While there may be fewer blooming flowers now than in the spring, the fall bloomers do their best to make up the difference. Check out this gorgeous mum named ‘Sheffield Pink’ (or just plain ‘Sheffield,’ as it’s also called). It’s quickly become one of my fall-time favorites.

I’ll have to admit that I’m not a mum guy. I’m customarily one of those who buy a couple potted mums each fall, place them on the steps with a pumpkin, and toss it all in the compost after Thanksgiving. But the Sheffield’s not your typical box store mum. These look more natural in the landscape than florist mums, and require little or no pinch back. ‘Sheffield Pink’ has 2 to 3-inch wide, pastel-pink blooms in October, lasting a month or more. As with any garden mum, ‘Sheffield’ will spread quickly and behaves best if divided regularly, but not necessary if you have the room for it. The other good thing I’ve learned about this plant is that it can tolerate drought. What more could you ask for?

What are your favorite fall bloomers?

As a new Virginia Master Naturalist, I’m always on the lookout for new guides and publications relating to nature for our region. One such book I recently purchased is A Guide to the Frogs and Toads of Virginia. This new guide, put out by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), covers all 27 species of frogs and toads that inhabit Virginia. It’s a guide meant to help with identifying the frogs and toads of our state, and provide insights into their ecology, distribution and behavior. Included with this guide is an audio CD of frog calls to help identify frogs and toads by sound.

As a child, I loved frogs. There was nothing more I enjoyed than catching a big bull frog along the edge of a nearby farm pond. I spent many a Saturday and Sunday knee deep in the mud doing just that. Now, as a gardener, I like them for different reasons. Frogs and toads eat lots of insects and are a sure sign of a healthy ecosystem.

If you’re into frogs like myself, be sure to get a copy of this new Virginia guide, and by next spring you’ll be impressing all your gardening friends by identifying, via sight and sound, all of the frogs and toads in your area.

Copies of this publication can be obtained at the Department’s Richmond Headquarters or online here – https://www3.dgif.virginia.gov/estore/proddetail.asp?prod=VW256

With land development and pollution, frogs and toads have been on decline in recent years. Check out the homeowners guide to protecting frogs published by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/documents/Homeowners_Guide_Frogs.pdf

If you enjoy citizen science projects, the following offers further information and opportunities to help.

> Frog Watch USA is a nation-wide program managed by the National Wildlife Federation in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey: www.nwf.org/frogwatchUSA

> The North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) is a collaborative effort among regional partners to monitor populations of vocal amphibians. The Wildlife Diversity Division of the VDGIF has participated in the NAAMP since 1999: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/WILDLIFE/frogsurvey/

Who doesn’t love hummingbirds? Even people who don’t care much for birds like hummingbirds. How many birds can fly backwards, upside down, stop on a dime, and hover in place? Yep, you guessed it, just one – the hummingbird.

Unfortunately, this is the time of year that hummingbirds begin to leave us for the warmer weather of Central and South America. Must be nice, right? Although they’re leaving us now, don’t bring in those hummingbird feeders just yet. This is the time that hummingbirds could use the extra nourishment for their long journey. Hummingbirds that have spent the summer in our backyards have most likely begun to move on, while others that spent their summer further north are moving through the area now, and those are the ones thankful for those feeders. There's a myth that hummingbird feeders should be taken down after Labor Day, believing that the feeders would delay their migration. The truth is birds migrate when their natural internal clocks urge them to do so. Migration is driven by instinct and external factors such as hours of sunlight and weather, not by the availability of food at our feeders. If anything, keep your feeders out and filled to help re-energize the hungry little birds as they pass through, especially since many of their favorite summer blooms are now gone.

I put my hummingbird feeders up in early spring to provide food for the early arrivals until the weather warms and our flower beds burst into bloom. Once there are plenty of blooms I take the feeders down, only to bring them back out in late summer. During the summer I like to draw hummingbirds up close to my back deck using a variety of potted containers and climbing vines.

When setting up your hummingbird feeder, a sugar-water solution of 1 part white table sugar to 4 parts water most closely represents the content of naturally occurring flower nectar. Refrigerate any extra and refill feeders with fresh mixture every 3 – 5 days. Also, it’s recommended not to add red food coloring to the mixture. If your feeder is red, and most are, they will find it just fine. If it’s not red, just put something red close to it or just tie a red ribbon to the feeder to help them find it faster.

I’ve actually seen hummingbirds pass through my area as late as mid-November, so go ahead and keep those feeders out a little longer and help those little migrating wonders as they venture towards their winter vacation grounds.