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50 | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | SEPTEMBER 2018 | By all these lovely tokens September days are here, with summers best of weather and autumns best of cheer. ~ Helen Hunt Jackson Betty Wendell will be our guest speaker at the meeting on Sept. 12. Betty is a certified organic gardener and has been gardening for 20 years. She sells her produce at six different certified organic markets per week. She grows her produce at three locations: her home, an acre in Hemet, and space in Cherry Valley. The produce stand in Cherry Valley is on Brookside Avenue next to Calvary Church and is open from 9 am - 2 pm, Thursday through Sunday. Several of her customers hail from Sun Lakes. Another summer is coming to an end. Whether you spent time with friends and family at our beautiful pools, or simply enjoyed the sun's warmth and gardening in your backyard, the month of September brings with it the awareness that summer is ending. We are fortunate that we live in Southern California and still have many days of sunshine left in the month of September. Here are some hints for what we can do in our September gardens: In the flower garden start to divide herbaceous perennials as the weather cools. Make sure you water the new divisions. Fill gaps in borders with autumn flowering plants such as sedum and chrysanthemum to extend the color to the end of the season. Plant hyacinth and amaryllis bulbs for forcing, to ensure a crowd of colorful blooms at Christmas, perfect for a homemade Christmas present! September is a good time to plant new perennials as the soil is still warm. Keep deadheading annuals and perennials, don't forget to deadhead your penstemons to extend their performance and dahlias and roses to prolong flowering. Prune any late summer flowering shrubs such as climbing roses and rambling roses. Keep your camellias and rhododendrons well watered at this time of year to ensure that next year's buds develop well. Plants that will survive the first frost, like chrysanthemums, flowering kale, and flowering cabbage, are great choices for fall plantings and will provide the landscape with color well after the first frost. But don't be afraid to mix in annuals, too, including marigolds, red salvia, white alyssum, nasturtium, lobelia, pansies, viola, and snapdragons. We meet on the second Wednesday of the month, in the Main Clubhouse Ballroom at 10 am. If you aren't already a member, what are you waiting for? You don't have to be a gardener to join. Come and try us out as our guest! If you would like to become a member, please contact Suzie Messick at 769-7945. "Frost Advisory" Snow Day… Save the date Dec .12, 10:30 am to 2 pm. Happy gardening! Garden club