Fall Chores and Paperwhites

November is halfway over and with Thanksgiving around the corner – December will be here before we know it. Have you finished up all the chores in your garden?
I know I said that I usually leave all my perennials and annuals in place, but I do make a few exceptions. I always cut off my peony foliage (if I hadn’t done so earlier) because they sometimes have botrytis blight. If you have chrysanthemums – cut those off to three or four inches after a hard frost.
The big thing now is also what to do with all those leaves. I have noticed people raking them out to the street like in the past. The city of Middletown does not pick up leaves at curbside any longer. If you wish you can bag them and put them out for the trash – but STOP! Why waste such a valuable resource? In nature nothing goes to waste – dead leaves, dead plants, and dead trees even are all recycled back into the soil to provide nutrients for the next generations of plants. Many people now take their cue from nature and recycle all those leaves back into extremely beneficial soil conditioner/fertilizer. If you don’t have too many leaves, just mow over them and leave them on your lawn. Over winter they will decompose and benefit your grass. For lots of leaves, you may also either run over them with a lawnmower (here a mulching mower with a bag comes in handy) or shred them with a shredder. Then move all the shredded leaves to your garden beds with the help of a rake. The shredded leaves will readily break down over winter. If you do this for two or three years you will notice your soil has really improved. Our clay soil here needs all the organic material you can add to it. Keep adding your kitchen scraps to the soil too – I merely sprinkle them over my beds in different places – potato peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, etc. If you have a heavy layer of mulch, stir them into the mulch with a trowel. I have been doing this for years and have noticed my soil get richer and easier to dig in every year.
Gather up all the garden tools lying around (OK, maybe you are organized and don’t have them lying around like I do). However, this is a good time to clean them and store them. Remove heavy rust with Naval Jelly and then coat with mineral oil. For a good way to store garden tools, fill a bucket with sand, add some mineral oil and mix well. Stick your tools down in here for the winter. Get rid of worn out tools or tools you didn’t use and take advantage of winter sales to get new ones or – ask for new ones for Christmas!
Don’t forget to bring in your hose for the winter. This is something I have forgotten in the past until the snow melts.
And now for something completely different…
Every year I read articles about forcing bulbs. I have tried it in the past without much success. It seems like an awful lot of trouble for a little bit of color. There are bulbs to force that are so easy a child can do it. I am talking about Paperwhites and Amaryllis bulbs. They need no chilling – just plant and water. Specifically – Paperwhites are in the Narcissus family, originally from the Mediterranean area. They have creamy white blooms that are extremely fragrant. You need a container that is at least four inches or more deep with no drain holes. You can use soil, but you certainly don’t need to, as gravel or small stones will do nicely. Put an inch or two of your planting medium in the bottom of the container, place your bulbs in, and then add more planting medium (soil, pebbles, gravel) up to the neck or top of the bulbs – leave a little bulb peeking out. Then add some water – not too much – the bulbs should not be sitting in water. Keep adding some water regularly and in 4 to 6 weeks they will bloom. Until then, it is fun to watch them grow. You may start some every few weeks all winter for continual bloom. Now is a good time to start a batch for Christmas to have bloom and fragrance in your house. After they show green growth move to a cool sunny window. You may pot some up in pretty ceramic containers and give them as gifts for Christmas along with instructions for care. Paperwhites can be purchased locally in garden shops or ordered from bulb companies.
Next week I will talk about the care and culture of Amaryllis bulbs.