Frost are due again soon. We can expect them in September in upper New York State, throughout a great part of New England, in many parts of the Great Lakes states and throughout the northern Great Plains. Generally, the more prolonged the low temperatures of winter, the earlier frost comes. It takes a series of frosts to ripen and harden plant tissues in preparation for the more intense cold of winter. Frost puts an end to the activities of the more tender plants; these must be given winter protection.
Dig and Store Roots
Soon after the first frost, cut the tops of dahlias to within 6 inches of the ground. When digging a clump of large roots, use a spading fork to loosen the soil all around the clump; then pry it loose and lift it out. Dahlia roots are brittle, thin-skinned and easily injured.
Roots broken off from the crown are useless, as the buds, or eyes, from which the new shoots will grow are located at the base of the old stem where the root is joined to it. Turn the clumps upside down to drain off excess moisture. This would cause rot if the roots were stored without drying. After drying in the sun, store the tubers in a cool place, or pack them in sawdust, coal ashes or sand.
Gladiolus should be dug as soon as the foliage turns yellow. Use a fork to pry up the plants. Lift them out by the tops and place in containers to dry, taking care not to shake off too many cormlets. When the tops are dry cut them off and store the corms in shallow boxes. Loose cormlets should be stored separately. If thrips were troublesome during the Summer, dust the corms with malathion.
Cannas should be dug and stored with the soil attached to the roots. Dig tuberous begonias and let the tops dry in storage. Allow as much soil to remain on the roots as possible. If tubers be- come detached, store in damp peatmoss. Let pumpkins and squash ripen on the vine thoroughly before storing them in a place that is not too cool.
House Plants
Bring your house plants inside now. If they were kept in their pots and well tended all summer, they should be in excellent shape. Give them a sunny window or a well-lighted porch with plenty of air. Make their transition to a new environment as easy us possible. Those which are to be lifted and potted should be well watered a day or two before.
In lifting geraniums, impatiens and begonias, use a spade to cut around the plants. Try to lift them with a ball of soil around the roots. You can trim some of the soil off before potting them in a mixture of 2 parts loam, 1 to 2 parts sand, depending upon the heaviness of the loam, and 1 part peatmoss. To 1/2 bushel of this mixture, add a 5-inch potful of dried cow manure and a 3-inch potful of bonemeal. The geraniums should he potted firmly, the others less so.
Lawn Stimulation
Make the most of your opportunity now to stimulate the grass. Fall growth is root growth; this means a thick sod. Top-dress the lawn with a good lawn fertilizer. Follow the labeled application amounts on the bag. But first eliminate any crabgrass, which will soon be scattering its seed for next year.
Fertilize and seed any bare areas. Do a good job of soil preparation. If you make a new lawn, work peatmoss or humus into the top 6 inches of soil. After you obtain a good, firm, well-graded surface, seed and roll. Good seed is an absolute must. Anything else will defeat your aim. A good coverage is 4 to 5 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Consult a lawn seedsman for advice on your specific location and soil, especially if your lawn is situated in a shady location.
Plant or replant peonies now. Old plants that seem to be loosing their vitality are best lifted and divided. Save the more vigorous roots and discard those with thin stems and small buds, or eyes. Each division should have at least three good eyes; five to eight will give better results.
The soil should be deeply worked and plenty of organic matter and bonemeal or superphosphate dug into it. Firm well before planting and set the eyes 2 inches below the surface. The new plants will need sun and perfect drainage. Find room for at least one tree peony; they last for years and increase in value and beauty. Prepare the soil in the same way, but add some lime. The tree peonies must have full sun, too.
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Eremurus, or foxtail lily, is worth a place in your garden. too. The roots radiate from the thick bud like the spokes of a wheel and should be planted 6 inches below the surface. The soil may be any good garden soil. Later, mulch the ground with leaves.
Alstroemeria aurantiaca, or Peruvian lily, is another good subject. It is hardy in all but the more northerly regions. Bulbs planted now will bloom next July when the long stems are topped with clusters of golden yellow lilylike flowers. Set the bulbs 6 inches deep.
Japanese and Siberian iris can now be divided and replanted. These are heavy feeders, so enrich the soil. When the foliage of the true lilies turns brown, these, too, should lie dug and divided.
