Gardener's Almanac: Bulbs and Vegetables

What to do in the garden this week...

Spring bulbs: Continue planting. Instead of tulip and crocus
bulbs, which are attractive to the currently high population of squirrels
and chipmunks, buy daffodils, alliums, Siberian squill, grape hyacinths,
and snowdrops. Good mail order sources include Brent and Becky's Bulbs (brentandbeckysbulbs.com), Old House Gardens

(oldhousegardens.com; 734-995-1486) and Van Engelen (vanengelen.com;
860-567-8734). Don't plant true lily bulbs unless you are ready to
spray or handpick red lily leaf beetles from April through September next year.

Tender bulbs: If you don't have time to dig up tender bulbs and
winter them over, just buy new ones in the spring.

Vegetables: Harvest cabbages as soon as the heads become solid. Twist
plants a quarter turn to partially sever the root and prevent growth but
leave the heads attached for storage in the garden until you are ready to use them.
Dig parsnips only as you need them, but harvest all
late potatoes now. Remove spent plant material from the vegetable garden.
Where the garden is empty for the winter, spread aged manure, compost,
leaves, or grass clippings on top and then turn or rototill them under.

Questions? I will be on line live in a chat room Thursday, Nov. 5, from 1-2 p.m. at Boston.com
to answer your gardening questions.