Winterize an Iowa garden, or two

The day lilies are yellow and orange in July and August, but in October, the flowers are gone and the stems are turning brown. This garden plot will be "winterized" by weeding it and and trimming back the plants.

Looking out the window in October, it's clear that the day lilies are a mess: The mass of grass-like flower stems are rust-colored and bent in the rain. They will be trimmed and cleaned up before long.

This week is when we start to winterize the Baker gardens in rural Scott County, Iowa. Average frost dates are Oct. 4-17 in this part of Iowa, according to experts at Iowa State University, Ames.

These day lilies and other perennial flowers will be trimmed, with some exceptions. All the annual flowers will be pulled from the ground, 1-2 may be re-potted and brought indoors. The canna plant was purchased just this year; its bulbs will be preserved and planted it in a pot next year.

Plants now on the porch will be cleaned up, deeply watered, and sprayed for unwanted insects before they are returned to their spots indoors. Next May, three big plants (scheffelera, Palm tree and sanseveria) will return to the front porch for the warm-weather months.

House plants are good for the health as they help to keep up indoor humidity levels, which can crater in the winter months. A good humidity level is 40-50 percent, but when it hovers around 10 percent in the winter home, you'll end up with static electricity issues, dry noses and throats, and itchy, scratchy skin.

Outdoor pots will be cleaned out and the deck furniture will be covered and protected from the elements. Wicker furniture will be brought indoors, as will decorous items.

According to Iowa State's Horticultural department, there are several steps to take when winterizing various plants. These include:

Mums: Since hardy mums are shallow-rooted plants, it's important to mulch them over the winter. Take action in November or so. Various products can be used to do this, but horticulturalists say it's not necessary to cut the mum back. Simply cover with mulch (do not use leaves for this purpose) and uncover next April, cut back and let the sun shine again on the plants.

Roses: I have two hybrid tea roses; I bought them as center pieces during Valentine's Day, years ago. These are tiny plants, but hardy in my backyard. For winter, I mound dirt around the base of the roses, and cover with mulch and a little more dirt to keep the mulch in place.

For other roses, Iowa State suggests removing debris from the roses, mounding dirt at the bottom 10-12 inches of the rose canes, and covering with mulch or leaves, using some more dirt to hold the mulch in place.
In addition, commercially available covers may be used for roses in Iowa.

Strawberries: Iowa State suggests the berries be allowed to harden off, and be mulched in mid-November in this part of the state. Use clean straw, for example, and cover with fencing products, held in place by bricks or stones. (This sounds like quite the project!).

There are garden experts who suggest that all plants be kept whole in the winter, to help local insects develop. This would be a personal decision.

We did leave the plants alone one winter, and were faced with a whole lot more work in the springtime months. That translated to more back aches, pains, etc.

Hence, we try to clean up most of the yard, but we do leave some plants, like the perennial grasses, in place. On a smaller scale I'll leave the butterfly weed intact, and a few other plants.

Happy garden work in the sunny autumn weather of Iowa!

Sources:
Extension.iastate.edu, "Yard & Garden: Preparing Gardens for Winter."
Coolray.com, "Indoor Comfort Levels: Too Much or Too Little Humidity?"

This is a butterfly weed; it will be left alone this winter, intact