How to Pick the Right Plants for Your Garden: 9 Lessons From a Seasoned Gardener

Variety selection is key. These tips will help you navigate this year’s dizzying garden catalog offerings.

The author's Albion everbearing strawberries reliably produce well into October on his farm off the coast of Washington state. But finding this dream variety was a process of trial and error. Eric Lucas

“You still have strawberries? It’s October!”

My houseguests were wide-eyed when I set a bowl of the fresh fruit on the breakfast table. It was indeed October, and yes, I still had strawberries—a pint a day. The harvest ended when autumn’s chill descended 10 days later. A few laggards lingered until Thanksgiving.