If you live in the vicinity of Kiwanis Park in Post Falls, chances are you've seen the visiting moose. He was pictured in The Press twice in recent weeks. As exciting as he was to see, I was tickled that he wasn't in MY yard ripping up plants and damaging trees. Moose are very destructive. If he's going to live long enough to finish developing that set of antlers, he had better swim back across the river and find some remote area in the mountains to hide in from the hunters.

Moose is an Algonquin word meaning twig eater. They are actually called elk in Europe. Moose are very good swimmers and have good hearing, an excellent sense of smell, but poor eyesight. They will charge people and even cars at this time of year, so keep your distance.

Now that October is here, the chance of frost is a grim reality. The average first frost date in Spokane is Oct. 7. I haven't seen any dates for this area, but our weather is usually similar to theirs.

If you have houseplants that summered outdoors, bring them in before they get nipped. Be sure to keep them in an isolated area for a couple of weeks, at least. This will give any hitch-hiking bugs time to show up. The worst ones are spider mites which multiply rapidly in a warm house. Most plant sprays won't kill them. You will need to use a systemic insecticide.

Instead of digging and potting up coleus plants, just take cuttings. These will root in water very quickly. When the roots are an inch long, transfer the cuttings to small pots using a good houseplant potting soil. There are many ways to save your prize geraniums. The easiest is probably a winter home in a sunny window. Storing in paper bags in the basement works too.

I recently brought in a beautiful Persian Shield plant and a very pretty coleus called Peter's Wonder. The cuttings have also been taken as coleus will turn to black mush at the first hint of frost. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a blossom or two on my Angel's Trumpet plant before the weather turns bad. This is a tropical plant and has grown to about 1 1/2 feet tall and across. Unfortunately, I've read that they need to be two feet tall before they'll bloom. These are tall shrubs in the southern states with spectacular foot long very fragrant blossoms.

If you still have green tomatoes on the vine, remember, they need heat in order to ripen. Now with the nights getting chilly, you need to cover them. Do this by about 4:30 or 5 p.m. in the afternoon in order to trap the day's heat. Uncover each morning when it warms up.

People have been asking if now is a good time to move a clematis vine. Yes it is. Be sure you dig in some good fertilizer, plant them deep and in morning sun. They won't do much blooming in shady areas, if at all.

When you're cutting your perennials back later this fall, remember to skip the chrysanthemums. They winter better with their tops intact. Fall planted mums don't always get a good enough start to survive. It's best to plant them earlier in the summer. Avoid planting gift mum plants as they are "programmed" to bloom with a certain amount of daylight which will translate to very late in the fall.

According to Wikipedia, here is the definition of Indian summer: The generally accepted use of the term is when the weather is sunny and clear, 70 degrees, all the leaves on trees have turned, but before the first snow has fallen. In the northern states this period is normally associated with mid-October to late-November.

Traditionally, Indian summer can only be a true Indian summer after the first frost, generally a killing frost.

I was all for it until they got to that last part!

Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting as a kid in 4-H. Since then, she has always kept a garden of some sort, growing everything from fruits and vegetables to flowers and house plants. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states. She is an active member of the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls.