I'm enjoying Indian summer. I've had my killing frost. Several days ago I saw my wife stripping the garden of frozen tomato plants and their ilk. All I can see left are a few remaining plants from the cole crop family and a well-grazed row of spinach.

Removing or incorporating vegetable garden residue at the end of the season is a good start for disease and insect control next year. Planting a cover crop using a few handfuls of one of the cereal grains would also improve weed control and soil texture. It's late but it still might work.

The cabbage that remains is headed toward the sauerkraut crock. My wife and daughter took an extension class, which suggested that cabbage needs a good frost if you want to make really good sauerkraut.

It is also fun to look around the flower garden to see what remains happy. On the annual front, I suspect that if you planted African daisies, gazania rigens. snapdragons, Cape daisies, osteospurmum, dianthus, or venedium last spring, they are still going strong after the first frosts. They should make it happily from spring to now and beyond.

With the exception of snapdragons and dianthus all the above are daisy like flowers. They should persist until at least Thanksgiving, if not Christmas.

Last spring's pansies have failed but it is getting easier to find fall plants to extend the season. Pansies planted in early September will thrive in the fall temperatures and generally over winter successfully. A light mulch and a site out of the wind would also help.

You are also beginning to see the availability of fall snapdragons and dianthus.

They will behave about as well as the pansies, especially if mulched with straw, evergreen bows or dry, unpacked leaves. With the exception of maple leaves most large leaves will not pack tightly enough to smother grass or ornamental plants.

Another dependable plant for fall and early winter enjoyment is the ornamental cabbages and kale. There are a lot of different leaf styles and several colors that can be found. They could last all winter without severe conditions. They are biennial, so get rid of them in the spring since the flower and seed stage is not ornamental.

With the exception of the cabbage and kale I would file all the above as possibilities for next year. Larger plants of the cabbage or kale could still be planted successfully.

Now is also a good time to access the perennials, shrubs and trees in your landscape. At my place the ornamental grasses are stealing the show. Viewed against the early morning or late afternoon sun they are spectacular. Again I strongly suggest you look but wait until late next spring to add them to your garden.

I also am impressed with a fine leafed perennial called blue star or amsonia. I have an eight or ten year old section that is now waist high and is beginning to turn a brilliant yellow. It is a great plant for texture and will grow anywhere.

On the shrub scene the fall and early winter is a good time to see foliage colors, berries, bark and structural character of the branching. All of these add to the enjoyment of the landscape. You can create four seasons of interest.

Now is the time to look and plan for next year. I confess that I planted nine shrubs yesterday and still will plant a few more. I know I'm late but the mulch bag is close by and I will use it to protect the roots and prevent heaving from the freezing and thawing of the soil in the frosty mornings ahead.