yard cleaning time

[Mayebarnes]

Since this is NOT my favorite time of the year,,,It is so depressing to me to have to clean out the flower beds...

I wait until the last minute to pull up the marigolds, which are still blooming ...
the impatients are still blooming , they are in giant pots...
I want to try to winter my geraniums again,, so will pull the impatients, transfer geraniums to the big pots.. set inside the house garage....all the above should have been done yesterday when it was gorgeous ,,,but I was busy chasing down what I hope is the last of the fleas..



have you got your garden/flowerbeds cleared?

ps..I may fly out to Cynders ,since it is just beginning Spring in NZ...

[Connie]

My answer to your question is. . . No. Since I live in Southern California, the weather is different. . . The impatients I planted last year are still pretty, so will leave them be. The mums have buds and will be opening up soon. It's in the 80's here and the weatherman says the temps will be in the 90's this weekend -- no rain in sight.

[jostoy]

This year I planted mostly things that don't have to be replanted each year. My question is though....I did buy a planted impatient that is still a very pretty red, leaf and bloom. I'm wondering if it might keep through the winter by putting it in my garage.

My garage maybe gets down to 30 when the outside temp is zero or below. Also should I water and cover it, pot and flower, to keep it a bit warmer. I loved the color and it stayed pretty all summer.

[Nalani]

Will do some later but like Connie really not much winterizing here. will cut back the lantana later in case I have to cover them if real cold weather moves in.

[Mayebarnes]

I Finally got all the red geraniums pulled up.. trimmed them way back and planted two to a pot.( big pot).. then set them inside the house garage ,which is really my Great Big storage closet.. I keep the register closed so it stays about 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of rooms.. with a little care they should winter over.. and be usable next spring...if they don't survive ,, I will not have lost anything but a bit of time ...

the marigolds are still blooming beautifully, so they get to stay until the frost kills them...
I love driving in the driveway and seeing those yellow flowers still blooming....helps me hold on to summer as long as possible.

[JoS]

Jostoy, impatience has a watery stem and will freeze very easily. You might be able to keep them inside over the winter, but I really doubt that you can keep them in a cold place

[jostoy]

Thanks, JoS. Don't want to mess with trying to keep them in the house, so will try to find the same next year. It was a real pretty red.

[Mayebarnes]

well. the time has come.... the snow killed the marigolds ,, so they will need pulled and the bed can be cleaned now... maybe hire a grandkid...as this is a bending over, crawling around on your knees kind of job...

maybe I will have the guy from the greenhouse plant shrubs next spring....but then will would i put those geraniums I am saving??????...

Davids 6 tomato plants yielded a couple of small ripe tomatoes and enough green ones for 7 batches of strawberry=green tomato jelly... I guess that is success

[JoS]

Well, we haven't had snow yet but have had a couple of hard frosts. We cleaned everything out of my Mexican pottery and put them up so they won't freeze and crack. Brought a couple of plants in and the rest need to be cut off at the stem. Will take the dirt out in the spring and probably salvage some of it.

Of course my daylillies, roses and climatis will overwinter just fine where they are. My wild flowers in my tractor tires will be fine.

Man, I hate winter!

[Mayebarnes]

they are gone......all gone.....no more color outside....

removed the marigolds and weeds , put on compost pile at the back of property... boo hoo

the geraniums I brought inside are blooming still....not encouraging them too much..but nice to see a touch of red.

[JoGee]

Same as Connie & Nalani. Don't have much to winterized. 2 lilac bushes in pots, I put compost in the pots, they will be fine til I get home in a few days. Will have to cut down and trim them to cover them. Tomatoes, several plants, might do well enough just covered after I cut the plants back a bit. Which I meant to do before. They are still producing like crazy. Found a heavier grade plant cover at Home Depot, or Lowe's, whichever one we were at last. Our winter is brief enough... Will see how my experiment goes. AZ has 3 growing seasons. Need E to help clean out and fix those greenhouse panels good. Will start new plants after the new year.

Flower bedsore non-existent here... I have a black thumb for flowers.

[BarbCA]

Yard is full of leaves, mostly maple but a lot of Mulberry from the lawn trees.

Joy planted some lettuces in the garden a while back and they are still doing well.

Maye, my mom used to overwinter geraniums in the garage and I don't think she ever lost one and there was no heat in there garage. They lived higher in the mountains than I do so it was much colder there.

[Nalani]

Cut back everything that needed to be cut back last week. Feel sorry for the yard guys as there is very little for them to do over the winter. Just clean up generally.