I slept in the summer and woke up to autumn. For those who grew up in New Zealand it’s just another day of summer then autumn comes March. But growing up in the Philippines with generally two seasons, dry and rainy/wet, it was a new experience for me more than a decade ago. Having winter, spring, summer and autumn was a welcome change. Before I got my hands “dirty” with plants I wasn’t really concerned with weather change unless it’s about the types of clothes to put in storage or which clothes to wear or where to go for a family getaway. Now, I think about which plants to put outside, which to put near the windows so they could get a bit of sunlight, which plants need watering or which to put away from windows to protect from draught.
The day before autumn, as the season changes, should there also be changes in our plant caring routine?
For those plant lovers who put them outside during the summer to bask and grow under the sun this is the time to start putting them inside before it starts to dip below 12 degrees Celsius at night.
Autumn’s temperature generally ranges from 7 – 21 degrees Celsius (45 – 70F) but Wellington didn’t get the memo yet since the average temperature today until March 1 is still 23 degrees Celsius. We’ll mostly experience a bit of summer in autumn as the weather hasn’t transitioned yet, but it usually does around the end of March then April.
Some may be anticipating the actual change in weather temperature and want to start a gardening project, Tui Garden says that autumn is an ideal time to plant broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beetroot, spinach and Chinese cabbages, just saying 🙂
Here in Porirua, locals are known as early birds. Saturday markets actually start at 4am and since we’re nearing the time of the year when days are shorter, then we can take advantage of our routine by checking and grouping out plants that need more sunlight and those that need less watering.
Succulents, cacti, ponytail palms, jade plants and aloes are some of the plants that need continuous daily sunlight but with cooler temperatures we need to put these plants indoors. Group them on the windowsill and try to rotate them once a week so all sides get the same amount of sunlight. If your place doesn’t get enough sunlight then you can use fluorescent tubes as an alternative.
We can always share these plant activities with our children, seeing as it’s their school holiday in April. It’s never too early to show them the joys of gardening. You could give them a starter box with a little bit of everything for planting or you may check out our cactus in adorable animal pots for practice since cacti are virtually unkillable plants . Try to coax your loved ones to join in the fun of growing or simply sprucing things up using plant accessories. You could repot plants that grew during the summer, put up more shelves and hang potted plants using cool macrames which happens to be one of our handmade gift products– macrame hangers and macrame hangers with pots. And so, whatever the activity may be, it is always gratifying to do things with family and loved ones. Remember, those who plant together get to see their living gifts grow together!
Happy Autumn planting!