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Is it me or is it the calendar that is out of whack? As I struggle to convince myself that fall is just around the corner I'll share a laundry list of some 'do it now' projects.

My rototiller has scheduled another visit to my vegetable garden in the next day or so. Grandma said that turnips should be planted August 20. Over the years that has worked well for me although I'll often cheat a bit on the late side. Radishes and greens like lettuce and spinach will also work.

Sneaking in a few more cauliflower and broccoli plants usually bring a late reward. I also plan to hide several rows of pea seed. If it works, I will crow about it later. If it doesn't, I promise you will hear no more.

The authorities say that fall is a good time to divide existing or add new perennials. I agree. My definition says fall starts about August 20 if there is adequate moisture not to overwork the water hose. This year it is August 20. Last year I had to wait till September.

Conventional wisdom says do the spring bloomers in the fall and the fall bloomers in the spring. That works, but it's fine to do both in the fall. I like to be done by late September or early October, but often I'm not.

The advantage of fall transplanting is good root development. That happens because the soil is still warm and the air temperature that encourages top growth is dropping. In the fall root growth wins the race with top growth, which makes a strong plant.

One exception is most ornamental grasses. They like it hot and are best planted from mid May until now. If you are thinking about adding grasses, do it now since they will just sit there and look angrily at you if you plant them when it is cool. There are a couple of exceptions.

If you have an apple tree or two and you are plagued by upright new growth each year, I have a suggestion. Cut it out now. Better yet, flex your muscles, don a glove and pull it out. Either way you will get a lot less re-growth that occurs with winter pruning.

As I look at my lawn, I scratch my head. This has been a great year for weeds, fall grass and white clover. They say this is a lawn crying for a soil test and some lime and fertilizer. I hate that thought as this year has already been non-stop mowing.

There also are weed control chemicals out there. Safety, application method, environmental impact and timing are important. If you use them, question your supplier and read the labels. Done incorrectly, they work both where you want them and where you don't.

I'll quit now. If you find this laundry list of projects too short, tell me, and I will try again next week.

The next time you get in the car for a near home ride, play a little game. Count the number of homes that were built in your lifetime. It's pretty amazing, right?

Unless the house was built in the woods, one of the first acts the new owner takes is to plant a few trees. The number and size of the trees will vary with his budget, but that begins everyone's march into shade gardening.

There are two chief problems when one approaches shade gardening. The first is to determine the degree or amount of shade you will be working with. The other is moisture robbing surface roots.

Maples are perhaps the most widely planted yard tree and have probably created the worst surface roots. You can quickly add beeches and the elm family to the problem list. As my yard wanders further and further from my house I see problems with sycamores, ash and tulip poplars.

I see few problems with oaks, hickories, dogwoods and most evergreens. If you are at the new home part of the cycle you might want to think twice about the trees that come to your yard. Check out the ground under the trees growing in your neighborhood and/or visit a mature garden like Longwood.

If you are in a more mature spot you choices are more limited. It would be horticulturally acceptable to remove some of the worst offending surface roots, Do that by cutting them cleanly near the trunk and digging them out. That's a lot of work and probably not an option favored by many of us.

Covering them with extra dirt is not an option. Even a slight change will start instant decline and eventual death with most trees. In the rare instance where this doesn't happen, the tree will quickly fill the new soil with more problem roots.

When one considers the combined problems of shade and roots there are spots that are virtually impossible to find plants that will grow. In these cases I am about ready to resort to a light coat of mulch for weed control, aesthetics and to convince my mower that mowing over tree roots is a bad idea.

If you are mulching remember that this brings insects and other varments. These, with the added dampness that mulch brings, can damage tree trunks. Keep the mulch at least six inches away from the actual trunk.

All that said, let me add that if you are gardening in shade where you have a high canopy with lots of light, or an area where the shade shortens the exposure to direct sun, you have a wonderful place to play, sit and plant.

I close by recalling one of the last times I took dad to the doctor in Quarryville. I asked him to point out the houses that were here when he was a boy. He got to maybe ten. That's a lot of shade gardens developing and they are still building.

Is there a place in your landscape for the kids? Your own, your grandkids or even an inquisitive little neighbor child. Do they have a place to play? Do they have a place to dig? Do they have a place to hide?

My gardening adventure started with my grandmother and formed many of my earliest memories. It was the large clump of giant rudbeckia near the wall on the lower side of the porch. With a paring knife, sneaked from the kitchen, I hacked a path, my hands, and a small place to hide.

It also was helping her pull weeds, divide plants, start slips and collect seeds. Her habit of constantly sending any of the above home with me fueled my first garden.

One of my fondest memories of my daughter is the constant parade of bouquets that were picked for her mother and her grandmother. If there wasn't enough in the garden for her bouquet, she could find contributions in most any open field. This year, as she nears an advanced degree in plant breeding, one of her plants is in several nationally distributed seed catalogs.

Whoa! My purpose is not to dwell on two inveterate plant lovers but to get you to think about kids and your landscape.

