This time of year, we remove/trim all plants

    

There are daisies, day lilies, coneflowers, heuchera,
milk weed and a mum plant in this garden. Below,
the same garden has been 'winterized.'

This area has been cut back, but includes hostas of various sizes and spirea bushes.

    When it comes to gardening in Iowa, there's as much work to do in October as there is in June.

    This time of year, for example, we cut back perennials, and remove all annuals from the ground. Luckily we have a place to put these items: It's a compost area for our neighborhood in rural Scott County, Iowa.

    I am most reluctant to do this. I think the annuals are just beautiful and I don't like to take them out before they are dead. However, we once left all the work until springtime and that was very hard to handle. It's done in October, mainly.

    Basically Steve cuts down many of the perennials with a hedge trimmer, and hauls it away. His main concerns are two fields of Becky daisies, hosta plants and a line of spirea bushes. I tackle most of the rest of the perennials manually (trying to exercise the upper body muscles). I load all the debris into our wagon and it is carried to the compost area.

    I like the gardens to look nice as much as possible, so it's a balancing act for the many annuals that are planted in our big yard. I expect the temperatures to get to freezing later this week, but for now I'm trying to keep the gardens attractive.

    In the end, we take out perennials like the daisies and coneflowers, iris, day lilies, black-eye Susans, and more. We leave up the perennial grasses, which provide interest during the winter months.

   There is plenty of work to be done. I have replanted one hosta plant, dug out some Becky daisies that intruded on our home's new drainage system and have been weeding right along. I hate weeds and try to take any one I spot by its roots, which can be a challenge. Experts say that a weed removed in the fall is one less to take out next spring.

    The purple Dahlia plant is blooming so that's still up. Eventually I'll need to cut it back and try to save the bulbs. The mums are also blooming but those will eventually be covered with mulch at the bottom of each plant. I love mums and currently have five of them.

    Iowa State University Extension and Outreach reports that when you winterize a mum plant, you should not cut it back. These are shallow-rooted plants. After a chrysanthemum is done blooming in October, add mulch to the plant. This will protect it against alternate freezing/thawing cycles that could heave it out of the ground. The best time to add the mulch is in November.

    I also have two tea roses. I bought these for Valentine's Day, years ago, and replanted them in a sunny location. To winterize them, I'll clean them off, trim them a bit, and then mound up mulch at the bottom. This is also best done in November.

    In addition several outdoor plants are now indoors, including a palm tree, scheffelera, two mums (of course!) and a hardy red-flower plant found at Home Depot last spring. They join the Christmas cactus (now a giant, originally a tiny little plant found seasonally at Green Thumbers in Davenport), and a new succulent. I've also taken cuttings off several coleus plants: These were successfully rooted last year and planted, and are now huge for a second year).

    We might be cutting down and disposing of plants outdoors, but there are still several indoors!