By Carol Stocker
When I took stock of my garden last year, I made this list of annuals, both old and new, that put on a good show in my garden:
Archangel Angelonia provided continuous purple spikes without deadheading.
Superbenas are a new verbena hybrids from Proven Winners so tough they just kept blooming for me last year. My fave was Royale Peach Keen.
Old favorite State Fair were good deer-proof zinnias for cutting.
Superbells is a calibrachoa hybrid from Proven Winners that required no deadheading.
Patchwork is an easy new lavender impatien that bloomed nonstop.
I had less luck with wave petunias, perhaps because they required pinching. They just petered out.
But Wasabi coleus was an excellent lime green color accent for shade.
Best of all was Cool Wave pansies in white, yellow and blue edged frost. I planted these in my yard last October. They stayed in flower all through the mild winter looking colorful but frozen and pathetic. But starting in late February, they started blooming their heads off and prompted startled compliments from visitors because of the early season. Plus they are really good looking in that yellow, white and pale blue color combination. They are still blooming now in May and it will be interesting to see how long they last. They are supposed to spread twice as far as regular pansies, 24-30 inches and be hardy to Zone 5. They are from the makers of Wave petunias and are really miracle plants.
This year I am planning to try:
Patchwork Impatiens, which have novelty patterns and colors for hanging baskets and mixed containers. They grow 12 by 12 inches.
Honey Crisp Coleus for foliage color in shade. I like most coleus but this one has a peek-a-boo red underside. It grows 24 inches by 24 inches.
Archangel Angelonia produced great big blooms. I am going to try the new Raspberry Improved this year, which spreads 12 inches by 12 inches.
Fiesta Double Impatiens. These look like mini roses for shade. The New White Improved has larger blooms that stand out aboe the voliage. It grows 12 inches by 12 inches.

New Shrubs:
I am trying out Strawberries & Cream this year, a dramatic red and white lace cap flower that is suppose to cover the whole bush all season long. So far I've had to cut it back for cold damage to the leaves, but I'm want to see how long it will continue to bloom and weather it survives winters here when planted outdoors. It is supposed to grow to two feet, which is nice and low. It takes partial shade.
Another hydrangea I am trying out is Double Delights Wedding Gown. It is still too small, after one year's growth, to report on performance.
Last year I planted Ligustrum Sunshine (Ligustrum sinense), which has foliage that turns bright golden all summer long. Another new shrub I am trying out is Glossy Abelia Caprifoliaceae, a hybrid between A. chinensis and A. uniflora developed in Italy. It' what I call "a Global Warming plant" - one that would not have been winter hardy here in the past but probably is now. It made it through last winter in my garden. Like butterfly bush, it will die back to the ground in a harsh winter and just regrow in the spring. Otherwise it will grow 3-6 feet tll.

New Perennials:
Among perennials, I tried a lot of of heucheras and especially liked Big Top from Ball and Tiarella Candy Striper foam flower from Terra Nova, which has dark stippled stripes down each leaf lope and pink flower buds that open into white flowers.
I also planted some Actea Simplex Black Negligee from Terra Nova but it is slow growing so it will take a couple of years to show off its purple tinted white flowers. But it did survive the winter and is much larger this spring.
I also like trying out the many new selection of echinacea. My problem with these in the past is that animals, particularly woodchucks, nibble them down.

Boston Globe Garden Writer Carol Stocker will give a free illustrated lecture Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Lake Street Garden Center in Salem, N.H. on the best native plants that grow well in New England gardens without irrigation, pesticides or fertilizer. The natural garden aims for self sufficiency. Though you'll never achieve this goal - there are always weeds that need pulling - still you can minimize maintenance by choosing the right plants. Once a year renew the mulch throughout the garden in the fall after cutting down dead stems and adding garden litter to the compost pile.

Adaptation to our local conditions is only one attraction of native plants. They also offer a relatively restrained and subtle beauty that can be a welcome alternative to the showy brightness of highly bred garden staples.

The natural landscape invites wildlife. Instead of a tidy clipped yew hedge that offers little to bees, butterflies and birds, plant a mixed hedge of unsheared, fruit producing shrubs such as viburnum, blueberries, hollies and service berries. Set out a birdbath and bird feeder.

Best wildflowers for shade include Jack-in-the-pulpit. The tubers are well suited for planting amon low ground covers like Chrysogonum virginianum or partridgeberry. Celedine poppu (not to be confused with invasive Chelidonium majus) grows well with Virginia bluebells, columbine, foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) and creeping phlox. Iris cristata and Phlox divaricata are also spring shade natives but a little harder to grow successfully.

Shade plants for later in the year include Cimicafuga racemosa, or black cohosh, Astilbe biternata and Aruncus dioicus. Among the last plants to bloom under shade are white wood aster, buff goldenrood and white snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum).

For sun try white wild indigo, penstemons, which combine well is sundrops (Oenothera), purple coneflower and butterfly weed.

By Carol Stocker
Weed garlic mustard, a new invasive that is spreading remarkably fast, before the small white flowers on to of skinny foot tall stems got to seed, to it will build a seed bank in your soil that will sprout for years, even if you weed religiously after this year.

With rain finally predicted, plant seeds and nursery plants that will need water. You can probably plant seeds or seedlings of cold weather vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower outdoors now as well as beets, peas, leeks, lettuce, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, carrots, and onions. Early planting, of course, is a calculated risk. But this year it seems one worth taking. Placing a floating row cover over these crops will help get them off to a good start.

You can start dividing and replanting crowded summer and fall blooming perennials such as Shasta daisy, astilbe, rudbeckia, coreopsis, sedum, aster, and chrysanthemum, but it's better to wait until fall to divide spring-blooming plants. Plant plant trees and shrubs as they become available in garden centers

Winter moths have hatched out early like everything else so if these inchworms are a problem in your area, hire a pest management company to spray their favorite foods with Spinosad, an organic fermented bacteria found in Bully's Eye and Monterrey Spray. Focus on oak, maple and fruit trees, blueberry and rose bushes especially. You can also spray horticultural oil on pear and apple trees now to protect them from scale, aphids, and other sucking insects.

Feed broadleaved evergreens with Holly-tone, mulch them. and water deeply. Weed out errant grass and perennial weeds from flower and vegetable beds. Spread beds with compost or a slow release fertilizer such as Osmacote and cover the garden with three inches of mulch to reduce weeds and conserve moisture. Then spread a layer of Preen on top to prevent more weed germination and water deeply.

Get your lawn mower and tools sharpened. Prune out winter killed or damaged branches on roses and other shrubs. It's easier to see what you're doing before woody plants finish leafing out. You can also patch your lawn with grass seed, but keep it constantly moist for the first ten days.

Poison ivy is easiest to kill now if you spray the shiny three part leaflets with Round-Up while they are still small and red. Always use gloves and protective clothing when working around poison ivy stems and roots, which can cause dermatitis even when leafless or dead. Use soap or detergent to wash any clothing or tools that may have had contact with poison ivy.

