All is not over for gardening in November, particularly in zone 7. Maintenance and clean up is the name of the game.
Now is as good a time as any to clean out your outdoor pots. Store the soil in plastic garbage bags for later use, use the soil around the garden, put it in the compost, or use it in indoor pots. Rinse the pots out, and place the pots upside down to dry. Then store them inside after they are dry unless you are using them to plant bulbs in. If you are interested, bulbs are easy to grow in containers and look great! A few examples:
Tulips and hyacinths in a container at Cheekwood Grouping of containers at Linda Vater’s house Muscari in a container at Linda Vater’s house
Perennials
You can still plant spring-flowering bulbs in your landscape. Bonus! Most sites are having major sales on their bulbs. A few to check out:
I don’t get any money from any of these sites, but they are rated well on Dave’s Garden site https://davesgarden.com/ or are recommended by other gardeners that I know. I bought a tons of bulbs from Longfield Gardens and Dutch Grown, but will have to let you know how they turn out in spring!
Now is also the time to fertilize those spring-flowering bulbs if you haven’t already.
Divide and replant any perennials that need dividing like daylilies, daisies, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, and bearded iris (among others).
Clean up any dead flowers or leaves and put in the compost. Save seeds from perennials and annuals that you want to plant next year.
Annuals
You can still plant some pansies, violas, or ornamental kale for seasonal color or foliage interest. Cyclamens also seem to be popular in the garden centers right now. There are perennial and annual varieties, so make sure you read the label!
It’s also a good time to start amaryllis bulbs inside. I bought two at Home Depot, but many of the aforementioned sites also sell amaryllis bulbs. Here’s a great primer on growing amaryllis bulbs indoors.
Lawn
While it’s mostly too late to lay seed, it’s never too late to maintain what you already have. Last call to fertilize any bluegrass or fescue grass. Also, if you want to avoid bare patches in your lawn in the spring, you should probably blow or rake the leaves out of the lawn now! Otherwise, they create a thick mat from which little can penetrate. Except violets, apparently. Shred the leaves and spread them in your flower beds, or put them in the compost.
What are you doing in your garden this month? Prepping for spring? Cleaning up? Let me know in the comments!
