Another week and more fall color to enjoy! I am sharing a few photos from a few weeks ago, but they are good reminders that colors will continue to emerge into November. I love trouble-free Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). This native vine will trail along in full shade or full sun. The best show comes in sunlight, however. When in full sun, the leaves of Virginia creeper will turn a bright red.
And Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) may be poisonous, but as a native food source for travelling birds, I like keeping some around. The leaves also glow on sunny or rainy fall days.
Even if frost hasn’t come, I will pull out what is left of tomato plants and their cages now. It is good to brush the stakes or cages clean then store out of the weather for use again next year. Before installing next spring, I will wipe the supports with a bleach solution to kill any overwintering bacteria.
I will cut back or dig out other vegetables that fail to produce. I will leave bean plant roots in place and just cut off the tops because the roots fix nitrogen to little nodules. This weekend I will also sow seed of winter rye in empty vegetable plots as a green manure. It will sprout now and survive hard frosts but hold the soil. In spring the green leaves will be turned into the beds adding organic matter.
Tomato and bean stems or foliage will go into the compost since they don’t seem to have any disease affecting the foliage. I won’t put broccoli, kale, or sprout leaf trimmings into the compost yet. I will put a pile next to my compost for now and let the beneficial wasp insects have a place to overwinter.
You can plant garlic now but wait until ground freezes to mulch with straw. One clove grows into an entire bulb, so you don’t need too many bulbs of seed garlic. Don’t use garlic from the market as these are often treated to prevent sprouting. Note smaller cloves of softneck garlic will often pack as much power as larger cloves of hardneck garlic. Hardneck garlic may keep better for longer.
As you continue to clear perennial or shrub borders, make a mental note of shrub branches that need pruning once dormant. Continue to open the spaces to expose voles. Old or dead leaves of iris and daylilies can be cut away but leave the new growth.
Dig up your dahlia, canna, gladiolus, and other tender bulbs now after frost kills the foliage. After foliage dries completely, cut it off and rinse bulbs of soil. Allow bulbs to dry and store dried bulbs in strips of newspaper or sawdust. Label containers or keep labels with the separated bulbs.
Leave ornamental grasses to provide winter interest. Check pH of soil for your lawns. The ideal pH is 6.5. Amend now with lime or sulfur as directed by a soil test. You will apply the amendment with a seed spreader over the lawn surface.
If you stored your amaryllis bulbs six weeks ago, it is time to pot up them up. Water well but don’t water again until growth starts. Paperwhite bulbs do not need soil to force into bloom. Paperwhite narcissus will begin to grow with light and a small amount of water just touching the roots.
To encourage Christmas or Thanksgiving cactus into bloom, make sure they get 12 to 14 hours of darkness to form flower buds. Actually, a succulent and not a cactus, the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) should receive regular moisture while potted in a well-drained soil. Too much water will rot the crown, and too little will cause the plant to dry up and break apart.
I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I am willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