By Barbara Phinney

It's time to be on the lookout for the invasive biennial plant commonly known as Garlic Mustard ( Alliaria petiolata). It is a biennial evergreen growing to 3 feet in height in it's second year. Garlic mustard grows readily from seed, forming strong tap rooted seedlings that develop a basal rosette of heart shaped, toothed leaves, relatively close to the ground. The plants flower in the their second year, developing a stalk of white, four petal cross shaped flowers in early summer. Pea pod like fruits soon develop from the pollinated flowers producing 10,000 seeds per plant. Interrupting or eliminating the production and dispersal of seeds is the most effective aspect of control. These are seeds that can last from 5-7 years in the soil before sprouting. As the old saying goes: One' year's seeding. Seven year's weeding. Mowing before it blooms is another way to control the spread. After flowering and production of the seeds, the individual plant dies.
Native to Europe and parts of Asia, garlic mustard was introduced in the mid 1800's, most likely used as a potted herb. One can eat garlic mustard before it flowers. It prefers shade and is easier to pull out by hand in the Spring.

In this country, the threat from garlic mustard comes from its lack of natural enemies. Even the white-tailed deer seem to prefer native plants to garlic mustard. Because it persists through the first winter as a green rosette, it can overrun and eliminate many native plants.
Chemicals in garlic mustard have been found to affect mychorrhizal fungi associated with native trees, resulting in suppression of native tree seedling growth.

By Carol Stocker

Dahlias: Divide bunches of tubers you have wintered, using a sharp knife so each tuber has a piece of the main stem attached. Then plant each tuber in its own pot to give it a headstart for earlier blooms. Plants won't need light until they sprout. Transplant them into the garden in late May.

Evergreens: Do not give up on evergreens with brown leaves. Most will soon produce new leaves. Feed broadleaf evergreens with Hollytone, mulch and water deeply.

Flowerbeds: Spread compost or a slow release fertilizer such as Osmacote, calcitic lime, and cover with mulch. Then spread a layer of Preen to prevent weed germination and water deeply.

Fruit trees: Spray horticultural oil on pear and apple trees to protect them from scale, aphids, and other sucking insects when the weather is warm and the buds have begun to swell.

Perennials: Divide and replant crowded summer and fall bloomers such as Shasta, daisy, astilbe, rudbeckia, coreopsis, sedum, aster, and chrysanthemum, but wait until fall to divide spring-blooming plants.

Poison ivy: Spray emerging small three-part red shiny leaflets with Round-Up. Always use gloves and protective clothing when working around its stems and roots, which can cause dermatitis even when leafless or dead. Use soap or detergent to wash any clothing or tools that may have had contact with poison ivy.

Potatoes: Plant them now a few inches deep in lime-free, light sandy soil in full sun.

Roses: Prune out dead and crossed branches at their base.

Vegetables: Plant seeds or seedlings of brassicas such as broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower, plus beets, peas, leeks, lettuce, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, carrots, and onions outdoors. Placing a floating row cover over these crops will help get them off to a good start.

Watering: Hook up hoses, turn on irrigation and give an inch of water to the lawn and all plantings.

Winter moths: These have hatched out so if these inchworms are a problem in your area, hire a pest management company to spray their favorite foods with Spinosad, an organic fermented bacteria found in Bully's Eye and Monteray Spray. Hot targets include include oak, maple and fruit trees, blueberry and rose bushes.

How does this early spring affect our gardens? There's a possible frost predicted for tonight and we are bound to get more cold weather in April so it's important not to plant anything that is not frost hardy. However, this record early balmy weather, which most scientists world wide link to climate change initiated by fossil fuels, is a guilty pleasure that is hard to resist. It is accompanied by drought conditions which has made it possible to work the soil. March is usually "mud month," too wet to garden in, but not this year! It's so early that many nurseries are not yet open for the year. But take advantage of the warm dry weather to amend your garden and lawn soil with compost and other soil amendments such as super phosphate, lime, and bulb fertilizer for bulbs. Mulch your garden soon before plants grow too tall. Turn compost piles. Water plants that need it. Many bulb flowers such as daffodils are keeling over from lack of water, so water them. Can you fertilize now? I have. Can you plant seeds of frost hardy vegetables such as lettuce, peas and radishes outdoors? Sure. Give it a try!

It's too early to plant, but this is a great time to begin planning lawn and landscaping projects. Inventory of your property and determine the health of trees, shrubs, and lawn. Clean up any debris left over from winter storms.

Prune broken limbs. Make a clean cut that will make it harder for insects and diseases to enter the stressed plant. Don't paint pruning cuts. It's an old wive's tale that tar on cuts prevents disease and rot.

Remove fallen debris and limbs from around your plants, so insects and diseases won’t be attracted to that area.

Greetings, Gardeners! I will be answering garden questions live this Friday, Feb. 24, from 1-2 p.m. on Boston.com. Meanwhile, high-value, water-wise plants, small water features and Mediterranean style are among this year’s gardening trends to consider.

In Boston and other colder areas, where the blooms are gone and deciduous leaves have fallen, more people keep their ornamental grasses instead of cutting them back, so they can provide winter interest. For the same reason, they’re looking for plants with winter berries, evergreens, barks of different colors and textures or deciduous trees and shrubs with dramatic forms. But they’re also adding plants that change with the seasons, offering new interest with each.

The number of front yard gardens is on a steady rise (29 percent in 2011, compared to 27 percent in 2010 and 25 percent in 2009), according to the Garden Trends Research Report’s Early Spring 2011 survey (conducted for the Garden Writers Association Foundation). Meanwhile, the number of backyard gardens has taken a 3-percent hit, down from 50 percent in 2009 and 2010.

Vertical gardening is also on the rise, as documented in the new, popular book Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces by California garden designers Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet. The practice of growing plants up from the ground instead of out, or of planting them off the ground to start with—on trellises, arbors, balconies and walls—has become especially popular among those with small spaces, landscape eyesores or an awkward “skinny spot” in their garden.

When it comes to cleaning the water, especially storm water carrying pollutants like fertilizers and motor oil into local waterways, many people are turning to rain gardens. “These shallow depressions are filled with deep-rooted plants and grasses­ — all of them noninvasive, native or locally adapted — that can handle being inundated with water and also don’t mind being dry,” Zaretsky and Associates’ Coates says.

“Many gardeners are catching their own rainwater in rain barrels and cleaning or recycling grey water (wastewater from domestic activities like laundry, dishwashing and bathing)” adds Anthony Tesselaar, cofounder and president of Tesselaar Plants. “In fact, in many municipalities now, saving water is not only ‘in’, but mandatory”.

Black and amber shades in plants continue to be a “hot” color trend, says North Coast Gardening’s Schmidt. “People have already been bewitched by the dark drama of black plants,” she explains, “and as they learn to design with them more effectively, they’ll only become more popular.”

Amber shades, she adds, are also extremely popular – amber heucheras, the amber Flower Carpet roses, and other plants with amber tones are going to be big in nurseries this year. I grew a Tropicanna Black canna last year and liked the dark leaves very much.

Just as consumers are being more careful with their water usage, they’re also shopping smarter. In particular, they’re looking for low-risk, high-value plants that not only look good in the garden center, but have a tried-and-true reputation.

“Plants bred to withstand attacks from pests and diseases that are also tolerant of climate and soil extremes provide a better value,” says Tesselaar (developer of the low-maintenance, disease- and drought-resistant Flower Carpet roses.) “Gardeners are more aware than ever that choosing the right plant for the right situation is imperative if you want to help save the planet — let alone your bank balance.”

