Northeast includes: Pennsylvania
Tomatoes
Keep your eye on the frost reports; the first one will kill the vines and spoil the fruit. If frost threatens, pick all tomatoes; every green one showing the slightest tinge of white at the end will ripen indoors.
If you have space, uproot the plants and hang them in an airy frost-free place; the fruit will slowly ripen. Otherwise, pick the fruit and store it in a single layer.
Ready the Frost Blankets
When the forecast calls for frost, we toss a few old bedspreads or frost blankets on a few selected Marigolds, Zinnias, and dwarf Dahlias. This usually saves them, and they often flower for several more weeks.
This is a good time to note the flowers that will survive the first cold snap unprotected. In my garden, The Fairy rose continues to bloom until Thanksgiving or longer.
Other flowers that stand considerable cold are Buddleja, Brunnera macrophylla, various Dianthus, Centaureas, Dicentra eximia, Chrysanthemums, Violas, Veronicas, and Anthemis.
Bulbs for Winter Bloom
Pot up several pots of tulips and daffodils for winter bloom indoors. Store pots in a cold frame or a trench. Make the trench about 15″ inches deep and line with pebbles to ensure good drainage.
Covering pot with an inverted pot of the same size makes it easy to take up pot later. Next, cover all the pots with soil and then a thick layer of straw to prevent soil from freezing.
Remove pots any time after they have had six weeks of cool temperatures. Long labels on pots make identification easy.
Bulbs for Spring
Tulip planting time is here. I’ve always been partial to clumps of bouquet and double tulips for their mass effect, but it was the so-called lily-flowered tulips that brought the most comment in my garden last year.
These tulips gave us more than two weeks of loveliness despite poor spring weather. The pink Mariette was particularly splendid. Its blooms were enormous, but the starlike shape kept them graceful.
To prolong the tulip flowering season, plant several different types: single earlies, Darwins, cottage, and breeders, to name a few.
Feed the Birds
It’s time to put out the first portion of suet for the friendly birds. The short ribs from roast beef are ideal. Work a piece of wire through the meat and around the bone; use wire to hang suet from.
Flowers for Drying
This is a good time to press or dry unusual leaves, flowers, seed heads, or pods. Wind and rain will soon spoil them. An armful gathered from an abandoned field or roadside might include:
- Yarrow
- Cattail
- Queen Anne’s lace
- Joe-Pye weed
- Milkweed
- Variety of dried grasses
In the garden are interesting pods from:
- Baptisia
- Amsonia
- Iris
- Hibiscus
And seed heads of:
- Buddleja
- Celosia
- Statice
- Gypsophila
- Bells-of-Ireland
- Varied strawflowers
Always check for, and eliminate insects before bringing them into the house. Follow these safeguards:
- Swish each stem gently through tepid detergent suds.
- Rinse in lukewarm water.
- Shake out.
- Hang up to dry upside down.
FGR1060