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November Gardening Tips Greetings gardeners, and welcome to beautiful November! As you know and appreciate, November is one of our best months. I anticipate that we may still have some bits of sunshine peeking through. No doubt, we will have beautiful and bountiful days. It is a busy month for the gardener, and there is much to do. California natives are all on sale this month. In celebration of Thanksgiving, so are rosemary and sage. (Remember to stock up on sage, marjoram and thyme long before the 22nd!) Fall is the best time of the year to plant all California natives, hardy annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs-- almost everything in fact. Don’t forget to celebrate our beautiful Earth by giving thanks and by giving back. Volunteer your time or food at the Haight Ashbury Food Program (see article on page 12). The Haight Ashbury Free Clinic has volunteer opportunities listed online at www.hafci.org In San Francisco, we are fortunate to be able to grow food crops all year long. Plant your winter vegetable garden with seedlings of beet, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, lettuces, onion, parsnip, parsley, Swiss chard and turnip. Set out seeds of arugula, bok choy, fava beans, lettuce, mizuna, radish and spinach. If stakes or markers aren’t your style, try marking stones with fingernail polish or paint, and setting them on the planting spot. Continue to plant bulbs outside and force them inside. Pot up some spring flowering bulbs for indoor color during the winter. Store the pots in a cool, dark place until new growth emerges from the soil and move them to a bright window. Look out for the handouts on bulb planting, attached with the bulbs. See the October issue for tips on how to force bulbs for indoor color. Remember that indoor heating dries the air out in your home considerably. Help your house plants survive by misting them or planing their pots on a pebble-filled tray of water to ensure adequate humidity and moisture. Start to reduce the feeding of your house plants and continue this throughout the winter. A stitch in time saves nine. Now is the time to dig, weed, and amend your soil. This work now will reward you with a stunning show in the spring and summer. An excellent organic combination is Chicken Glaum, Steer Manure, Compost, and Peat Moss. Mulch heavily when it gets cold. Cut back on water and fertilizer -- this hardens your plants for the cold weather. Now’s the Time To Prune Spring-Blooming Shrubs Cut back perennials. Prune plants to maintain your desired size and shape as well as to increase sunlight exposure and air circulation. Read up on the growing habits of each species before pruning. For most herbaceous perennials, cut away dieback and then prune by cutting above expressing nodes (places on the branch where you see sprouts of new growth). Always cut at an angle so that rain water will not collect on the fresh cut. Keep away from the snails! Cole Hardware has lots of natural and toxic prevention. We recommend Sluggo® nontoxic snail and slug control. During the colder months of our year, I make a special point to bring in as much gorgeous color and greenery indoors as I can. Come visit our indoor nurseries to find your new friends. Look out for Christmas trees, wreaths, garland, and poinsettias – we’ll have them soon after Thanksgiving. Camille, Cole Street Nursery - Hardware Hotline November, 2007
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