For as little as $15 to $25, for instance, you can have long-term color without a lot of expense by using continuously flowering shrubs like Flower Carpet roses, hydrangeas, potentilla (shrubby cinquefoil) and spirea. Or, if your garden already has plenty of beautiful structure, use such colorful, flowering machines to dress up these ‘good bones.’”

More and more people are moving away from large ponds and toward smaller water features, says Coates: “Now people prefer a cut piece of stone, a boulder or a beautiful glazed urn with water bubbling out of the top.”

Coates thinks it’s a maintenance issue: “People either have to be really into ponds and all the maintenance they take, or they have to hire someone to do it for them." What’s more, says Schmidt, fountains made with natural stone or metal are hotter sellers than features made of manmade materials. “The ball-shaped fountains made of stone are very big this year,” she says, “and I think that copper and other metals are coming into fashion as accents in fountains and as materials for planting containers.”

“Green roofs have definitely seen more of a commercial application and have been done in mostly urban areas, but they’re still a huge trend,” she says. “Green roofs help save on heating and cooling costs and actually protect the roof underneath from the degrading effects of the elements, so cities have received tax incentives for green roof installations.” Some cities, like Toronto and Chicago, are even starting to require green roofs on some new buildings, based on the square footage.

I love color so I am always curious about what is chosen as the Pantone Color Institute’s® 2012 Color of the Year. "Spirited reddish-orange,” has just dubbed the new “it” hue by global color authority

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” says Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone’s executive director. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

So what plants can bring this hot, exciting color to our gardens? And how do we use it in our landscapes to its fullest? Here are just a few ideas:

“The reddish-orange blooms of the dark-foliaged Tropicanna® Black canna certainly match Pantone’s Tangerine Tango,” says Anthony Tesselaar, cofounder and president of Tesselaar Plants, developer of the colorfully foliaged Tropicanna line of cannas. “What’s more, the backdrop of black, broad leaves makes its hot, bright blooms pop out at you even more.”

Tesselaar suggests using red-orange with other plants featuring subtle echoes of the same color: “Not too much of this fiery hue,” he says. “A little goes a long way.”

For example, he suggests this sizzling “thriller-filler-spiller” combo: Tropicanna Black as the thriller, red-orange ornamental peppers as the filler and thread-leaved croton (with reddish-orange streaks) as the spiller.

Or, since orange-red is opposite of blue-green on the color wheel, he suggests grouping it with plants like the frosty, cool-hued Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’ and the blue-bloomed Salvia farinacea.

“Don’t forget the pot, adds Tesselaar. “Containers look just as good in Tangerine Tango as the plants!”

In my Milton front yard garden this year I used a more analogous color grouping: Tropicanna Black cannas with other sizzling-hot reds like giant dahlias, South African daisies, and Bonfire begonias for shade which continue to bloom now in my greenhouse for the Christmas season with giant amaryllis.

Finding materials for holiday arrangements in the winter garden is like a scavenger hunt. Though the garden is shutting down for the year, you can still use it as a backyard larder for holiday decorating staples if you add ingenuity and imagination. Still, decorating with debris can involve trial and error (be prepared to vacuum the rugs). So just collect your foliage, berries, ornamental grasses, lichen-covered branches, and pine cones, and then add some inexpensive and long-lasting carnations or mums for color, and you have a centerpiece for almost nothing, with that homemade, home-grown holiday feeling.

For Thanksgiving, supplement your arrangements with attractive fruits and vegetables from the supermarket.The longest-lasting floral elements are potted flowering plants. Buy 4-inch pots of poinsettias, cyclamen, or narcissus. If you buy kalanchoe when it is just starting to show color, it will bloom the longest of anything. These can be clustered on a tray and heaped with natural materials to hide the pots. But Stephens takes the plants out of their pots (after watering) and tucks the root balls into little bags he makes from heavy-duty, black trash bags, then seals them with a wire garbage bag twist. This gives him more design versatility.

The New England Wild Flower Society in Framingham cautions against harvesting wild plants. Slow-growing princess pine clubmoss (Lycopodium obscurum), often used in garlands, is now listed as threatened. NEWFS also warns that using invasive species might spread them. One of the worst is Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), often collected by arrangers for its cheerful orange and yellow berries, each of which can start a new colony of tree-strangling vines. Purple barberry (Berberis thungergii) and the small, plentiful rosehips of wild Rosa multiflora are others to avoid.

When decorating for the long haul, avoid using produce outdoors or it will quickly rot. Pumpkins, winter squash, and corncobs are exceptions. Though cornstalks are a theme for both Thanksgiving and Kwanzaa (where one ear of corn is displayed for each child in the house), don't hang these on your front door unless you want to turn it into a bird feeder.

2. Decorating for Thanksgiving

For Halloween, it's the jack-o'-lantern. For Christmas, it's the Christmas tree. For Thanksgiving, it's the dining room table that's the focus of holiday spirit.

So how can you decorate a table that will be covered with serving dishes? Is there really going to be any room for even a centerpiece by the time you've laid out the mashed potatoes, Auntie Em's stuffing, and 10 other hot dishes?

Americans' great harvest festival is certainly a paean to plenty. After all, it began in Plymouth in 1621 as a feast to celebrate the survival of the Pilgrims (well, half of them) after a terrible first year of starvation and disease. Today, most of us are more familiar with unwanted weight gain than true hunger. Still, heaping the dining table with comfort foods until its legs buckle remains a cherished Thanksgiving tradition.

In most cases, ornamental arrangements that plan to stay for dinner had better be petite and discreet, or they'll get bumped off the table by the turkey and banished to the sideboard.

One alternative is to make an edible centerpiece. Arrange layers of delectibles on a multi-armed heirloom silver etagere from Shreve Crump & Low, or in a humble wooden bowl. Either way, food is the theme. Centerpieces heaped with fruits and nuts can be deconstructed slowly by reunited family members (or unstoppable conversationalists) who want to linger and commune after the rest of the table has been cleared.

CAROL STOCKER

This week I dug up my dahlias and cannas and put them in the sun on these relatively warm to dry for a couple of days, covering them with bedsheets at night to keep the cold off. Wednesday night I am moving them into the basement for the winter before it starts raining on Thursday. I also began cutting down the perennial beds.
Taking stock of the 2011 garden, here are some of the annuals, both old and new, that put on a good show this year:
Archangel Angelonia provided continuous purple spikes without deadheading.
Superbenas where new verbena hybrids from Proven Winners so tough they are still blooming. My fave was Royale Peach Keen
State Fair is an old mix but provided good deer-proof zinnias for cutting.
Superbells were a calibrachoa hybrid from Proven Winners that required no deadheading.
Patchwork is an easy new lavender impatien that bloomed nonstop.
I had less luck with wave petunias, perhaps because they required pinching. They just petered out.
But Wasabi coleus was an excellent lime green color accent for shade. I planted it with red dahlias.
Among perennials, I tried a lot of of heucheras and especially liked Big Top from ball and Tiarella Candy Striper foam flower from Terra Nova, which has dark stippled stripes down each leaf lope and pink flower buds that open into white flowers. I also planted some Actea Simplex Black Negligee from Terra Nova but it is slow growing so it will take a couple of years (if it survives) to show off its purple tinted white flowers.

