Check
rose climbers for insecure ties.
Rake
gardens clear of all debris.
Prepare
beds for next spring by tilling the soil lightly.
You
may still find a few interesting offerings for sale this time of year.
To
boost your inventory of house plants look for oxalis. O. rengnelii
sprouts from underground corms. White flowers grow in clouds several times
during the year, accompanied by green, clover-shaped leaves. When they become leggy, cut them down to soil
level, and they will start all over again.
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| Oxalis |
If
you have been storing amaryllis, keep an eye on them. As soon as they send up new shoots bring them
back into the light. They should be
blooming by late December.
The clocks have
been turned back, and the weather is grey and finally cold. Squirrels are racing around collecting all
the nuts and berries they can find to store away for the months ahead. They have made a mess in the Rhinebeck
garden, shaking black walnuts from the trees, selecting the nuts for storage
and leaving the rest behind.
Raking is the major November work here
and, although I advocate leaving the
task until all the leaves have fallen, we have too many to handle. Raking is ongoing throughout the fall.
Rake all garden beds clear of
debris. Any leaves the winds haven’t
carried away are tucked around the acid-loving plants. Cut back all perennials to four inches above
the ground, leaving anything that’s still green. Don’t forget to mulch the perennial beds with
an inch or more of compost. After the
holidays, use evergreen boughs to weight down the compost and keep the soil
from heaving.
The main danger to flower borders is the
alternate freezing and thawing of the ground during winter. If the winter is mild this may occur many
times during the season. Some times the
soil movement is so strong it will break the roots of the plant and push it out
of the soil. We’ve certainly found this
true with fall panting
Alternate freezing and thawing does not
happen in areas where there is a guaranteed blanket of snow all winter. But in more temperate areas you can prevent
this heaving by mulching heavily. Almost
any mulch will do -– straw, salt hay, evergreen boughs, compost or buck wheat
hulls are all fine. It’s best to wait
until the ground freezes before mulching, so this task may stretch into
December.
If you have a vegetable garden, work the
soil lightly with a tiller to get a head start on spring planting.
 |
| Paperwhite Narcissus |
I’m already dreading the winter, and so
have potted up the first bowls of paperwhite narcissus to see me through. I’ve experimented with forcing tulips, but the
cold treatment required for success is too fussy for me. A spectacular failure in which I stocked a
spare refrigerator with a winter’s worth of potted tulips produced nothing more
than a refrigerator full of frozen bulbs.
Amaryllis are worth the effort of
keeping them over from year to year if you have the space for it. If you are a first-time buyer, now is the
time to start. Buy them from a florist,
a nursery or a catalog. Enjoy their
bloom. After they have finished blooming
remove the flower stalk and fertilize monthly with Miracle-Gro or another
water-soluble fertilizer. By mid-summer,
cut back on your watering schedule by one-half.
Once the foliage yellows, cut the leaves back to an inch above the bulb
and store in a dark cool location for about six weeks. Then bring them into a sunny window and start
all over again.
 |
| Amaryllis 'Minerva' |
If you are keeping orchids from year to
year, feed them with orchid food once a month if not more often. Southern filtered light is best, and give
them relatively little water. Ventilation
is critical.
By the end of November you should have
potted up your bulbs, completed putting the garden to bed for the winter,
turned off all outdoor water faucets, coiled your hoses and brought them
indoors. Make sure your garden equipment
and tools are clean; you can oil them over the winter. When everything is cut down, put away, tidied
up, mulched, wrapped and swept clean you can review your gardening year from a
comfortable chair indoors and plan for spring.
