By Kathleen LaFrancis Eaton, Ph.D., Master Gardener

Fall is the time to both preserve what is already in your garden and plan for what you’d like to great you next spring. There also still a few annuals to brighten your days this season before turning to indoor blooms.

Let’s first talk about the last of the summer’s blooming beauties, dahlias. These prize winners range from a micro 40-50 mm to a giant 250 mm; such as the two inch pompom or smaller dwarf varieties to the plate size ten inch cactus or decorative, both formal and informal varieties. These are so popular several merchants are already sold out for next year’s growing season!

Dahlia growers are intensely interested in preserving what they already grow. How do you do it? Brave souls leave their tubers in the ground. That’s not a great idea every year as they reproduce becoming cumbersome and there’s a risk of frost and water damage.

Tubers should be dug up and stored. Timing is important. You’ll want to enjoy every last bloom. Before you dig make sure you’ve marked the plants close to the base with a waterproof indelible label. To preserve the tubers start by cutting the stems back to six inches after the second frost. The second frost is when the eyes start to form on the tubers forming new roots. Leaving six inches gives you a handle to pull up the tubers. Wait ten days for the stems to dry out a bit them dig about six inches around the stem; pull them out; and shake as much soil off as much soil as possible. Rinse the dirt before spreading the tubers in a single layer on newspapers in a cool dry place. Wait two weeks or longer until the material is completely dry! Then remove all extraneous dead material such as stems roots, etc. You will probably be able to divide the tubers. It will be obvious where to do this. Make sure the labels stay with their specimens and/or are duplicated with the divisions.

Store dried tubers in vermiculite in plastic bags that are not quite sealed or have a few holes punched in them. Keep in a cool, not freezing, dry place until spring. A garage is good if insulated, but your prize dahlias must be brought indoors during freezing weather.

Are you tired of buying dozens of geraniums every year? A much simpler but similar method can be used to preserve geraniums as described for the dahlias. Geraniums are preserved as plants without the soil. Remove dead leaves and flowers then rinse off the soil. Allow the plants to dry as you did the tubers but do not remove the roots. Store plants dry, loose in a basket or bin in a single layer at a cool, above freezing temperature. Replant when soil temperatures are above 55 degrees.

Roses need special attention in the fall as well. Your roses may surprise you with how long they continue to bloom into the fall. As long as they do, they require water and feeding, pruning and removal of any diseased leaves and stems. When it’s time to “put them to bed” for the winter all their leaves should be removed, not just from the plant but from around their base. Any spotted or diseased plant material will infect the plant it came from or any others around it. This material should go into your yard waste bin, not into your composting bin. This is because home composting cannot reach sufficient temperatures to destroy the bacteria. These diseases can be carried from season-to-season.

Rose plants need to be pruned back for the winter but not so severely that they have nothing left to buffer the frost. In our climate there is a risk of freezing conditions for unpredictable periods. Some rose aficionados use winter covers religiously. These can be Styrofoam or newspaper and burlap tied with string.

Leaving a good six to twelve inches of branch, depending on the bush’s size, provides the plant self-protection that will partially die through the winter. This can be pruned in the spring, stimulating new growth.

Fall clean up getting you down? Plant some bulbs for spring! Fall promises pumpkins, cider, holidays, and cold weather. All that is great! But if you’re like me, you’ll be thinking yellow, red, purple, and white blooms as well. Pull out that trowel and dig a few more holes! Every year add a few more spring flower bulbs. Every year the moles eat a few; but some also divide and make larger and larger stands of beautiful color.

Here’s what to look for: time of bloom, height of bloom, color, how deep does it have to be planted and is it resistant to pests you have to deal with (such as deer). Ideally you could plant bulbs that would come up every few weeks beginning with say—Snow Drops, Crocus, and Dwarf Iris, and perhaps Early Daffodils. Giant Crocus, Hyacinths, and Early Tulips would follow these. Then would come some varieties of Iris, Alliums, Anemone, and Mountain Lilies. And so on until you’d have all sorts of varieties of tulips and lilies and dahlias and irises. As with other plants it’s good to plant small in front of tall and play your colors to your liking and within your landscape. A challenge when planting in the fall for spring and summer is that your putting things in the ground that you won’t see for sometime. On top of that…well you’re putting things perhaps on top of other things! It could be a great surprise. That’s when your garden comes in handy if you’ve a mind to take a pencil in your dirty hand and scratch out what you’ve put into the ground onto a progressively messy map. But that’s part of the fun.

Don’t forget the Chrysanthemums! These classics come in all sizes and shapes and while you may not have grown them yourself they’re readily available in pots. And have you checked the back of your vegetable garden? Those sunflowers are begging to be on the front step. Many varieties of edible kale are showy in greens, purples, and even black. They are as in place along the drive as next to the pole beans. Gorgeous!

Green is the color of gardens and we are blessed with an abundance of it. As autumn progresses there is beautiful color as the leaves fall. When they are gone we are left to ponder the elegant beauty of evergreens.

Would you like to be a Master Gardener or learn about Growing Groceries?

You can call the MG hotline to learn about upcoming classes. Office hours are Monday – Friday 9 a – 4 p. (425) 357-6010.

Previous articles can be found on kathleeneaton.net.