I had good luck growing water loving tropical cannas this year, thanks to all the rain. I liked the new colors of Tropicanna cannas. I have many more than I started with because they multiply, and though they are not winter hardy in Boston, they create tubers that are easy to store in my basement over the winter.

If you are growing these tall imposing Victorian foliage plants in containers in New England, cut the tops off to about 4” and move the containers to a heated space or a space that gets no cooler than about 60 degrees and keep them barely moist. In the spring, you can move them back outside after the nights are 50 degrees or warmer and all danger of frost has passed. Water them and fertilize with controlled release fertilizer.

After 1-2 years in the same pot, unless the pot is huge they’ll probably get root-bound as the rhizomes continue to reproduce, so another option is to follow the directions above but instead of leaving them in the pot, lift everything out of the container and place it in a plastic bag. Then, in the spring, break the rhizomes apart (better to break than to cut) and replant the best looking ones (ones that look as healthy as a potato that you would keep) and discard the rest.

When replanting new rhizomes in the spring, keep the soil only slightly moist until you see new shoots coming up; otherwise the rhizomes can drown and rot. If your cannas were planted in the ground, cut off tops to about 4” and dig them up in clumps. Place these clumps in a large plastic bag—store at 60+ degrees over winter. Don’t seal the bag up—the clumps must stay moist but not wet.

In spring, break clumps apart, discard spent rhizomes and replant the healthy ones
If you want to get a jump start on the season, you can start new plants indoors, then transplant out after all danger of frost has passed and evening temps are 50 degrees or warmer. When replanting new rhizomes in the spring, keep the soil only slightly moist until you see new shoots coming up; otherwise the rhizomes can drown and rot.

The first frost marks the time to cut down the garden and take stock of how this year's plants performed.
Here's some of the winners from my garden this year:
Shrubs: Kolkwizia amabillis maradco, the Dream Catcher Beautybush, from the Arnold Arboretum's 2007 is coming into its own now as a striking bloomer with tons of June peach/honey floral tubes. It's a faster grower than other beautybushes. The Arboretum's annual sales are always a place to find something special.
Annuals: Pink Lemonade Suncatcher petunia garnered admiration.
Harmony scarlet begonia grew 8 inches in shade and looks festive, especially in the heat of summer.
I like the giant zinnias for cutting, especially since deer don't eat them and they are good for long lasting bouquets.State Fair is an old strain, but I still buy it.
Angelonia Serena Blue provided consistent blue flowers throughout the season.
I continue to be enamoured of Dahlias, especially the Karma strain from the Netherlands. I bought Karma Bon Bini, a very bright small yellow red cactus form from Brent & Becky's Bulbs which produced lots of cutting flowers.
I also liked Karma Lagoon, a violet color with larger but fewer flowers.
Eventually I'll try all the Karmas I'm sure.
I also liked Porcupine, a new beige/pink/peach dahlia sport with unique folded backward folded petals that is literally in a class by itself. It was beautiful, had long stems for cutting, and outproduced all my other dahlias.
- CAROL STOCKER

It was 29 degrees with snow on the ground when I got up this morning. A hard frost. Annual flowers, tropical and summer vegetables look like they are made of glass and are hard to the touch. What to do now? First Frost is not the end of the garden, just the end of the plants that can't tolerate cold. Cut back the garden in stages, removing the uglies first and saving for later plants that have presentable seed heads and foliage. Pull out or cut off tender annuals killed by frost such as impatiens and coleus. Some will survive for a while such as cold resistant marigolds and snapdragons, so leave the ones that look ok for now. Pull out dead veggies but heavily mulch root crops such as rutabagas and carrots which can continue to be harvest until the ground freezes. Lift tender bulbs such as gladiola, dahlia and canna with a garden fork and cut off the tops, label them and let them dry. Don't shake off all the soil. After they've dried, store gladioli in open trays or hanging in panty hose so they are airy and dry. Store dahlias in a box of very slightly damp peat moss and mist monthly so they don't dry out completely. Don't be in a hurry. Their underground tubers will be okay in the ground for a couple of weeks so you have a while to do this.

Plant spring blooming bulbs. Colorblends at colorblends.com is a good source I use for premixed color combinations

Continue planting and transplanting.

Bring houseplants and tropical plants indoors but leave blooming tropical bulbs such as dahlias outdoors until after the first frost.

Poison invasive vines such as bittersweet and porcelain berry by cutting stems and dipping the fresh stem end that is still attached to the roots directly into a bottle of Round-Up.

Fertilize lawn and gardens with low nitrogen fertilizers to encourage root growth, not top growth.

David Salman of High Country Gardens, says, “without question, fall is the best time to fertilize,” when plants are pulling nutrients down from the stems and crowns and creating stores of energy below ground to be used for next spring’s regeneration. “Most plants are in very active root growth in the fall,” Salman says, “and healthy roots benefit from increased levels of phosphate, potassium and trace elements as they grow and spread.”

Salman also points to the importance of fall fertilizing with natural and organic soil amendments. Using chemical fertilizers instead of organic ones “is like drinking canned soda pop versus the best organic smoothie you can concoct,” he says. “Roots can absorb chemical fertilizers without any interface with the soil. Natural fertilizers and composts feed the soil and the soil breaks it down and makes those ingredients available to the roots. Chemical fertilizer takes a whole leg out of the equation.”

Typically, gardeners should prepare to winterize their soil after the first frost of the season, both for existing gardens and plots that will be planted the following spring.

“It’s recommended if you want to get ready to plant next spring, then prepare the soil in fall and winter,” Salman says. “That way, all those nutrients will be broken down by the soil over the fall and winter and spring months, and then when you’re ready to plant in the spring you’ve got a beautifully prepared soil.”

Salman recommends spreading compost, or an organic fertlizer over the soil. He uses Yum Yum Mix® Winterizer Organic Fertilizer, a soil conditioner that was developed exclusively for High Country Gardens. The boosted levels of premium soft rock phosphate and kelp meal (as a source of potassium) — along with granular humate, greensand, Planters II trace mineral fertilizer, alfalfa meal and cottonseed meal — nourish beneficial organisms and earthworms to support a healthy, living soil that keeps plants thriving.

He then covers it with mulch and waters thoroughly. Fall mulching further enhances the winterizing process, according to Salman. “Fall mulching will help keep the soil warmer longer into the fall so that root growth can continue, then it helps keep the soil cold through spring so things don’t wake up too early,” he says. “It also protects the soil from drying out.”

High Country Gardens is an award-winning source for waterwise, native and adapted plants. The nationally recognized mail-order catalog is available online at www.highcountrygardens.com, or by calling 1-800-925-9387

Night temperatures are predicted to drop into the high 30's starting Wednesday night. Bring indoors temperature sensitive tropicals you want to try to save from cold, especially fibrous plants such as begonias, impatiens and coleus, before then.

The average date for the first frost for Boston falls on Nov. 6, though we could get our first frost anytime between Oct. 12 and Nov. 20, according to the National Climactic Data Center. The average first frost falls a little earlier, typically on Nov. 1, in Middlesex county.

As warm days begin to yield to cooler evenings, cool-weather vegetables (lettuce, spinach, etc.) and flowers begin to thrive. But many plants will need protection against cold nighttime weather.

