It's been a little chilly lately. Do you wonder how that might be affecting your garden? Possibly less than you think. As long as we don't have a frost or freeze, most everything will be fine. It is, however, time to think about bringing in the houseplants and tropical plants. They feel uncomfortable when the temperatures get into the 50's at night and we have been below that mark more than once. It might also be time soon to think about digging and storing summer bulbs inside for winter. Go to http://lake.extension.uiuc.edu/lake/downloads/8783.pdf for more info on that topic.

Chewing insects that show up late in the season are annoying because they make our plants look bad. Luckily, they do no lasting damage. Leaves are the food factories of our plants. If chewing insects attack in May or June, the amount of food that plant can make for itself is greatly reduced, leading to stress and possible decline of the plant. Usually by the end of July or early August, the leaves have produced most of the food they will make for the season. So when caterpillars and other chewers show up in August or September the damage is mostly cosmetic. This means that there really is no reason to spray any kind of insecticide on late feeding chewers. Take the green approach and don't spray in this case.

Well, we've passed Labor Day, but there are still a lot of things to do in the garden.

>Start a new lawn or renovate an old one during September.

>Plant spring flowering bulbs from mid-September to mid-October.

>Plant pansies or ornamental kale for a fresh burst of color in the garden.

>Keep harvesting those vegetables. I know it has not been a good year in the vegetable garden, but there are still a few things to harvest.

>If there is no rainfall, water plants as needed (about 1 inch per week). Pay extra attention to evergreens. They will suffer if they go into winter in a dry condition.

>Keep weeding. Weeds can be a great place for diseases and insects to spend the winter. Reducing weeds now can reduce pests next year.