We’ve been too busy lately to chat about gardening and now the frost is thick on the ground. We still have a few chores to finish.
1. A big job for our little nursery which grows many cut flowers is digging the less than hardy bulbs and tubers. Dahlias are gorgeous, but must be lifted each year and stored out of the cold. Daffodils stay in the ground as perennials. Paper White narcissi are not hardy in most zones above seven. Tulips are often dug and stored to keep them from reverting to their original colors. They will return but often are smaller and less colorful. Deer love to nibble tulips and think they are spring salad.
Our Dahlia House
2. You’ve raked leaves into your perennial beds to offer them extra protection. You’ve packed away the rest. Here in Western NY, living on acreage, we use the lawn mower to mulch the leaves and almost never rake. When chopped, the leaves do not cling together creating an optimum environment for leave mold and unsightly grass mold, plus the nutrients are returned to the soil. Not to mention it’s much easier than raking. Don’t let them pile up too big before you cut or the mower will just push them forward.
3. Be aware if you prune spring blooming shrubs now, you are cutting off many of the blossoms for the next season. Trim these shrubs only after they bloom next spring.
4. Spring bulb planting is still possible as long as you can dig the ground. You know the usual daffodil, tulip, narcissi, but are you acquainted with the smaller bulbs and corms which are a delight and surprise for eyes tired from only white snow? Here are a few: Anemones (blanda types), short, daisy-like in pink, white and blue, bloom almost before Crocus so plant close to the sidewalk so you can spot them. Very charming. Galanthus, better known as ‘snowdrops.’ Deer do not eat. Scilla siberica are lovely blue and bloom just before Muscari (grape hyacinths). I like to intermingle them so as one fades the other takes over. There are others, but these will delight you with their faithfulness year after year. Use a commercial bulb fertilizer.
Emma J Lane 
I just finished reading Murder in the Neighborhood. I am locking my doors very carefully. It was a delightful read. Eris Field Perese
The cover on your new book with the wonderful autumn colors was gorgeous. If only my garden would produce such vibrant colors. I did plant some fragrant peonies this fall with dreams of someday filling a vase with them.
Thanks Emma!
Late getting here, Emma, but you saved my lilacs with #3. The weather is supposed to be good here in Northwest Indiana and I was about to trim them to a nubbins!
I love to garden…vegetable and flower…I just mowed the “leaves” for the last time November 15th…I bag them using the bag attached on my mower. I empty the clippings and chopped up leaves on my garden and in areas of my flower beds. The green clippings and the brown leaves make the perfect compost mulch for my beds. Thanks for the great tips above:)
Don’t think so Sarah. They may be shorter, but they’ll no doubt find their way up. If they’re too short you can reset them next year.
Susan, Can’t you use the lawn mower on them? As I suggested, chopped up leaves won’t hurt the grass and will return nutrients to the soil. Set the height of the mower just a bit above where you’d usually use on the grass. I haven’t raked in years except to pull the leaves off the perennial beds in the spring.
Emma
Gardening is definitely not my strong point either. I added about four inches of dirt to one of my flower beds this fall, and there are tulip bulbs in part of it. I have no idea how far down they were before, but now they’re four inches deeper from the surface. Do you think this is okay, or do I need to do something with them before winter? Thanks!
Gardening is not my strong point so your tips are really useful Emma. The leaves sadly are still a colourful carpet covering the lawn. I can’t find the rake and the foxes have infiltrated the small greenhouse and chewed the gardening gloves . Oh well, back to the keyboard LOL