A light freeze, from 29°F to 32°F, will kill tender plants but will have little destructive effect on other vegetation. A moderate freeze, from 25°F to 28°F, will have a widely destructive effect on most vegetation, with heavy damage to fruit blossoms and tender and semi-hardy plants. A severe freeze, 24°F and colder, with result in damage to most plants.

Here are a few steps that you can use to protect your tender plants against freezing temperatures to extend your growing season:

Find out the average first frost dates for your area. You can type in your zip code and get helpful info here: http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/
Have an outdoor thermometer handy, and check it often.
Check weather reports for forecasts of low temperatures.
Water the soil around your plants; moist soil retains heat better. DO NOT spray water on the plants themselves.
Cover your plants overnight. There are many good, lightweight plant covers available, but old bedsheets will do. Remove the covers during the day if it is warm and sunny.

Don't wait until the last minute to start bringing your less frost tender potted plants indoors. As the weather cools down, the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures widen, making it more difficult for plants to adjust to the big change in temperature when you bring them inside.

Here are some other tips to make sure your plants successfully make the transition from outdoor to indoor:
Bring in only healthy plants. Unless you are planning to run a “plant hospital,” say goodbye to the struggling plants.
Check plants for diseases and pests. Problems tend to spread quickly indoors from plant to plant.
Spray plants with an organic insect control. Even if you don’t see them, insects such as aphids and spider mites can hitchhike on your plants—and then infest your healthy houseplants. Use a horticultural oil, such as Summit Year-Round Spray Oil, which contains no harsh chemicals yet is effective against a wide range of insect pests.
If you have room, bring in a pepper plant or some tender flowering perennials to extend your growing season.
Give away healthy plants that you don’t have room for inside.

Bring indoors temperature sensitive tropicals you want to try to save from cold, especially fibrous plants such as begonias, impatiens and coleus, before Wednesday night, when evening Boston temperatures are scheduled to dip into the low 40's F. in Boston, according to the National Weather Service

The average date for the first frost for Boston falls on Nov. 6, though we could get our first frost anytime between Oct. 12 and Nov. 20, according to the National Climactic Data Center. The average first frost falls a little earlier, typically on Nov. 1, in Middlesex county.

But don't wait until the last minute to start bringing your less frost tender potted plants indoors. As the weather cools down, the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures widen, making it more difficult for plants to adjust to the big change in temperature when you bring them inside.

Here are some other tips to make sure your plants successfully make the transition from outdoor to indoor:
Bring in only healthy plants. Unless you are planning to run a “plant hospital,” say goodbye to the struggling plants.
Check plants for diseases and pests. Problems tend to spread quickly indoors from plant to plant.
Spray plants with an organic insect control. Even if you don’t see them, insects such as aphids and spider mites can hitchhike on your plants—and then infest your healthy houseplants. Use a horticultural oil, such as Summit Year-Round Spray Oil (www.summitresponsiblesolutions.com), which contains no harsh chemicals yet is effective against a wide range of insect pests.
If you have room, bring in a pepper plant or some tender flowering perennials to extend your growing season.
Give away healthy plants that you don’t have room for inside.
--Carol Stocker

Water recently planted annuals and container plantings daily. Water roses, peonies and other perennials in flower to keep them blooming longer. Early and late in the day when evaporation is at a minimum is the best time to water.

Aged cow manure is perhaps the single best ingredient for fertile garden soil because cows' digestive systems famously include four stomachs which digest and dissolve any weed seeds they have grazed and break nutrients down for easy access. This is in contrast to other animals such as horses that can produce manure containing viable weed seeds.

My own garden was originally built with aged cow manure from a friend's nearby dairy farm 30 years ago. Now thanks to urban sprawl, dairy farms are further afield. A nonprofit fundraiser for the Milton Garden Club is trucking in cow manure from a western Massachusetts farm for sale in 40 pound bags of pure aged cow manure at $6 a bag. That's enough to top dress 500 square feet of lawn or enrich 20 square feet of garden bed area with an inch of gardeners' "black gold."

To reserve your order, please contact Barb Phinney at 617-696-8009 or cooper448@me.com by Wednesday, May 4. Once your order is confirmed, send a check, payable to The Milton Garden Club, c/o Barb Phinney, 104 Canton Ave., Milton, MA. 02186. Orders must be picked up on Saturday, May 7, between 8:30 and noon at the Milton Public Library, 476 Canton Ave., Milton. There will be a limited number of bags for sale for walk-ins.

On May Day, May 1, at 1 p.m. at Tower Hill Botanic Garden Kim Smith will present "How to Create a Butterfly Garden." Pre-registration is required. She will be presenting the necessary elements to help you create a haven for butterflies. Native and well-behaved non-native plants, along with examples of architectural features, will be discussed based on their value to attracting specific butterflies. This lecture and slide presentation will include a plant list.

Cut back the dead tops of perennials left over from last year. Pull back mulch so it is not in contact with tree trunks, stems of shrubs and emerging perennial foliage. It is ok if it touches emerging bulbs. Rake winter debris from lawns and flower beds when the soil is not damp with a bamboo or other kid of springy rake that will not tear sod. Scatter bulb fertilizer around sprouted bulb foliage. Put up bird boxes to attract nesters. Spread a half inch layer of compost over the garden and lawn. If you don't have a compost pile, order finished compost for delivery from a garden center or purchase bags of compost. Start seeds of peppers, broccoli, eggplants, flowering tobacco, portulaca, China aster, dwarf marigold, ageratum, cleome and petunia indoors under lights.

