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Be selective when cutting back perennials. Leave part if not all of the growth on the following, which helps them survive winter: ornamental grasses, evergreen ferns, Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower), chrysanthemums, perennial geraniums, nepeta (catmint), euphorbia (spurge), Chelone lyonii (turtlehead).
Plant any perennials and nursery stock still malingering in pots.
Though cannas, dahlias and other tender bulb and rhizome plants may have escaped frost so far, prevent irreparable damage from a hard freeze by digging them for overwintering indoors.
Get those spring-flowering bulbs in the ground. Stop squirrels from digging freshly planted tulips and crocus by watering after planting (wetted-down soil isn't such a give-away) and/or dusting the surface with cayenne pepper. Stronger: Cover bulbs with an inch of soil, then an inch or more of preferably sharp gravel, and a final soil layer. (Squirrels hate daffodils, so no protection is needed.)
Ask yourself why you give oak and hickory leaves to the trash collectors when you could get free humus for next year by raking them into a compost pile instead of bags. Mixing in green matter like impatiens (roots and all) helps the carbon-nitrogen balance.
Remove acorns from flowerbeds or be ready to weed oaklings in spring. The combination of a bodacious crop and wanton moisture has zillions of them sending roots into the soil now, with top growth due in spring. If you do neither you'll be astonished how deep an oak root can grow in a year. The most important spots to de-nut are clump-forming perennials, where a small tree would be, well, out of place.
Bring last year's Christmas amaryllis back to bud. This presumes you have kept it unwatered for six weeks and thus induced dormancy. Remove dead foliage and repot with fresh soil. Water thoroughly, but not again until growth shows.
Start paperwhite narcissus indoors in the next week or so to have blooms in late December. The easiest way is to place them on an inch or so of pebbles in a vase or bowl (a souffle dish is excellent). Mix one part gin or vodka to seven parts water, and fill the vessel to barely touch the bulbs. The alcohol stunts growth, preventing floppiness.
Prune pyracantha to just above the bud clusters. Except for major reshaping of the plant, no more pruning until dealing with the next year's new shoots.
Delay major pruning of buddleia, caryopteris, and lavender till spring.
- Michael Martin Mills
Next week, answers to gardening questions. Write to Michael Martin Mills, The Inquirer, Box 41705, Philadelphia 19101 or gardenqanda@earthlink.net. Please include locale. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelmartinmills.
