Winterizing the annual flower beds

The last two days have been too nice to stay inside and since I had the house all cleaned and ready for Thanksgiving guest I had time to play outside. I already had the gladiolas bagged up and in the garage  and the potted plants are inside the house but the other gardens still needed to be cleared off for the winter.  We have had our killing frost so it was time to clean out all the dead foliage.  It is easier and faster to weed these gardens then to prepare them for winter. First I needed to remove all the leaves and dead plants. That included cutting all the perennials down and removing their  stems and all the dead leaves from under the yucca plants.  I love yucca plants but they “bite” when you pull the dead leaves off the bottoms.

I also wrapped twine around the crepe myrtle and rose bushes and trimmed up the evergreen. Two days and I am happy with the results. I still need to clean off five more flower beds and weed, fertilize and cover  the beds in the sun garden.  In other words 17 flower beds finished, 4 garden beds put to bed, greenhouse plants cleared out and 10 garden beds cleared out but not completely finished.

If your beds only grow  annuals, tender perennials or tropical plants they will be killed off by freezing temperatures, and won’t survive the winter.

  1. Tropical bulbs (dahlias, cannas, elephant ears, gladiolas… etc)  should be  dug up  and the bulbs stored  for winter.  Once dug up remove  all of the dead foliage and allow them to dry out a bit to prepare them for storage. Store in a mesh bag or a box with newspaper to keep them from drying out or rotting, and then store them on a shelf in the basement or garage.
  2. After a hard killing frost pull up all the dead annuals and clear the area.
  3.  Move all potted plants indoors. Tropical plants, succulents, and tender perennials can be brought indoors and grown as houseplants. Cold hardy perennials that are growing in pots should  be moved  into an unheated garage or shed to give them extra protection from the cold. Be sure to leave the soil on the dry side all winter so they won’t rot.
  4. Bring in outdoor furniture or cover with protective covers.

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