Getting Ready for Winter

All my gardens are ready for their long winter's nap. I still need to cut back some daylilies, but everything else is done.

Keeping up with deadheading through the summer is key to keeping your gardens neat through the fall. I cut back my Oriental lilies in September, giving them time to get all the nourishment they can, but not leaving them so long that they attract bugs. Bee Balm are left alone until after the first frost, mostly because I love to use the leaves in the soaps I make.

I am not a mulcher. I let the leaves do that, and we have a lot of leaves on our five acres. If you grow species that are correct for your growing zone, there's no need for it. I don't grow roses other than the tough rugosa type, but if I did, I would mulch them in the fall.

I have a few blueberry bushes, but I do absolutely nothing to them or for them. Last year, we had so many blueberries we had to freeze them, but apparently during the winter some animal decided that blueberry bark is tasty. The plants came back this spring but didn't even yield a handful of berries.

The heavy weight of the snow usually takes some of my holly, but you can cut a holly way back and it recovers beautifully. I use a lot of holly branches in my Christmas decorating. Apparently I only have females because they blossom but never bear berries.

If you are really strong and willing, you can pull your Hosta up and separate them. The roots will take a sharp edge like an ax or shovel and it's a good thing because I don't think it is humanly possible to pull them apart using just your hands.

Clean all of your garden tools before you put them away for the winter. Use the blast of a hose to clean away the dirt, then dry them so they don't rust.

Now you, and your gardens, can go hibernate.

Growing Foxglove

The first thing you should know is that eating the seeds of this flower would probably kill you. They are the basis of digitalis (the actual scientific name of the plant).

Foxglove are biennials, meaning you plant them this year for blooming next year. They are very good at reseeding themselves and could be a little invasive if you just let them grow.

Foxglove come in many colors and combinations of colors. For some reason, I had almost all pink flowers this year in one area and almost all white in another area. If you want to have a particular color, tie a piece of yarn around that stem and when it goes to seed collect them in a plastic or paper bag and plant them in a new area.

Planting the seeds is a simple as it gets; simply rough up the soil, spread the seed and walk over the area to pack it down. Give it a spray of water every day for a week or so and they will start sending up tiny green leaves. Just leave them alone, other than thinning them if they are too close together.

You can take the tiny new plants and transplant them by making a small hole in the soil for the root portion and pushing the soil in around it. Water it and forget it.

Foxglove requires very little care. After they bloom and start looking ragged, I clip off the dead seed stock and just leave it on the ground to release the rest of it's seed. In the fall I clip off the rest of the plant and they go into the compost pile.

You should plant Foxglove near the back of your flower bed as they can reach heights of almost five feet.

So whether you start with seed or a small plant, growing Foxglove is very easy.

Happy growing!

Growing Bee Balm

Of all flowers in my flowerbeds, my favorite is Bee Balm. I love the spicy scent of the leaves and the blooms are just quirky.

Over the years I have collected the available colors: bright red, ruby red (shown), pale pink, dark pink. pale lavender and dark lavender. I am highly allergic to bees so most people are surprised that I grow them; truth is, they attract mostly honey bees and I am not allergic to them.

While you can easily start them with a piece of the purple-colored root,I would recommend buying a nice healthy plant and let it grow in the ground for one year. After it has blossomed that second year you can harvest plenty of roots to help them spread or to start them in a different location.

Caring for the plants are easy; they require no special treatment, other than partial to mostly sun and well draining soil. They don't seem to mind a bit of a drought, but I do water mine when it is exceptionally dry, especially the ones in front of the garage that don't get rain because of the extended roof.  I don't give them fertilizer other than a bit of Epsom Salts in the spring.

I make my own soap in the fall and I always make a few bars of Bee Balm soap just for me. I dry some of the leaves and crumble them and add them to the soap at the last stirring before pouring into molds.

Bee Balm blooms in the late summer when my gardens are looking a little bare. They blossom with the Phlox and the Echinacea, just after the Asiatic Lilies. This is when I usually add a few Mums to add back some color until we get hard freezes.

By the way, I am in Maine, in zone 4-5.

Happy growing!