You may not know this
But there are two “gardening deadlines”
Here in my Zone 7 garden
That fall on the 4th of July.
I’ve learned over the years
That the 4th of July is the last time
To plant Zinnias for fall bloom.
I know
Most of you planted yours weeks
If not months ago.
In my over-planted piece of this planet
I don’t have space for Zinnias
Until I pull up the Poppies and Larkspur
That have gone to seed.
Yesterday I went a little beyond just pulling up the dead stuff.
I went a little crazy.
My garden is now 11 years old.
As a result
It’s overgrown in may places.
So along with the waning Poppies and Larkspur
I dug up two Rose bushes
About a dozen blue Veronica Spicata
Several white Iris
Some Purple Coneflower
An a lonely Gloriosa Daisy or two.
Normally, I wouldn’t excavate quite so much
Especially since I have no idea who will adopt these plants
So, I’ve taken a new approach.
Let’s call it the “Urban Dumpster Method”.
In cities if you want to get rid of something
Just lean it against your dumpster
It will disappear long before
The Sanitation Department has a chance.
So this afternoon
I put my garden abundance on the curb
With a sign saying
“Free Plants
Take what you want – need a sunny home”.
When I last checked they were all still there.
I’m hoping for a swarm of midnight gardeners.
To take this stuff off my hands.
So I’ll feel good when I attack the rest of the garden
Tomorrow.
The second deadline has to do with mums.
If you have the old-fashioned kind
That grow and grow
This is the time to give them one last
Harsh trim
So that they will be thick and full
Come fall.
May have to fudge on this one a bit.
That’s what I love about gardening.
There’s always grace.
Gail
In My Garden 
I wish I’d read this earlier. I’m certain that all have to be gone by now.
Linda gmail
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I have a friend who does the same thing with great success. We also have a MG plant sale so most of us pot up and store excess plants for next year. I’ve also been known to take them and plant them around my border to the wetlands where I can see them bloom but don’t have to maintain them. 🙂
It worked. I put the plants on the curb Sunday afternoon and they were all gone before noon on Monday. Hope they are starting a new garden for someone. We dug earlier in the summer for the MG plant sale. I just seem to have hit a point in my garden where things really need to be thinned. It sneaks up on you.