By Carol Stocker. In Worcester, MA, more than 28,000 trees have been removed due to the
invasion of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), turning Worcester’s once
canopied streets into stark naked roadways. Experts think a small ALB
infestation discovered and controlled this past summer in Boston may have
been from beetles that escaped out of Worcester, potentially on firewood or
brush.
Thirty-five percent of firewood is brought from another location, increasing
risk of invasion from forest pests. With winter here, people across the country are engaging in a centuries-old tradition of buying or gathering firewood to fuel home fires. In a recent
poll conducted by The Nature Conservancy, one in twenty Americans said they
moved firewood long distances (i.e., more than 50 miles, a distance widely
accepted as moving it “too far”). Moving firewood can increase the risk of
new invasive pest infestations that kill trees. To prevent the spread of
these pests, the Don’t Move Firewood campaign recommends buying firewood
that was cut locally, preferably within the same county or region of where
it will be burned.
“DCR is pleased to join the Nature Conservancy in urging everyone not to
move firewood across regions in Massachusetts and especially across state
borders,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Rick
Sullivan. “Invasive species have devastated forests in other parts of the
country, and we thank residents and visitors alike for helping prevent that
from happening in Massachusetts.”
Transporting firewood can potentially create new infestations of invasive
insects and diseases, which can lurk in firewood at any time of the year.
These tree-killing pests cannot move far on their own, but when people move
firewood that harbors them, they unwittingly enable these pests to start an
infestation far from their current range. Past invaders have devastated
native species of trees such as the American chestnut, hemlock, and American
elm- tree species, which have been part of American forests and city streets
for centuries prior to invasion of foreign pests.
“These new poll results tell us that when people learn why they shouldn’t
transport firewood long distances, the vast majority are willing to buy it
where they burn it,” said Leigh Greenwood, Don’t Move Firewood campaign
manager, The Nature Conservancy. “People have the power to save their trees.
They can help stop the spread of destructive pests by not moving firewood
and communicating this message to others.”
The poll results indicate that only 34 percent of the respondents who use
firewood have heard that they should not move firewood long distances;
however, once they are aware of the problem, 80 percent would be willing to
buy the wood in the area where they plan to burn it. In regions of the
country hardest hit by invasive pests, the number of people who have heard
the message to not move firewood has increased from 38 percent in 2007, when
the poll was previously conducted, to 59 percent in this year’s poll
results. In these same regions, from 2007 to 2010 the poll indicates there
has been a 13 percent increase in the number of people that say they never
move firewood.
“For the protection of our farms and working landscapes, particularly of our
maple sugaring industry, we urge residents and visitors to refrain from
moving firewood over long distances, especially in and out of Asian
longhorned beetle regulated areas this winter season,” said Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Scott Soares. “We thank
The Nature Conservancy for their continued effort in getting this important
message to the public.”
“Burning a wood fire in the winter has a lot of different uses – a primary
heat source, a place for a family gathering, or part of a romantic evening
by the fire,” said Greenwood. “When firewood comes from a well managed local
forest, it’s a great alternative to using fossil fuels like oil and natural
gas. We just ask that when using firewood for these purposes, people help
protect their local trees by not risking the accidental movement of insects
and diseases that can wipe out entire forests.”
Following are tips from the Don’t Move Firewood campaign:
• Obtain firewood near the location where you will burn it – that
means the wood was cut in a nearby forest, in the same county, or at a
maximum of 50 miles from where you'll have your fire.
• Don’t be tempted to get firewood from a remote location just because
the wood looks clean and healthy. It could still harbor tiny insect eggs or
microscopic fungal spores that will start a new and deadly infestation of
forest pests.
• Aged or seasoned wood is not considered safe to move, but
commercially kiln-dried wood is a good option if you must transport
firewood.
• If you have already moved firewood, and you now know you need to
dispose of it safely, burn it soon and completely. Make sure to rake the
storage area carefully and also burn the debris. In the future, buy from a
local source.
• Tell your friends and others about the risks of moving firewood – no
one wants to be responsible for starting a new pest infestation.
To learn more about how to prevent forest pests from destroying forests, log
onto www.dontmovefirewood.org.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around
the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and
people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have been
responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United
States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin
America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at
www.nature.org

By Carol Stocker
Boston Globe Garden Writer
Replace spark plugs as needed. If you didn't change
the oil after the end of last winter, run the machine now until it warms
up. Then, to drain the old oil, place a container underneath the oil drain
plug, and then remove both the oil drain plug and the fill cap so that the
oil flows out. Once it has drained, replace the oil drain plug and
carefully refill the oil just until full. Check the oil level with a clean
dipstick to make sure you haven't overfilled it. Replace the fill cap and
clean off any spilled oil. When purchasing new fuel, add a fuel stabilizer
to your gas can to help slow the aging process of the gas and fill the
snowblower's gas tank with fresh fuel. For more maintenance information,
visit www.yardcare.com, sponsored by Toro, the grounds-care equipment
manufacturer.

Most Americans live near trees, and consider them very important to their quality of life. Recent polling by The Nature Conservancy shows that the American public is well aware of invasive forest pests that kill trees, and are willing to take steps to protect trees from this threat. According to the poll, conducted in September, knowledge of the spread of forest pests such as the Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer, and of diseases like sudden oak death and thousand cankers disease, has increased by 13 percent, from 41 percent in 2005 to 54 percent in 2010. When asked about the issue of forest pests in the most general terms, 93 percent of poll respondents expressed concern. This high level of concern has not changed since 2005, despite the changing economic situation.

The poll results show that 95 percent of Americans see trees as an important part of where they live and integral to their quality of life. Seventy-seven percent of respondents live near a wooded area, and 92 percent have trees on the property where they live. Americans also engage in a variety of activities that bring them in close contact with trees, with the top three activities being gardening (81%), birding or viewing wildlife (69%), and hiking (59%).

“The poll results tell us that the public’s awareness of and concern about these invasive diseases and insects continue to increase, which is critical because it is usually citizens noticing something in their yard or nearby park that leads authorities to find new infestations of invasive bugs and diseases,” said Sarah Volkman, communications coordinator for the Forest Health Program of The Nature Conservancy. “Additionally, we are very excited to see that Americans continue to feel very connected to trees, and are willing to take a number of actions to prevent the spread of these invasive pests.”

Poll respondents said they were willing to take a number of potential actions to reduce movement of forest pests:

* Buying plants and trees only from nurseries that are certified as free from diseases and insects that kill trees (92%)
* Not taking plants or cuttings from another location to bring back to their homes or gardens (88%)
* Cleaning boots carefully after hiking in a forest (87%)
* Not taking firewood with them when they camp (80%)

Poll respondents also supported a number of suggested government actions to reduce introductions and spread of forest pests, with 82 percent in favor of policy measures that would limit trade with certain countries and 85 percent in support of government incentives for nurseries to adopt measures to prevent introduction and spread of pests.

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been working to strengthen regulations governing international trade in the types of plants that can introduce damaging pests, key components of the new regulations have not yet received final approval.

“Improving the existing government regulations will certainly help turn back the tidal wave of new invasive pests entering the United States,” said Faith Campbell, Senior Policy Representative for The Nature Conservancy. “These regulations, combined with the actions of an informed and concerned public, can potentially save millions of trees across the country.”

The Nature Conservancy conducted this poll as part of its ongoing efforts on behalf of the Continental Dialogue on Non-Native Forest Insects and Diseases, a group of concerned organizations and individuals that work together to abate the threat to North American forests from tree-killing insects and diseases. The polling was designed to inform future messages and outreach to best serve the public’s needs for information and education. Similar polling was conducted by The Nature Conservancy in 2005 and 2007. There was a Telephone survey of 1,400 American voters conducted in September 2010, with an overall margin of sampling error of +/- 3.5 percent. Previous polls in 2007 and 2005 with the same methodology are used for comparisons over time.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. For more information, please visit www.nature.org.

The Continental Dialogue on Non-Native Forest Insects and Diseases is a group of organizations and individuals that cultivates and catalyzes collaborative action among diverse interests to abate the threat to North American forests from non-native insects and diseases. For more information, please visit www.continentalforestdialogue.org.

Overwintering fact: Your overwintering success with container perennials is dependent on the ability to insulate the roots (containers). Plants grown in containers are exposed to colder temperatures than those grown in the ground and are considered at least two zones colder.
Consider the following techniques:

Trench it

This is an old nurseryman’s technique for overwintering pots and bare root plants. Dig a trench deep enough so the tallest container is level with the soil line. Group all pots together in this trench and fill it in with leaves. Burying your pots will help insulate the roots

Under Cover

No time to dig? – Group pots tight together and cover them with either a thick layer of leaves or potting soil.

Knock ‘em over

Knock 'em over on their sides. Here, you are keeping your roots warmer by laying them down You will want to group them grouped together too. You can also cover them with leaves for some extra insulation. In late winter the snow melts and creates a freeze/thaw effect which kills new emerging eyes. Simply laying pots on their sides minimizes this problem.

