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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Fall Garden Chores, Hints and Techniques

It's time to put the gardens to bed for the winter. Here are some hints and techniques, please feel free to add more hints to the comments below.

Fall garden chores from Mary Dominique:
1) Dig amaryllis - pot them up and put them in the garage. They want 8-10 weeks of cool dry conditions. Then bring them in the house, they will bloom during the winter.
2) Dig caladiums and dry a few days. Cut off leaves and store in a bag in the basement.
3) Dig a few annuals - lantana, begonias diamond frost euphorbia, geraniums - into the grrenhouse for the winter.
4) Patio pots go into the garage or the all season porch - spray with horticultural oil and keep watered through the winter. There's plumbago, tender ferns and diamond frost, as well as new gardenias.
5) Patio pots with hardy perennials stay outside and can withstand freezing temperatures.
6. Tunnels in the garden produce lettuce, kale, broccoli, spinach, arugula, radish, turnips and bok choy into the winter.
7) Rest of garden is covered with leaves or straw to keep the weeds down, or a cover crop is sown.
8) Tomato, squash, pepper plants go in the trash so as not to spread diseases
9) Save seeds: pick blossoms when dry and pit into envelopes for junk mail, label and date.
10) Dig dahlias after frost and store, as Adrian Higgins, suggested with a dusting of cinnamon.  He said cinnamon is an anti-fungal.  
From Jan:
For plants that are coming inside, I dunk the whole plant, pot and all into a tub of water for an hour or so. Hopefully it will kill or chase out the ant nests, potato bugs and toads that like to live in my pots on the deck.
Then I spray them with soapy water and let dry another day.,.

Here’s an easy recipe for Organic Dormant Oil Spray : Mix 2 Tbs ultrafine canola oil with 1 Tbs  baking soda and a gallon of water in a container and shake well, then pour into a spray bottle to apply.

Winter Garden Preparation from Empress of Dirt







Please share your hints in the comments below

Autumn is a Second Spring when Every Leaf is a Flower



Fall is a great time in the garden and an exciting time for the SSM Garden Club.
Next Spring we will be holding a seed and plant exchange. As you clean-up your garden this Fall keep this in mind. Separate your plants and collect your seeds so that you have something to share in the Spring.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at our fun Fall events:
Garden Club – Spooky Workshop
October 26 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
No Ghosts Allowed, but we’ll have lots of Ribbons and Bows.  In this workshop, we will continue with our preparations for the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club Holiday Greens Sale.  Come and learn how to make many different bows of various sizes and shapes.  We will also make other trimmings to brighten the Holiday Greens.   Costumes are optional and treats will be served.   Please contact Lynn Mahoney, lynnmahoney1@verizon.net or Gloria Galyon gloriagalyon@verizon.net if you have any questions.
Native Edibles and Kale Wreaths
November 9th, 2pm-4pm 
As winter closes in, the Garden Club will turn our sights to the wild side as we learn about the historic and modern use of native edibles and sample some culinary delights from our own back yards.  Crafty gardeners will display their close-to-home food knowledge by assembling a decorative wreath of live winter kale during our featured project. A small fee to cover supply costs will be collected at the door: $5.00 for members and $7.00 for non-members. Everyone is welcome and  RSVP's are appreciated by November 2 to Chelsea Soneira chelsea.soneira@gmail.com.  Please contact us if  you have any questions.