Fall can be a busy time of the year in the garden. This is the perfect time to move or to transplant peonies. Remember they should be planted shallow and in full sun for best flower production. If you have problems with peonies not blooming, this could be the problem.
Iris can be divided and/or moved this time of year too. They are another plant that should not be planted very deep.
If you plan to bring clippings of annuals (i.e., coleus, impatiens, etc.) in the house in order to keep them over winter for planting again next spring, it is a good idea to do that soon. If you do this now, you will be more successful.
If you root cuttings by placing them in a glass of water, make certain lower leaves are removed so there are no leaves in the water. Place on a window sill and after new roots start to develop, plant in soil.
If you brought your house plants outside for the summer, now is the time to think about bringing them back in the house. Make sure they are insect free. Keep them isolated from other house plants until this has been determined — and treat them if you find evidence of insects.
When should you dig your tender bulbs to bring inside for winter storage? There are different answers for different plants.
Caladium, elephant ears, calla lily, tuberous begonia, and Star of Bethlehem should be dug before frost hits them. If the begonia is in a pot, you can bring the whole pot into the basement if you want and withhold water until April.
Other bulbs should be laid out in a warm dry area and dried down. Tops should be cut off at that time. Caladium needs to be kept at or near 70 degrees in storage. The rest do well in 50-degree temps in the cool part of a basement.
The University of Minnesota recommends these bulbs be stored in sphagnum peat or vermiculite. I have stored them successfully in cardboard boxes after being properly cured.
You don’t need to wait for frost to dig glads. They may be dug six weeks after bloom. Long-term curing for glads should be approximately three weeks. After three weeks, the old corm and cormels should be removed.
Drying and curing temperatures for such materials should be 60-70 degrees in a dry, well-ventilated area. Before storing corms, inspect for insects or diseases. Dust with an insecticide-fungicide mixture labeled for glads if needed.
If you experienced thrips in your glads this year, dust with carbaryl (Sevin) before storage, shaking the corms in a bag with a small amount of the dust (just 2 teaspoons per hundred corms).
Store them flat in cardboard boxes, not touching each other. (This way when they start to sprout in the spring, the sprouts will start straight up and give you a nice heads up in the garden.)
Dahlias should not be dug until after we have experienced a hard frost. More about them next week.
Master Gardener Sue Morris has been writing a column since 1991 for Kandiyohi County newspapers. Morris has been certified through the University of Minnesota as a gardening and horticulture expert since 1983. She lives in Kandiyohi County.
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