Surely you realize the gardening season is not over. It is winding down, perhaps, since daily watering is no longer necessary, but like my dear little squirrel friends, we gardeners cannot yet rest if we hope to reap the rewards of industry in March.
December is the month to bury the big spring-blooming bulbs, such as tulips and narcissus. If you can find them, you also could plant foxgloves, delphinium, Iceland poppies and primroses; they will develop roots until February, then concentrate on a big flower show in spring. By buying small plants now, less expensive than the gallons of instant color offered in early spring here, you enjoy a longer display for a lower price (unless you have city chickens who consider foxglove leaves a supreme delicacy).
I did not buy small Iceland poppy transplants when I saw them two weeks ago, knowing I would not have time to plant them immediately. That was shortsighted. Few retail nurseries sell young poppy plants before January, and now I cannot find them to buy them. (If you are a garden retailer with poppies on your hands, my e-mail address is right under my byline.)
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