Bring ‘em on in

You will want to bring inside anything grown in a ceramic pot, or it will truly go to pot next spring cracking into hundreds of pieces. Store containers against a wall in the garage or a cellar. The important thing to remember here is that the pots will dry out and you will need to give them a drink by January or February and monitor them thereafter.

Information provided by greatgardenplants.com

"Oriental Bittersweet was once widely used at this time of year for seasonal decorations because of its very colorful berries. Hopefully all wreaths and ornaments made with this species of Bittersweet vine are now relegated to the history books because of the damage this plant does to ecosystems. It is illegal to sell, distribute, or transport it anywhere in Massachusetts," reminded Claudia Thompson, director of Grow Native Cambridge.

Oriental Bittersweet, Celastrus orbiculatus, is native to eastern Asia (Korea, China, and Japan). Brought to the United States for its ornamental "value," in the mid 1800s, this plant has now invaded the entire northeastern U.S., causing serious ecological damage to woodlands and forests throughout the region. Here in Massachusetts and elsewhere, it establishes relatively quickly and rapidly climbs up over trees and shrubs, monopolizing the tree canopy. The vine, which sometimes grows as large as 4-5" in diameter, twines around tree trunks, effectively strangling them. Reaching the high woodland canopy, Oriental Bittersweet smothers trees, blocking the light and air they need to survive. Both individual trees and larger forests with Bittersweet invasions are highly vulnerable to uprooting and blow-downs during storms.

Oriental Bittersweet is one of over 140 invasive and damaging plants now on the Massachusetts Prohibited Plant List, and it has been illegal to sell, transport, or propagate this plant since January 1, 2006. It means that it is against the law to collect this plant and its berries for use as ornaments or for any other purposes. It means that it is illegal for florists to sell wreaths made with Bittersweet. The objective is to prevent the spread of this plant further, since the berries so readily sprout and start new infestations.

We also highly recommend that you remove any Bittersweet from your property. When young, it looks like an innocent enough woody vine, often growing straight up from the ground because of its strong stem. If the plant is small, you can pull it or dig it with a bit of effort, and you will notice that its roots are quite orange. Plants reproduce vegetatively by suckering, in addition to spreading by seed, quickly becoming tangled masses. If you have large vines or infestations, you will need to cut them. And a responsible application of cut stem herbicide immediately afterward should prevent them from resprouting.

It is common to find infestations within our communities throughout Massachusetts. The good news is that, once identified, Bittersweet is one of the easier invasives to control if we take appropriate action.

And if you have loved Bittersweet for its ornamental value and are feeling blue about losing it for your holiday decorations, get some Ilex verticillata or Winterberry sprigs. Many responsible florists are selling these instead. This wonderful native plant has stems with beautiful red berries that make great wreaths and decorations.

· Cut most perennials back close to the ground. Store stakes and pots after washing them off in water with bleach.

· Wash garden sprayers with soapy water before storing.

· Clean, oil, and sharpen gardening tools before storing for the season.

· Shut off water lines to the outside before the first freeze.

1. Clean up the Lawn. Rake leaves off your lawn so it is ready for new growth in the spring. If your leaf cover is not heavy, use your mower to chop up the leaves and allow them to remain on the lawn to nurture next year’s grass.

2. Put planting beds to bed. Clean up beds and cover plantings with pine boughs, bark mulch, or leaves. Fertilize spring bloomers such as peonies. Tall perennials with seed heads or berries can be left for the birds or reseeding. Ornamental grasses will look good until heavy snow beats them down.

3. Trim back trees. Prune trees back once they have gone dormant. Apply anti-desiccant spray to broadleaf evergreen shrubs and trees to prevent winterkill. If you plan to add trees and shrubs for next year, now is a good time to select and plant those that flower early in spring such as lilacs, dogwoods and fruit trees.

4. Plant for spring blossoms. Bulbs and perennials that bloom in early spring can be planted in the fall. Choose bulbs such as tulips, hyacinths, crocus and lilies and perennials such as Lenten Rose and Solomon’s Seal.

5. Green your grounds. Start making small changes to make it more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Rake the lawn instead of using a leaf blower. Build compost bins for next year and get started by adding your kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, and leaves. Think about cutting back you lawn size and adding areas of meadow with mown paths instead.

6. Get the kids involved. Fall is a great time to be active with your kids outdoors. Let them help with lawn clean-up by raking leaves into jumping piles. Have them help you harvest fall goodies like squash, broccoli, pumpkins and apples. Let kids get their hands dirty by planting garlic in the garden to harvest next summer.

7. Plan changes now. Document your existing site through plans, photos, and notes. Reflect on the aspects you enjoyed this year and those you would like to change for next year. Ask your family to do the same. Then collect ideas for next year in a design scrapbook. Over the winter, work with your family to create a plan that lays out new structures, bed lines, focal points, seating areas and plantings to implement in the spring.

These tips were shared by author and landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy. She was recently awarded a 2010 GWA Gold Award for Best Book Writing for her latest book, "Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love." This excellent book takes readers through Messervy's intuitive six-step process for creating a beautiful and personal 'home outside.'

By Carol Stocker
Globe Garden Writer

Though November and the first frost of the year has arrived, you can still plant bulbs, perennials and shrubs if you act fast. The soil stays warm long after the air turns cold, encouraging root growth, and rains are frequent enough that extra watering is seldom needed. It’s also the most pleasant season to do vigorous work outdoors.

Nurseries want to unload excess inventory, so shop the sales and be flexible about your choices. And don’t buy evergreens. They do better with spring planting. Since it is so late in the year, you may suffer casualties, so don't buy and plant anything expensive, such as a young tree.

The fact is, most hardy plants actually prefer fall planting. If your site has less than eight hours of sunlight a day, be sure to buy plants marked “part shade.’’ Read the labels and check for ultimate height and spread; you don’t want a tree or shrub growing right up against your house or garage.

Smaller size plants tend to be much less expensive and easier to plant than larger specimens, and often reach full size just as quickly. You should be able to plant perennials and small shrubs by yourself, but planting larger shrubs or young trees is often a two-person job.

Whether you’ve bought trees, shrubs, or perennials, the general rule for planting is to dig a hole that is the same depth as the root ball, but wider. Use a sharp-edged spade or shovel with a strong handle for digging deep holes, cutting through sod and levering out rocks. If you’re working in a border that has been mulched, scrape the mulch off the area where you are going to dig and layer it back on top afterward.

Dig the hole, shoveling the dirt into a wheelbarrow where you can mix and enrich it with compost (which you can buy in bags) and a sprinkling of lime and super phosphate. Then, dig an inch of this amended soil back into the bottom of the planting hole. Knock your plant from its pot and use a three-pronged hand cultivator to lightly loosen the outside of the root ball and the sides of the planting hole. Place your plant in the hole so it is at the same depth at which the soil ball sat in the container. It’s OK if it’s an inch higher, since soil will settle, but the top of the root ball should never sit lower than the surrounding ground. (If you’re planting shrubs or trees whose root balls are wrapped in burlap or some other material for transporting, unwrap and untie the root balls before planting and remove the material.)

Mix the soil you dug from the hole with compost and after putting the root ball in the planting hole, fill in around the sides halfway. Then fill it to the brim with water. After the water is soaked up, fill the rest of the hole with soil along the sides, but don’t cover the top of the root ball. You can use leftover soil to build a low berm around the plant just outside the original hole to hold water close to the plant. Then water again. After that, you can mulch inside this well if you want, as long as the mulch doesn’t actually come in contact with the trunk or stem of your new plant. The mulch should look like a plant growing out of the doughnut hole, not like a volcano piled up around the new plant’s trunk.

