It was a perfect 72 degree day yesterday in central Illinois; perfect weather for tackling those dreaded autumn chores.
I spent the day closing down the gardens at my mom and dad's home. There had been a hard frost, so all delicate plants that were not protected had to be removed. I pulled out tomato plants (not easy to do as the doggone roots had really taken hold, which makes for a great tomato but also for a bad back!), clipped them into smaller pieces, and put them into the black standard compost bin. I also added armloads of silver maple leaves (more on that later), spent
coneflower heads and stems, and dozens of Wave petunias, seed geraniums, coleus, nasturtium, and impatiens that had been killed.
There were many geraniums that were protected from the cold temperatures. I carefully pulled the plants from the potting soil, cleaned all of the soil from the roots, and pruned off the old growth to about 3". These geraniums are kept in my temperature-controlled garage (it is 3/4 underground, so the temps are rarely below 50 degrees) in a paper bag. During the winter I will check on them about once a month to make sure that there is not damage to the plant from either errant mice that have escaped the three cats and two huskies that reside here, or from fungus or disease. If the plant appears to be infected I throw it out; if it looks too dry I will lightly spritz it with water a few times a week until it looks
rehydrated. At the end of February I will pot up the geraniums into a
sterilized container that has been filled with fresh high-quality potting soil (please, do NOT put those awful packaging peanuts in the bottom of your containers!) and begin to wake the plants up by giving them a deep drink of water and putting them in my sun room. At the first signs of new growth, I will begin feeding my geraniums with a weak fertilizer solution. As the plant gets more robust, my fertilizing regime will increase. By the middle of April I will have beautiful, full plants, ready to be moved out into the sunlight on warm days. I have successfully overwintered standard geraniums like this for many years. They continue to get bigger and better.
Back to my leaf story...the maple leaves had blown into a corner area close enough to the compost bin that I didn't have to mess with a rake. Instead, I used my arms to scoop up masses of leaves. Mistake!!! I was totally
creeped out when mom pointed to the hundreds of
minuscule wolf spider infants crawling from the leaf pile onto the skirting of their trailer. Normally I am a proponent of spider survival (they do, after all, control the mosquito population) but this was too much. I ran into the house and grabbed the can of Raid Ant & Roach spray, the only kind under the sink. The spiders that were exposed got a good spray and died a quick death. Some of them escaped under the trailer, and I'm sure that there were many, many more in the leaf pile. That was the end of my composting for the day. I wasn't about to let any spiders crawl around on me, no matter how beneficial they are!
Before my day had ended, I had spread another four bags of cedar mulch onto the garden with the freshly-planted Cleveland pear. Friday I will continue with my autumn clean-up by planting the last of the bulbs (a few tulip and hyacinth, with some
bloodmeal added for good measure), unhooking the garden hoses and putting them into the shed, pulling the last of the stubborn cool-weather weeds, and placing the snow shovel on the porch. Since the folks have two raised vegetable beds, I will add compost and additional garden soil to them, along with some peat moss, and till it with my Mantis. After that, I start in on my own two acres.
I hate autumn chores simply because there is so much death involved. But I truly look forward to a season of rest, where I can dream over garden catalogs and drool over my Horticulture magazine. Rest well, gardens. Spring will be here soon, bringing about the rebirth of beauty in our gardens.
shel
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