Have a little patience. Don’t rush your garden into fall.

Even an admitted summer lover can’t miss the subtle signs that fall is on its way. Trees are showing the slightest blush of autumnal color, the days are rapidly shortening and the floral stars of late summer are at their peak.

I know better than to irritate the powerful PSL lobby (that stands for the semi-controversial drink pumpkin spice latte that is so ubiquitous it has become a season-defining acronym), but my message to gardeners is one of — ironically, given the name of this column — patience.

Drive down any street in Ozaukee County and you’ll see gardens that have never looked so beautiful. Overflowing with saturated color, they are eye catching even at 30 mph. And yet I’m seeing the steady march of mums into places where beautiful container plantings still soldiered on a day before.

Articles on overwintering tropical plants and how to dig and store dahlia tubers popped up in front of me on the same day, and while I can appreciate research in the effort of planning ahead, I want to make it clear that gardeners here have plenty of time to enjoy their gardens as they are right now.

It’s fine, and possibly even better, to wait for frost to knock back dahlia foliage before digging tubers, so sit back and enjoy those beautiful flowers for possibly another month or so. Tropical plants will start needing some attention when nighttime temperatures stay below 50 degrees, but we could be two weeks away from that.

And don’t even think about cutting back perennials right now. Any quest for a “clean” garden — one that’s highly overrated anyway — and the desire to achieve it while it’s still nice enough out to want to work in the garden is ridiculous when the garden still looks great, although perhaps a little saggier than it did a month ago.

If you’re looking for garden jobs to do now, enjoy the late summer sun by going after perennials weeds, or dividing perennials, something that most plants that bloom in the first half of the summer will appreciate at this time. Take advantage of late-season sales and plant trees, shrubs or perennials while the ground is warm but the sun won’t bake them.

For the mum-lovers out there, I won’t rain on your sweater-weather parade, but consider holding off just a little longer before you succumb. Odds are your containers are still looking pretty good, and remember that those mums will be bloomed out in the blink of an eye.

Our growing season is already far too short; don’t rush your garden into autumn before you have to.

If you’re one of those people who just can’t wait for fall, throw on your favorite sweater, grab a coffee drink that inexplicably tastes like an orange gourd and sit back and enjoy how beautiful your garden is. Because it might just be the best it’s looked all summer.