Of course all small kids and many larger ones like to dig and see things grow, especially if it is theirs. Is there a spot for their garden? Of course there needs to be some grass to let them run.

Add a playhouse if you wish. Scale it to their size. Add a sandbox or add some water. Have you ever seen a kid that wasn't able to fall into even the smallest puddle?

Finally give them some privacy. A number of years ago while touring gardens west of Lancaster, we found a little trail leading away from the main garden toward a clump of evergreens.

We followed it until we found three or four small children holed up away from the commotion of all the visitors. They were almost indignant that we had invaded their domain. I remember similar effort, besides the rudbeckia forests, as a child to hide.

If you are fortunate to have existing trees or shrubs to do the job, use them. If you don't, you could do the same thing with tall perennials, ornamental grasses or a trellis of vines. Remember, the kids may grow faster than some of your shrub or tree selections.

We hear complaints that the kids never go outside. That they stay holed up in their rooms with their TV's, computers or playstations. Maybe that is the only space that is really theirs. If that space existed in the garden they might go outside and discover the wonders of nature to boot.

It was bound to happen and it did. Someone, who knows more about growing perennials than I do, challenged my watering theories.

This all started when I drew the assignment of watering her plants while she was on vacation. Immediately I asked for a list of plants in her collection that were high water users.

I thought I had done my duty, but just before she left she told me that perennials need a lot more water than you think they do to be really happy. My response was to ask if there were additions to the original 'need water' list. There were a few.

Then I asked if there were any plants that were infrequently or never watered? That, too, produced a rather impressive list. Now that I am a week into my assignment I have made slight modifications to each list.

The point is that plants have very different water needs regardless of the weather. The varying weather conditions just complicate the issue. The key to successful growing is knowing how to use water.

I fear that many of us water because the sun just came up, or the sun is about to set or maybe because we saw the neighbor do it or even to prove that we are affluent enough to own a water hose. If you aren't watering based on observed plant needs you are watering too much.

This reminds me of the old wag about the gentleman who was amazed at the invention of the thermos bottle. He knew that it kept hot things hot and cold things cold. He just couldn't figure out how it knew which was which.

You will move to a new level of success in your garden when you and your garden hose know which plants are which when it comes to water needs. Until then you are probably watering too much.

The above tale is about plants in containers which, as we all know, have radically different needs than plants in the garden. In my perennial garden I never water beyond establishment.

However, I am building a short list of perennials that I am sure would perform better if they got supplemental water when needed. Right now that list includes garden phlox and bee balm for mildew control, astilbe and the re-blooming daylilies.

It has been a few years since I wrote about the Perennial Plants of the Year as selected by the Perennial Plant Association. This great list follows with a few comments based on my observations.

1990 Phlox stolonifera that's woodland phlox. It's a groundcover. For sunny spots use mountain pink Phlox subulata.

1991 Heuchera 'Purple Palace' that's Coral Bells

1992 Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue'

1993 Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'

1994 Astilbe 'Sprite' I might modify this selection to be astilbe in general. Sprite is good but so are dozens of others if you are looking for a good bloomer for modest shade. This one needs some supplemental water in dry weather.

1995 Peroskia atriplicifolia that's Russian Sage

1996 Penstemon 'Husker Red' I have found this plant to be quite variable in color and flower but I haven't found one that I don't like.

1997 Salvia 'May Night'

1998 Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus' that's purple coneflower

1999 Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' that's black eyed susans

2000 Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' Unlike most perennials it blooms all season but will be short lived if kept too wet.

2001 Calamagrostis x acutiflora "Karl Foerster" feather reed grass Most widely planted of the grasses. Very controlled but looses it's winter interest quicker than most grasses.

2002 Phlox paniculata 'David' A good tall garden phlox with mildew resistance. Resistance equals less but not total absence of mildew. Uniform moisture is the best natural cure I have found for mildew.

2003 Leucanthemum x superbum 'Becky' This may be the best shasta daisy I have seen yet. It's taller than most white daisies.

2004 Athyrium niponicum 'Japanese Painted Fern' Wonderful mid-sized fern. It will need shade and uniform moisture. An unprotected one on the east side of my house is quite unhappy.

Just two, maybe three of them reseed enough to march through your garden. Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' and Echinacea 'Magnus' will soon multiply if left unattended. I leave the seedheads for winter interest and the birds and then relocate the extra seedings to the compost pile. Another option is to cut the seedheads before they mature.

Husker Red Penstemon also occasionally spawn a few seedlings. Few is the key word. This is an unusual penstemon. Most like it on the dry side but this one is happy most everywhere. Its seedheads offer good winter interest.

Except for the 1990 phlox all would be described as clump formers. The list offers bloom and interest across the season. They offer variety in foliage color, texture and form. I've grown them all and all seem happy in a low love environment.

After seeing these all listed together I gained a new level of respect for the Perennial Plant Association's selection committee. My suggestion. Put this list on the refrigerator. Put these plants in your garden. If you are a beginner this is a great place to start.