deterrents like aluminum pie pans or place netting or a protective barrier over the bed to keep wildlife out while your corn is just starting to grow.

Wireworms, which I will detail in the pest issue section below, can also destroy seeds before they germinate.

Cool, damp conditions can also be problematic for sweet corn germination. Sweet corn seed requires a soil temperature of 65° F or warmer to germinate well. In cool soil, the seed rots easily because of its high sugar content. Don’t rush your first planting; wait until after your first average frost-free date.

If you don’t have a soil thermometer, you can use a traditional indicator, old-timers say to plant corn when the oak leaves are the size of squirrel ears. Another old country saying is that you can plant sweet corn when you can sit with your bare bottom on the soil comfortably.

Pest Problems

Sweet corn is susceptible to pests like cutworms, wireworms, earworms, and corn borers.

Wireworms and Cutworms

Wireworms are the reddish brown larval stage of click bugs and cutworms, usually in shades of gray or brown, are the larval stage of various moth species. Both pests spend their time hidden beneath the soil. Wireworms will eat and destroy corn seed and the roots of young seedlings, while cutworms will eat through the stem of young plants.

While I often advocate for low till or no till agriculture, tilling your soil can actually help reduce cutworm and wireworm populations. Running chickens or ducks through the garden for a few days before planting can also help. Over time, practicing cover cropping, crop rotation, and adding beneficial nematodes can also be effective.

Corn Earworms

Corn earworms are true to their name. They feed on the developing ears, starting at the tips. Suffocate them by inserting a medicine dropper half filled with mineral oil into the silk after it has wilted and browned at the tip (4-5 days after silk appears).

Corn Borers

Corn borers also have an appropriate name. They bore through the corn plants and ears, eating as they go. They can destroy ears or even weaken entire crops. You can prevent them by composting corn refuse and stubble as soon as possible.

Wildlife

In high school, I got my first job at a local organic vegetable farm. While I was helping to sow the enormous field of sweet corn, the owner explained to me they plant more than they think they’ll need. He said, “when you grow sweet corn, grow a third for yourself, a third for the raccoons, and a third for the deer.”

Sweet corn is highly attractive to wildlife. Your corn patch may tempt birds, deer, raccoons, and even black bears. Fencing is a good option for keeping out most wildlife. Including multiple wires of electric at different heights can help you block a range of animals. Motion activated lights, noise-makers, and sprinklers can also help deter wildlife.

Growing Conditions

Sweet corn is a heavy feeder that does best in nutrient rich soil with plenty of moisture.

Nutrient Deficiencies

Nutrient deficiencies can cause stunted growth and poor production in sweet corn. Often you’ll notice leaf discoloration.

For example, nitrogen deficiency causes yellowing leaves, typically starting at the tip and progressing down the midrib. Phosphorus deficiency often causes purpling, especially in young plants, and potassium deficiency frequently causes browning on the leaf edges.

Adding compost to the bed and providing adequate spacing can help prevent these issues. You can also get a soil test and use techniques like crop rotation and cover cropping to build healthy soil over time. Side-dressing plants with manure from your own livestock or fertilizer can help address immediate issues.

Drought

Drought can cause stunted growth and poor production. In low moisture, you’ll often notice wilting or curling leaves.

For best production, mulch corn in well once it’s established. Sweet corn thrives with 1 to 2 inches of water per week, so irrigate as necessary.

Sweet Corn Diseases

Corn is susceptible to a few diseases, which can negatively impact production.

Northern Leaf Corn Blight (NLCB)

NLCB is a disease caused by the fungus Setosphaeria turcicum. It thrives in areas with high humidity and temperatures between 65-80° making it a common issue for Southeastern growers in the spring.

You’ll first notice it causing elliptical tan or gray spots or lesions on the leaves starting near the base of the plant. These can be 1 to 6 inches long. As the disease progresses, they can darken and appear water-logged.

If your plants get NLCB before they silk, you will probably have low production.

If you struggle with NLCB, it’s probably worth switching to a resistant variety like Bodacious RM – sugary enhanced hybrid Sweet Corn.

Southern Leaf Corn Blight (SLCB)

This disease is caused by the fungus Bipolaris maydis. SLCB thrives in hot conditions with temperatures between 68-90°F. It can be a major problem in the Southeast, particularly in the late summer and fall.

Like the northern blight, SLCB will create lesions on your corn’s leaves. However, these lesions are smaller, typically only one inch long, and are usually surrounded by yellow halos.

SLCB can kill your plants, especially seedlings.

If you struggle with SLCB, try a resistant corn variety like Silver Queen.

Corn Smut

Ever seen ears of corn with large, puffy gray masses on them? That’s corn smut. It’s a fungus that forms during dry, hot weather. Corn smut is a delicacy in Mexico, but if you want corn rather than corn smut, remove and destroy the fungus; otherwise the black spores will re-infest your corn for several years.

Poor Pollination

Corn is primarily wind pollinated. The male tassels release pollen which is carried on the wind to the female silks. Each strand of silk corresponds to a kernel on the ear. If a silk isn’t pollinated, it will not form a kernel and you’ll end up with ears with big gaps.

If you’re not growing a large field of corn, planting in blocks is better than long rows. For good pollination and well-filled ears, plant in blocks at least 5 rows wide.

If you have a situation where you think your corn may not be pollinated, hand pollinate yourself. Ideally, you want to pollinate your corn in the first 4 to 5 days after silk emergence when the tassels are shedding pollen. The silks are still receptive to pollen up to 10 days after emergence, but to a lesser degree.

Hand pollinating corn is simple. Use scissors to cut off a few tassels and gently brush them on each ear’s silk.

 

 Want to save seed from your plants? Check out our post, 8 Easy Steps to Save Corn Seed.