Not much is starting to bloom this time of the year in the garden this week. Two choices in vines are the silver lace vine and sweet autumn clematis. The silver lace vine is a tough vine growing to 15 feet and covered with white flowers in late September.
The other vine, sweet autumn clematis grows around 15 feet and is tougher than the regular clematis. It is the gardenia-like fragrance that is incredible.
Been getting questions about buying mums in pots and if they are hardy. By not knowing the variety I do not know. The best thing is to plant them after they bloom and see if they come back in the spring.
I like planting asters instead of mums because they are tough with flowers coming in blue, red, white (our native aster is white), purple, and pink. They are around the last of the perennials to bloom.
This is the time to spray around the house with an insecticide barrier spray to keep the creepy things out of the home. It will last around 3-4 weeks so you might need another spray application. I use Tempo/Cylence which seems to work very well.
Also, get to spray for those broadleaf weeds like dandelion and violet in the lawn. Just do not do it on a windy day and with a temperature above 80 degrees. Once the garden and annual flowerbed are cleaned, you can hit it with glyphosate (like Roundup) for those perennial weeds like bromegrass and thistle you have been fighting all summer. If you are planning to plant or expand a garden or flowerbed, use Roundup to burn the weeds and vegetation down, wait a couple of weeks then till.