I hate to be the “bearer of bad news,” but I must (sadly) report that today is the official First Day of Fall. Not what we wanted to hear, is it? But looking at the positive side, we could luck out with some nice fall weather for a while yet. Keep your fingers crossed.

Remember the cardinal rule if you are trimming trees. This is very simple and easy to remember: prune them any time except when the leaves are either falling, (autumn) or when new ones are opening, (spring).

Sadly, our local hummingbirds pretty much left early this year. No one seems to know whether this happened because of the awful smoky skies, the suddenly cool weather, or something else. In any case, they are gone, so go ahead and take down those feeders. Wash them well and store them until next spring.

Many flowering plants are reliable self-seeders. Be sure to save any wanted seeds before the capsules open up and drop them. Some of my favorites include cosmos, love in a mist, annual poppies, cleomes, larkspurs, dahlberg daisies, morning glories, nasturtiums and zinnias. There are a few petunias that will come true from seed, but not many. The same goes for snapdragons and marigolds.

In any case, clip off the seed capsules into a container. Be sure they’re dry, then bag them up, marking them according to variety. Store these in a refrigerator over winter. Next spring, sprinkle where you want them to bloom.

Hopefully, you’ve applied that last dose of fall fertilizer to your lawn. Go ahead and reseed any bare spots. Luckily, crabgrass plants will croak when the colder weather arrives as they are annuals, not perennials. Good thing.

This is the perfect time to get those spring blooming bulbs planted. Nothing looks more cheery than a patch of blooming tulips, daffodils or other types seen out a window in spring.

Planting them isn’t difficult. Just choose a sunny location, one with good drainage, and start digging. These bulbs need to be planted about three times their depth. In other words, if a bulb is 2 inches in height, dig the hole 6 inches deep. Set in a bulb … pointed side up, cover with soil, water in and you’re done. Set them a few inches apart, so they aren’t crowded. Next spring when they burst into bloom, be careful not to break your arm, patting yourself on the back!

On the subject of bulbs, an interesting one to grow is called autumn crocus. As the crocus we’re mostly familiar with is a spring bloomer, these are quite an oddity.

I planted some quite a few years ago and they reliably bloom in mid-September.

Something else that blooms much later than most things is a plant called hardy hibiscus. These shrublike plants are only visible above ground from about June until frost. They produce gorgeous huge flowers in September, but once hit by a hard freeze, the leaves die down until the next year, then start to come up in late spring.

When I heard that we might have a nice warm October, I got so excited I wet my plants!

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Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently serving as secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls. Her column appears in The Press every other Sunday from early March until late October.