Tidewater Gardening
ing. Place the seeds in paper bags or envelopes, label them and be sure to store them in a cool, dry location. Some home gardeners like to overwinter the geraniums that they have had in containers over the growing season. There are several ways to do this. You can bring the plants inside and continue to grow them in a sunny window. You can also take and root cuttings from existing plants. Cuttings can also be taken of coleus, salvias and begonias, rooted inside and grown over the winter. This is a good practice if there is a specific cultivar of these annuals that you would like to keep growing. While you are in the process of pulling up the annual f lowers in the landscape, you can add some background color by replacing the annuals with pansies, fall asters, ornamental kale and cabbage, parsley, kale, mustard greens and Swiss chard. Mums planted in October are usually considered annuals, but there is a chance that they may survive the winter and regrow in the spring. You can also plant love-in-a-mist, poppy, bachelor buttons and larkspur seed now for early spring annuals. If ground covers in your landscape are looking thin, weak or diseased, October is a good time to do some renovation. Mow them close to the ground and rake out and dispose of all plant debris.
If you like to start your own annual flower transplants or direct seed annual flowers in the spring, now is the time to save the seed from annual flowering plants like cleome, zinnias, cosmos, celosia and marigolds for next year’s plant-
¡ Container Plants ¡ Over 30,000 Plants To Choose From Buy From A Grower 30104 Dover Road Easton, Maryland 410-822-1320 90