It was great … while it lasted!

Here we are, at the end of another growing season. It was certainly “different” this year. The heat arrived so early. We had our first 90-degree day in early June and it just continued on from there. If we’d only known, we could probably have grown bananas!

Our normal first frost comes about Oct. 8, but not this year. As of this writing, we are still waiting for it.

If you’re like me, you’ve been busy getting all those outdoor chores done so that when the cold weather does hit, we won’t have to be out there hustling about.

There is a lot of confusion about what to cut down in the fall and what to leave until spring. One of the little ditties that I keep in mind goes something like this. “Leaves of brown, cut them down. Leaves of green, let them be.”

Any plant that is marginally hardy here should have its foliage left in place. That means all the chrysanthemums. The experts tell us to plant them in the spring in order for them to have a better chance of surviving the coming winter. That’s a neat trick as most mums are not available that early in the season.

For those of you who want to keep your tuberous begonia bulbs over winter, get ready. Once they are hit by frost, dig them out of the pot, shake off the dirt and store them inside a bag of vermiculite or wood shavings until spring. They need a cool place, but one that doesn’t go below 40 degrees.

With dahlia tubers, leave them for about a week after they get hit by frost and turn black. This gives the plant time to send it’s energy down to the tubers. Dig them, take off as much dirt as you can and store them like the tuberous begonias.

Gather a big pile of those hated pine needles. You’ll be needing them soon. Once the ground freezes, which will probably be sometime in November, these make good mulch. Pile them around your perennials. Grafted rose bushes do better if they also have a pile of garden soil hilled up around their stems. Remember, if you don’t protect that graft, it may freeze and your pretty rose will never bloom right again. Instead it will revert to those small dark red roses that come up from the root stock.

It is still early enough to plant tulips and other spring bulbs. You can do this right up until the ground freezes.

Water those trees one last time. Remember what a dry summer we had. The water from your sprinklers just isn’t enough to do them justice.

If you still have tomatoes on your plants, you might as well give it up and pick them. If you have room in the garage, yank up the entire plant, hang it upside down and let the tomatoes ripen that way. They will have better flavor.

This is the time of year that I take my “winter break” from writing. I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Even after eight years it is still a labor of love. Stay warm and we’ll see you in the spring.

Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently serving as secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls. Her column appears in The Press every other Sunday from early March until late October.