If you order plants such as roses through the mail, they may arrive bare-root, which means without soil, because that makes shipping cheaper. Unpack them immediately and let them soak in a pail of water for a day before planting. Bare-root plants die if their roots dry out, so don’t let that happen. If you can’t plant bare-root trees and shrubs right away, lay them on their sides and cover the roots with soil temporarily to keep them moist. When planting in their permanent spots, set them at the same depth at which they grew in the nursery. If you cannot determine this, plant the topmost roots three inches below your soil line.

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Suppose you want to move established plants to a new location. It’s easy to move perennials but transplanting trees and shrubs is physically more difficult than purchasing and planting a new one, because there will be extended roots to deal with. So think twice. It’s often not worth the risk to the plant or your back.

If you proceed with transplanting, wait until after the woody plants lose their leaves so they are dormant. You will probably need to dig down no more than a foot to excavate a perennial. Dig down at least two feet all the way around a small tree or shrub you want to move. After that, work your shovel, spade, or garden fork inward under the root ball. If the plant does not lift immediately, you may have to work your way around it several times, each time getting farther underneath and rocking the root ball toward the opposite side of the hole until the plant loosens and lifts free. If you are trying to move a larger specimen, you can slip a plastic or burlap sheet underneath, while rocking the plant to one side, and then the other. Once you have excavated a shrub or perennial, if it has many separate stems, you can divide it into pieces by gently pulling the roots apart with two spading forks and replanting them in suitable size holes, much as you would for bare-root plants. Each piece should grow into a full-size plant.

To protect new plantings from drying winter winds, cover them with several inches of mulch, such as chipped bark. You can also use fallen leaves that have been ground up by a leaf vac or mulching mower as free mulch that will add organic matter to the soil as it breaks down. Whole fallen pine needles work well, too.

There is a strong possibility of the dreaded first frost tonight in Boston suburbs. Plants that survive a cold night can carry on for weeks, so it's worthwhile to try to protect your tenderer vegetables, annuals, herbs and container gardens by covering with a sheet or moving indoors.

But do not dig your dahlias too early. We recommend waiting to dig your dahlias until 2 weeks after a killing frost. If you have not had a frost by November 15, then it is safe to dig at that time. The tubers need time to harden off and prepare for winter storage. If you dig too early they will be "green" and will not store properly and may not survive storage.

With temperatures reaching 76 today, many plants are still in bloom through Indian Summer. Do not dig your dahlias and other tropical bulbs too early. Wait until 2 weeks after a killing frost. If you have not had a frost by November 15, then it is safe to dig at that time. The tubers need time to harden off and prepare for winter storage. If you dig too early they will be "green" and will not store properly and may not survive storage.

Can your dahlias survive the winter outdoors? Probably not. But I have one dahlia that has survived five Zone 6 winters in the ground. It enjoys optimal conditions, however, planted next to my heat retaining granite foundation on the south side of my house on top of a slope. Just remember leaving dahlias in the ground over the winter is never a guarantee. We are all at Mother Nature's mercy.

By Carol Stocker

The biggest change that comes with the longer fall season is that tropical plants no longer get killed before they get blooming. Boston gardeners are now growing banana trees, giant dahlias, crazy towering cannas, and decadent daturas, all of which put on a great fall show before they are killed by cold or brought indoors. Autumn in New England never looked like this before.

The most beautiful of all fall perennials is the Japanese anemone variety Honorine Jobert, which looks like a white poppy on a four-foot stem. This sport, or offspring, occurred at a French nursery in the 1850s. Though the plants are cold hardy, the flowers are not. Most years these late-blooming flowers were shriveled by frosts while still in bud, so it was seldom seen here. But now it blooms reliably almost every fall. The same is true of all the several kinds of fall anemones. I grow the small pink anemone vitifolia Robustissima because it is easy, prolific, and never gets browsed by deer.

Because I love fall, I’ve made a quest of finding unusual autumn blooming perennials. My favorites include Canadian Burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis), which has tall white candles, and Autumn Monkshood, which has equally tall spikes of blue flowers similar to delphiniums, but much easier to grow. The most popular and easiest fall perennial is sedum Autumn Joy (which looks like pink broccoli) and its close relatives.

The most famous native perennial for fall is the New England asters which dot our roadsides at this time of year. There are many species, including the shade tolerant little white wood aster (Aster divaricatus). I used to pull this out as a weed until I saw it carefully cultivated in the renowned White Garden at Sissinghurst in England. My favorite variety of cultivated New England aster is a fuchsia pink screamer called Alma Potschke. The long bloom blue Frikart’s aster didn’t used to be hardy here, but now I can grow it on a south facing slope.

The perfect wildflower complement to blue and pink asters is goldenrod. But do you really want this beautiful thug in your yard? It’s gorgeous and does produce the last sip of nectar for bees and butterflies. But it is so prolific it can take over a garden. So I let it bloom and then cut off the flowers before they go to seed and bag them rather than put them in the compost. And incidentally, goldenrod does not cause hay fever.

Some perennials provide repeated flushes of bloom throughout the fall if dead flowers are cut off (called deadheading) so the plant is motivated to send up new flowers. Fall rebloomers include perennial sunflower (Summer Sun heliopsis especially) and garden phlox such as the lofty white variety David. And if you like the fact that Stella de Oro daylilies rebloom all season, but you don’t like its brassy gold color, look for its sibling, Happy Returns, which is a delicate yellow. Roxanne is a new blue perennial geranium that blooms through fall if you cut the plant back to the basal leaves after each flush of bloom.

And let’s not forget roses, especially the new easy care strains like Knock Out. No shrub blooms as long or as late. They combine beautifully with an underplanting of Roxanne geranium.

• Aerate grasses
• Seed lawns and bare patches.
• Dethatch
• Have a soil test done to determine soil pH and future fertilization needs.
• Overseed .
• Spread lime .
• Sod or seed just before a light rain. Seeding is easiest on a calm day. For cool season grasses, plant when daytime temperatures are 60-75 degrees F. Avoid planting when night temperatures are above 70.
• Fertilize just before a light rain. If the lawn is dry, fertilize after a light rain. Avoid fertilizing before heavy storms or during extremely dry or windy conditions. Don't apply nitrogen fertilizers
• Don't mow when the grass is wet.

• Cut back leggy Begonias in August for more flowers in September and October.
• Clean out beds for the fall.
• When summer annuals are fading, replace them with cool season annuals and Chrysanthemums.
• Weed flower beds by hand, as cultivation can disturb surface roots of bedding plants.
• Give special attention to fertilizing and watering containers and hanging baskets. Hanging baskets dry out rather quickly, so check daily.
• Control slugs by spraying them with a solution of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar.
• Fertilize annuals regularly according to product directions. Make sure the plants are not in need of water, or the fertilizer could burn them.
• Annuals need about an inch of water a week, either from rain or irrigation. Try watering once a week, soaking the soil to a depth of six to eight inches.
• Cut flowers for fresh arrangements early in the morning.
• Remove spent flowers of annuals to keep the plants compact and allow development of more blossoms.