October - The "Cool Month"
By Bob Chapman
The warm days of summer gradually fade away this month and there is often a nip in the air that tells us that winter is on its way. Experienced gardeners start working in the garden to plant while the soil is still warm and the sun shines most of the time. Here are a few things to be done before Old Man Winter grips us in his hands.
- Lift and dig gladiolus, tuberous begonias and dahlias when their foliage turns yellow. Sort, dust with fungicide, divide if desired and store in brown paper bags in a cool dry place until spring. Consider pouring dry peat moss or vermiculite around and over tubers to keep out moisture and help control temperatures while in storage.
- Perennials purchased and planted now will display better color than those planted in spring. Consider Campanulas, lupine, Penstemon, Armeria (Thrift or Sea Pinks), foxglove, candytuft (Iberis) Coral bells, Delphinium, Nierembergia (Cup Flower), Yarrow, Arabis (Rock Flower), Primroses, Carnation, Basket-of-Gold (Aurinia saxatilis) and Dusty Miller (Centaurea cineraria).
- Harvest vegetables. When the leaves of pumpkins and winter squash turn yellow stop watering them. Harvest when the vines are dry. Leave the stems on to avoid rots while in storage.
- Plant seedlings of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli early in the month for best results.
- Plant bulbs in containers now for color this winter and next spring. They will add sure-fire beauty to porches, decks and patios. Almost any spring-flowering bulbs will do well. Use OSH Premium Potting Mix and plant some in deep pots for the bigger bulbs and some in bulb "pans" for the smaller ones. Place the bulbs side-by-side. Consider using the taller-growing bulbs in the center and the low-growing ones at the perimeter for a nice contrast and a pleasing looking arrangement.
- Plant onion sets in mild weather climates.
- Cane berries (blackberries and raspberries) are pruned now. Cut to the ground all canes that fruited this year (except fall-bearing raspberries). Prune to 6-8 feet and train canes that grew this season along supports and tie them loosely.
- Shady areas can be colorful this winter, too. Plant cinerarias, Clivia, Columbine, Cyclamen, English primroses and Primula malacoides (Fairy Primroses). If just light shade, consider planting the faithful pansies and violas.
- Consider using row covers to extend crops of tomatoes and peppers before Jack Frost makes a call. The translucent material lets in light, keeps warmth in and cold out.
- Flowering cabbage and flowering kale? You wouldn't believe the extraordinary color you'll have all winter. With luck, you may have some blooming at Christmas. Try planting a couple here and there for a unique display.
- Pick all your tomatoes when the nighttime temperatures drop to a 50 degree F. average. Store the ripe tomatoes in the refrigerator at 40 degrees F., can or eat the rest. Put the green tomatoes indoors, uncovered and out of direct sunlight and at 60-70 degrees F. until ripe. Consider making green tomato pies (YUM). Tomatoes ripen from the inside out, so when the skin color is right they are ripe and ready to eat or use.
- Sugar snap peas are the greatest eating. If a crop is sown now and every few weeks this winter until February, you'll have enough for a family of four if you sow two, ten-foot rows 24 inches apart. Sugar snap peas grow tall, to 8-10 feet so provide poles and stings for support.
- Sow the following vegetable seeds for crops of tasty food all winter and spring: Beets, carrots, leafy greens (spinach, chard and lettuce), peas, radish (plant every three weeks for perpetual harvest), turnips, Chinese cabbage and rutabagas.
- Snails and slugs become inactive at night when the nighttime temperatures average 46 degrees F., but they still chomp on your plants and flowers whenever they can in the daytime. Scatter pellets of Easy Gone Slug and Snail Killer to keep the slimy critters in check.
- Clean up and keep all fallen leaves and mummies (dried up or diseased fruit) of your fruit trees off the soil to help control fungal diseases and insects hiding places.
- Water and keep the soil moist under rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. They are setting flower buds at this time of year.
- Groom, feed and water your hybrid tea roses now so that you'll have a burst of bloom before the years end.