Divide peonies if roots are too crowded for good bloom. Plant in a sunny, well-drained location. Choose early, midseason, and late-blooming varieties when buying new plants.
Set out balled nursery stock and water newly-set evergreens up until freezing weather. Set out bare-root deciduous stock after leaves have fallen. Fill in around the roots with topsoil mixed with peat moss. Place orders for hardy bulbs and choose new varieties to freshen up the garden.
Include small bulbs such as Eranthis, muscari, scilla, crocus, and miniature narcissus. Water asters and dust regularly with an all-purpose pesticide. Pull out plants with “yellows” disease to check its spread.
Sow grass seed
Kentucky bluegrass is adapted to this area and thrives best in a sunny location. For shade, use red fescues such as ‘Pennlawn ‘, ‘Illahee’ or common creeping red to give good ground cover. Fertilize the established lawn and mow regularly until cold weather stops growth.
Start a compost pile and add leaves, grass clippings, and unproductive garden plants. Place an occasional layer of soil and a cupful of fertilizer in the pile to hasten decomposition. Wet down thoroughly.
Dig gladiolus corms when tops turn yellow. Spread in a dry, airy place for several weeks until new corms can be pulled from the old ones. Store in a cool, well-ventilated location. Dig tender bulbs such as calla, Ismene, and Achimenes rhizomes.
sprekelia and montbretia before frost and allow tops to dry before placing the bulbs in warm storage. Do not remove the roots from Ismene and sprekelia bulbs. Store in dry sand or peat moss.
44659 by Rose Ross