The Hortisexual

November 1st, in New Jersey, USDA Hardiness Zone 6b, summertime wild honeysuckle in bloom.

It's getting warm around here . . .

That’s it. Game over.

No, I’m not talking about the Red Sox pounding the Rockies to pebbles in the Series.

We had our first frost in Medford Lakes this week.

It was a great run. Like the perfect baseball season, when your team plays late into October, my annuals and perennials performed with summer-like vigor till nearly Halloween.

So, as I clean up the mushy remnants of the ’07 season, here’s a re-cap of a few notable all-stars, as well as a bunch of benchwarmers from my garden . . .

Studs

‘Macarena’ New Guinea Impatiens – started from Burpee seeds; vibrant and vigorous; non-stop, eye-popping tangerine blossoms; the bold color worked terrific among foliage plants in my antique urn and the shade bed; self-cleaning; the leaves didn’t scorch from sun.

‘Pygmy Egyptian Papyrus’ (Cyperus haspan) – first saw these in containers in Longwood’s Idea Garden in 2006. Had to have them. After an extensive search I mail ordered from WorldPlants.com in Oregon. Great service, fair prices, unusual collection. Check ‘em out: http://www.worldplants.com The dwarf papyrus plants are like Fourth of July sparklers atop sturdy 12 – 18 inch stems. A cool centerpiece specimen in my patio containers. These babies are coming inside during the offseason! View image

‘Purple Heart’ (Tradescantia pallid) – The muted mulberry succulent foliage caught my eye last winter in Florida where they are used extensively as groundcover. Found a flat here at Lowes (you know - - where healthy plants go to die); drought tolerant, so I guess even big box retailers couldn’t dry them out; every morning petite pink flowers with yellow stamens. View image

Bolivian Rainbow chile peppers – from Seeds of Change; a plant that really lives up to its name: red, orange, yellow, purple; bright color among the shades of green in our back porch herb collection. View image

Sweet Shrub ‘Hartledge Wine’ (Calycanthus ) - Hank Schannen of Rare Find Nursery in Jackson, NJ sent me home with this native shrub two years ago. In mid-summer I decided to move it; pruned it by one-third to help it recover from transplanting. What do you know: a second show of mauve magnolia-like flowers in early August from this May/June-bloomer.View image

Torenia ‘Catalina® Pink’ – neglect it, relegate it to a shady spot, and it keeps putting out. What more can I say about this quietly reliable annual. View image

Duds

‘Red Lightning’ tomato – low yield; smallish fruit; cracked like eggs. View image

Elephant Ear ‘Rhubarb’ (Colocasia esculenta) – sure the stalks were long and dark merlot, as advertised, but not very erect; more splayed than sturdy; the leaves were disproportionately undersized and drab in color and texture - - great legs, plain face; throughout much of the summer the foliage was mottled by brown discoloration and curling along the edges; I moved it from shade to sun to part shade to no avail. View image

Corkscrew rush ‘Unicorn’ (Juncus effusus) – based on the catalog description I purchased one for a tall element to a container grouping; certainly didn’t reach to 18 inches. View image

Coreopsis ‘Limerock Ruby’ – Let’s see, we had one of the mildest winters on record last year. So what happened to this “perennial” rated hardy all the way north to Zone 4??? View image

All the varieties of Osteospermum hybrids – these plants call out to nursery junkies like sirens from garden center tables every spring; look great for the first few weeks of the season then fade faster down the stretch than the 2007 Mets! View image

Tell me about your 2007 Studs and Duds!

Photos courtesy of Burpees, Plant Delights Nursery, Proven Winners, Seeds of Change, WorldPlants.com and Philadelphia Inquirer Sports.

Finally planted my tulip bulbs. A couple hundred in all.

Planting spring flowering bulbs has to be the greatest act of faith there is in home gardening. Once you bury those bulbs all you can do is believe what you can’t see for the next five months or so: that six inches underground roots are developing (hopefully) to support leaves and stems that will eventually poke through the soil, reach skyward and bust out in blossoms.

My faith isn’t completely blind. I take measures to help my bulbs survive attacks from above and below.

Into the hole with each bulb I toss sharp gravel and castor oil granules to keep voles from snacking all winter on my Darwin Hybrids. (A couple years ago I dug out all the soil and lined the bottom and sides of my tulip beds with chicken wire. That stopped voles from tunneling in; now they just go over the top and down!).

I also sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes on the beds after planting to keep squirrels from digging up the bulbs. Same stuff you put on pizza. Nothing sends a message faster than a snoot full of capsaicin to train rodents not to nose around my flower beds. (NOTE: you’ll need to refresh your red pepper flakes after a rainfall; it only takes two or three applications for squirrels to get the idea).

Those pesky pests haven't got a prayer!

Happy Thanksgiving.

And my roses are blooming like it’s Labor Day.

I shot this photo today . . . the third Wednesday in November.

What other landscape plant blooms from Memorial Day until Thanksgiving? I’d like to see a peony do that.

Even though autumn temps are spring-like and buds are swelling on rose bushes, don’t be fooled into pruning or fertilizing.

Let those late blossoms turn into hips. Any deadheading or pruning at this time of year could result in new growth that won’t have a chance to harden off before the real cold weather finally shows up, causing dieback and stem damage. Same with fertilizing. You should have stopped fertilizing back in August. Roses need to toughen up before winter.

On the other hand, go ahead and give the plants a deep drink. Roses and other shrubs always need water from the soil for the root system, even in winter dormancy. Especially considering how dry it’s been in our region over the last several months.

Also, clean up leaves and debris from around the plant that could harbor fungal spores until next spring.

The bottomline: preparing your roses for winter began last spring and summer. If you kept your roses healthy by watering, weeding, fertilizing, pruning, controlling diseases, and fighting off insects, they should be in good shape to face the winter.

Meanwhile, I’ll be real impressed if Rosa ‘Prairie Harvest’ is still blooming in the front yard on Christmas!