Their seasonal growth having ripened, conifers and broad-leaved evergreens can now he transplanted with a hall of soil around the roots. Conifers need full sun. although American arborvitae and Douglas fir can stand some shade. Arborvitae will grow in much heavier soil than will the others. Use plenty of leaftmold, partly decayed leaves or peat-moss mixed with the soil for the broad-leaved evergreens. The soil is best firmed around the roots with copious supplies of water.
Beware Late Stimulation
The over-use of fertilizers, unnecessary watering and pruning can result now in forcing a soft growth that may succumb to the first heavy frost. This is particularly true of woody plants like shrubs. Evergreens can be watered, even fed, but not sheared. Roses should be allowed to flower as they may. A dry period will help ripen the tissues. Many rock garden plants of the shrubby kind – candytuft, daphne, sun rose, heather, potentilla – are affected by late stimulation.
Rock Garden Plants
Mat-forming plants will benefit from a top-dressing of a mixture of sand and leafmold with a little dried cow manure and bonemeal added. Restrain over-vigorous plants by digging out those which have overrun their allotted areas. Old plants of alyssum, armeria (sea pink) and others which have become unsightly should be discarded. Pot up rosettes of saxifrage, androsace, sempervivum and choice sedums. Place in a coldframe or in a well sheltered spot.
Propagation
Many perennials can be increased by root cuttings, among them plume poppy, Oriental poppy, bleeding heart. Anchusa italica, yucca and solomon’s-seal. Cut roots the thickness of a pencil and about 4 inches in length. Set these right end up in pots of sandy soil or in deep flats. Cover them 1/4 inch deep. Root cuttings of summer phlox, verhascum and stokesia- are made by clipping the fine roots into 1-inch pieces with a scissors, scattering them over a sandy soil in a flat or in a coldframe and covering them 14 inch deep. These will be young plants by spring.
Among the more tender plants, stem cuttings can be taken now from coleus, geraniums, ageratum, fuchsias and lantana and rooted indoors in sand.
Lilacs, too, may be propagated from root cuttings. You must be sure, however, that the plant is on its own roots and not grafted on price[ or the common lilac.
Coldframe Uses
More on ColdFrame Gardening Here
Cuttings previously rooted in the cold-frame are now ready for moving out into the garden. Shrubs may be set outdoors in rows a foot apart with 9 to 12 inches of space between the plants. Geraniums and other soft-stemmed plants should be potted in 3-inch pots in the potting mixture suggested on page 46 and either brought indoors or set in the coldframe until later. Space available in the coldframe can now be devoted to a sowing of Scarlet Globe radishes. Oakleaf and Mignonette lettuce, pepper grass and Upland cress, much of which you will be able to use at Thanksgiving. Or you could transplant from the garden young plants of lettuce. Chinese cabbage and endive. Celery and leeks could also he stored in a coldframe and used as needed.
Seeds of perennials and biennials can still be sown. but transplanting is hardly possible until spring.
Care of Chrysanthemums
The early chrysanthemum plants are now in bloom. Most of the other types are showing buds. if you have bare places in your flower garden. dig up several plants that have buds and transplant them. If you are growing some of the greenhouse-type chrysanthemums outdoors and training them to a definite number of stems, keep all the side shoots trimmed off. Watch out for the caterpillar that eats the undersides of the foliage about this time of year. Dust with Sevin. Do not overfeed your chrysanthemums; the safest food now is light liquid fertilizer. With many varieties, select the bud that looks as if it will make the best flower, pinching the others off.
Greenhouse Tips
If you are lucky enough to possess a home greenhouse, put it to rights now by making any repairs necessary. removing all accumulated useless material and painting spots which need it. Potted primulas. begonias, Christmas cherries, ferns and others should be brought in. If you have not sown any seed for later bloom, you can stilt sow such plants us calendula, cineraria, snapdragon, stock and schizanthus.
Bulb Planting
It’s time to begin ordering hardy bulbs, tulips. daffodils, hyacinths and others for planting out or potting up for winter flowering. Lily bulbs should be ordered now. too. Narcissus bulbs. which are all the better for early planting, can go into the soil any time through September. Read the article on Bulb Planting. Get acquainted with some of the smaller types of narcissus such as the varieties of N. jonquilla, the triandrus hybrids and some of the species narcissus. also that interesting class known as botanical tulips. You will derive no end of pleasure front these bulbs next spring.
by J McKean – 62935
