Monthly Garden Tips
November
- Amaryllis
- To have blooms at Christmas, plant amaryllis bulbs now. Choose a bulb with good roots, and a pot about 2 inches wider than the bulb. Fill the pot with potting soil and set the bulb so that the top third is above the soil line. Water well and add more soil if needed. Do not water again until growth begins. It needs at least 4 hours of bright light a day. If it doesn't get enough light, the stalk will be spindly.
- Bulbs
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Plant Spring-blooming bulbs, such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, Spanish bluebells, and grape hyacinths.
Fertilize with bulb booster or superphosphate while planting. In Zones 8 and warmer bulbs need to be chilled in
a paper bag in the fridge for 10-12 weeks before planting outside.
When you plant your bulbs, be sure to label their location, so you don't accidentally dig them up to plant something else! Some people use popsicle sticks, others use rocks that can be written on. Others use small clay plant saucers and write on the bottoms. -
Flowers
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Annuals
In warmer parts of the South, you can still plant pansies, calendula, candytuft, foxgloves, snapdragons, stock, and sweet alyssum.
Sow seeds of larkspur, bachelor's buttons, sweet peas, and California poppies in full sun.
Violas, added to the border or container, will provide masses of blooms, that will last through the Spring.
Pull out dead annuals and put them on the compost pile. -
Perennials
You can continue to plant container perennials.
Divide established perennials as needed, especially if they will be blooming in the Spring.
Cut back faded or scraggly perennials, nearly to the ground.
In the lower and Coastal South, it's a great time to divide summer phlox, bearded iris, hostas, daylilies, and coneflowers.
In Upper, Middle, and Lower South, you can plant peonies now. Choose rhizomes with 3 to 4 eyes, and plant in a sunny area. Incorporate compost and superphosphate into the planting bed and set the rhizomes no deeper than 1 inch below the surface of the soil. Peonies are long-lived, so prepare the soil well before planting.
Apply 3-4 inches mulch, such as pine straw, wood chips or shredded bark, to daylilies after the foliage dies back. In the Spring, the foliage can grow through the mulch.
All perennials need mulch to protect from cold damage. Use pine straw, bark, or wood chips. If you use heavy material, such as compost, it might hold water next to the plant's crown and encourage rot.
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Annuals
- Fruit
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Fruit plants, including apples, pear, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, and plums need to be set out
from October to March. Plan what you want to grow. Your county Extension Agent can suggest selections recommend
for your area. Order early to be sure you get what you want.
Keep in mind that apples, pears, blueberries, and some plums need more than one variety to ensure good pollination. Your catalog should have that information for you. Southern Living Magazine recommends 1 year old plants for best results. -
Herbs
- Scented geraniums, lemon verbena, bay, pineapple sage, and marjoram need to be brought indoors for the winter. Rosemary may also be damaged if it gets very cold; either move in into a cold frame, or cover it with straw on colder nights.
- Houseplants
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Before you bring foliage plants back inside, check for insects, and spray with insecticidal soap, even if you
don't see any. Mealybugs, scale, and aphids multiply quickly, and spider mites thrive in a dry, heated house.
If you have central heating, make sure your plants are properly watered. Low humidity can be a problem. It can be helped by grouping plants together.
Some plants also need misting including schefflera, Norfolk Island pine, dracaena, and most ferns.Do not mist cacti, succulents, and hairy leaved plants like African violets, purple passion plant, and gloxinia.
With decreased light and lower temperatures, houseplants won't grow as much now, so decrease the amount of water and fertilizer you usually give them by about ½. - Roses
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You can continue to plant container roses in most of the South.
Continue spraying your established roses until they drop their leaves.
In the Upper South, prune roses back by ½ and mound soil or mulch around the base of the plant. Cover the graft union and several inches of the stem to insure survival in a hard winter. - Shrubs and Trees
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You can continue to plant container shrubs and trees.
Transplant small trees and shrubs. If you transplant early in the season, their roots will have more time to become established before Spring. Cut plants back by as much as 1/3 to compensate for root loss. Keep well watered.
Apply dormant oil to fruit trees, after they lose their leaves, to control overwintering insect larvae.
You can take hardwood cuttings now of crepe myrtle, wisteria, figs, grapes, forsythia, pussy willow, spirea, beautyberry, beautybush, junipers, yew, and flowering quince. Wait till their leaves have fallen and cut 6 to 12 inches of this past season's growth. Dip the end in rooting hormone and place 1 to 2 inches apart in a trench, deep enough to bury ¾ of the length. Pull the soil around the cuttings and when new growth appears next Spring, transplant to new location. Or, you can put them in pots containing a mixture of sphagnum peat moss and builder's sand. Keep moist, in a cool dark place, and mist the stems every day or two. - Strawberries
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Mulch with pine needle or other straw to protect from cold. Don't cover completely-let some leaves peek out.
In the Lower South, you can still plant strawberry plants and expect a full crop of berries next Spring. -
Tools
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Clean and oil hand tools before you store them, so they'll be ready to go in Spring.
After the last mowing of the season, have your lawn mower serviced and the blade sharpened.
Winterize all power equipment.
Bring in your irrigation timer and sprinklers before the first hard freeze. - Vegetables
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Pick any tomatoes left in the garden, before frost. The green ones will ripen in the kitchen window or in a paper
sack.
To rejuvenate cold damaged kale, cut it back to the ground, fertilize, and water. Mulch to protect from cold. If cared for, kale should last till Spring.
You can plant asparagus, fall through early Spring. Since asparagus may stay in the same location for 10 years, initial soil preparation is very important. Work the soil to a depth of 12 inches, working in compost or other organic matter. Plant crowns 2 to 3 inches beneath the soil surface, about 18 inches apart, in rows 4 to 5 feet apart.
Leaf lettuce can be grown all winter in a cold frame. Locate cold frame on the south side of a building or fence for protection against wind. Thin seedlings to 4 inches apart for best results. - Water Lilies
- After the first frost, set the containers of water lilies on the bottom of the pool, to protect from freezing. Trim any browned foliage off. If the pool is shallow and the plants are in danger of freezing, move them into a basement to keep them protected and moist. Tropical lilies are usually treated as annuals, except in the Gulf South.