Start looking at what you want to plant in fall garden

As summer draws to a close, so does the summer's blooms, and it becomes time to think about what to plant for fall.

There are several hardy annual flower varieties that weather Augusta winters and will keep landscapes colorful until spring.

Though pansies (Viola X wittrockiana) are by far the most popular hard annual grown in the area, many other excellent choices fit Augusta growing conditions.

- Alyssum. Lobularia maritima (sweet Alyssum). A low-growing (4 to 8 inches), spreading plant, Alyssum blooms from late spring until frost. Colors range from white to rose to purple. Sow in the fall.

- Baby's breath. Gypsophila elegans. White, rose and purple varieties are available. Plants form round clumps 1 to 2 feet high. Plants bloom only about six weeks. Successive plantings are necessary to ensure season long flowers. Don't confuse this with G. paniculata, which is perennial baby's breath.

- Candytuft. Iberis umbellate. Several colors are available besides the familiar white. Plants form a matlike habit. Annual candytuft is not as commonly uses as I. sempervirens (perennial candytuft).

- Calendula. Calendula officinalis (pot marigold). Varieties range from 1 to 2 feet tall. Yellow and gold predominate in the color range. A half-hardy annual, calendula performs poorly under hot conditions but is good for early and late season color.

- Cornflower. Centaurea cyanus (bachelor's button) is naturalized in much of Georgia. Farmers consider it a weed. Because of its short bloom season, it's best in the cut-flower garden or naturalized areas. C. Montana (perennial bachelor's button) might be more useful in the landscape.

- Cosmos. Cosmos sulphureus and C. bipinnatus. Ranging form 1 to 4 feet tall, Cosmos are among the easiest annuals to grow. Taller varieties tend to fall over and might need staking C. sulphureus varieties are mostly yellow and gold and C. bopinnatus white to pink to crimson.

- Larkspur. Delphinium and Consolida species and hybrids. Larkspur is an old garden favorite for providing tall, spiky effects. They're often used as cut flowers. The perennial Delphiniums usually do poorly in the Southeast, but the Larkspur types do well.

- Pansy. Most are planted in the fall and produce some flowers in the fall and winter, followed by peak flowering in the spring. Established plants can be transferred in early spring. Nearly all colors are available. The smaller-flower multiflora types generally are best for landscapes. When planting bedding plants this fall, be sure to wait until Oct. 1 at the earliest to plant. After Oct. 15 is ideal. It is simply too hot to plant pansies in September.

- Poppy. Eschsholzia californica (California poppy), Papaver nudicale (Iceland poppy) and P. rhoeas (Shirley poppy). These poppies are excellent annuals for naturalizing. Seeds usually are sown in late fall or early spring for early blooms. Many colors are available.

- Snapdragon. Antirrhinum majus. Many varieties and colors are available, ranging from 6 to 36 inches tall. The taller ones require staking. They're grown mostly as cut flowers.

- Sweet pea. Lathyrus odoratus. Sweet pea is grown mainly for its fragrant, colorful flowers, which make good cut flowers. Bush and climbing types are available. The climbers can be used on fences and trellises. Sweet pea grows best under cool conditions.

White flies

The second generation of white flies has been out for about a couple of weeks. They were a little later this year, like everything else, because of our cool spring.

Be sure to take steps to control them on your plants such as regular gardenias, dwarf gardenias, and confederate rose. If you don't control them you will wind up with black leaves from sooty mold on your plants until next spring and the new growth emerges.

White flies can be hard to control but good insecticides to use are those containing acephate, imidacloprid, disulfoton, bifenthrin and pyrethrins. Organically you can use insecticidal soaps and yellow sticky traps.

SID MULLIS IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA EXTENSION SERVICE OFFICE IN RICHMOND COUNTY. CALL 821-2349, OR SEND E-MAIL TO SMULLIS@UGA.EDU.