Early fall gardening with The Plant Man

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With the end of summer in view and September around the corner, Paul Levine, The Plant Man, offered a crash course on early fall gardening on Aug. 19 at the Salisbury Park Drive Ballfields in East Meadow.

“Bees love this plant,” Levine said, holding up a pot full of purple asters and explaining that the vibrant color attracts pollinating bees. It’s best to keep the plant outside because some house pets tend to play with the flowers too.

It’s important to keep asters hydrated because the flowers do not come back when they dry out. “This one needs water every day,” he said “If you forget, it’s gonna get angry at you.”

Another plant he revealed was a leafy celosia with flowers that looked like fuscia flames. The best way to care for it is to keep it in a shady area during periods of extreme heat and fertilize it at the end of September to keep it lively until December.

Levine also displayed a summer anthorium with candy apple red flowers, which he said may stay through October. Sometimes, however, it produces no flowers at all — which could be fixed with fertilizer.

In all, The Plant Man taught guests about nine different plants, raffling off eight for free at the end of the program.

Levine, a Woodbury resident, has given over 150 talks at local libraries and is a regular presenter with the East Meadow Public Library, which ran the Aug. 19 program at the Salisbury Park Drive Ballfields.

The library was closed for construction from June 24 to July 22, after which it opened for limited use on its east side, near the front door, said Carol Probeyahn, the facility’s director. In the interim, it is hosting programs throughout the community, with the help of local institutions and organizations.