The idea is simple. Use living plants for the centerpiece, then put them back outside or into the landscape when the dishes are done.

We’ve grown these crops in our Mason greenhouses for a long time. Garden mums are on the benches now at Mason, Gallipolis, and Belpre. More fall plants are arriving soon.

As August winds down here in the Mid-Ohio Valley, it can feel like the best of the summer color is behind us. It isn’t. Those petunias, begonias, vinca, impatiens, marigolds, and coleus still have weeks of good looks left if we give them a little extra attention.

As the garden season winds down across the Mid-Ohio Valley, many of us start looking at our tomato vines, bean plants, and flower beds with a new question: “Can I save seeds from these for next year?”

The long, hot days of summer are still with us, but the calendar is already pointing toward cooler nights and the start of fall. This is the perfect window for what we like to call the Great August Garden Reset.

There’s something special about late July in our Mid-Ohio Valley gardens. The days are long and warm, the plants are working hard, and the harvest is starting to feel real.