October Annuals

Pansies will keep blooming (if you keep them picked), and ornamental cabbages and kales will maintain their color and structure past the first few frosts. And of course pansies, lobelias, nemesias, stocks, and diascias — all cool-loving annuals — can blossom indoors all winter, with proper care, in a sunny window or under plant lights.

October Bulbs, Corms, & Tubers

Now’s the time to pot up paperwhite narcissi for holiday bloom indoors. Says Leonard Perry, Extension Professor at the University of Vermont, “Paperwhites are tropical in origin, so they don’t require cold in order to bloom. [They] are often potted in dishes of gravel, with water kept in the base,” or you may plant them three to a 6” pot so their tips are just above the soil. Perry also says to keep your paperwhites cool — around 50ºF — until their roots form, then bring them back into the warmth. Figure on six weeks from potting to bloom.

If you want to force other bulbs for the winter holidays, start immediately! Bulbs to force include

• daffodils
• hyacinths
• tulips

Whatever you do, handle bulbs gently. Remember, bulbs look inert but they are in fact living plants and require careful handling (if you bruise or wound one, the bulb can become vulnerable to soil diseases, and the resulting flower can be deformed). Remember also — and we’re not saying this because we’re in the business — that the cheaper the bulbs you buy, the worse their ultimate performance tends to be. Top quality bulbs cost more, but in our experience they are worth it. At Payne’s we import our bulbs directly from the Dutch grower so we are 100% certain of their health and dependability.

• Plant daffodils and hyacinths one per 4” pot or three per 6” pot.
• Plant tulips and crocuses 1” apart.
• Make sure bulb pots have drainage holes! (You can always slip plastic pots into larger, decorative, ceramic ones when it’s time to bring the cold-treated bulbs out into public again. Payne’s sells both kinds!)
• Plant the bulbs so their tips are just above the soil surface. Leave 2” of soil beneath the bulbs for root growth.
• After planting, sprinkle some Osmocote™ (green-lid bottle, not pink lid) into the pots, water them well, then place in a dark cold spot (35-45ºF is ideal) for a minimum of three months (four may be better). The cold convinces the bulb it’s going through winter, triggering its flowering cycle when you bring it back into warmth.

Places to put bulbs being conditioned for forcing include:

• the refrigerator
• the basement (we know basements are rare in Santa Fe, but you may be one of the lucky few)
• an unheated garage
• a cold frame under a 6” layer of straw.

IMPORTANT:

• Keep the soil around the bulbs slightly moist but never soggy

• Never let the bulbs freeze

• If you put bulbs in the fridge, keep them away from fruits or veggies which can emit ethylene gas as they ripen, causing your bulbs to flower misshapenly.

After three to four months are up, bring bulbs into a warm, well-lit area of the house (keep them out of direct sunlight) so that the flower buds can develop. For maximum length of show, stagger the bulb pots: bring a few into the warmth at a time, every one to two weeks. After blossoms have faded, either discard the plant into the compost heap or prepare it for transfer into your garden.

How To Transfer Bloomed Out Bulbs Into Your Garden: After the bulbs have bloomed in their indoor pots, stop watering and feeding the bulbs: let them go dormant again. When your outside soil is no longer frozen, dig some compost or manure and coarse builder’s sand or crusher fines sand (never playground sand) into the spots where you intend to replant your bulbs.

Make the planting holes three times deeper than the bulb is long, plus 1” (you’ll see why in a sec). At the bottom of the hole, put a heaping tablespoon of soft rock phosphate or Yum-Yum™ Mix, then cover the fertilizer with an inch of soil, put the bulb on top, and cover your bulb with soil. Water well, and keep slightly moist as bulbs re-sprout and their green tops re-emerge. Dig some more plant food in around them at midsummer and again in the fall. The second year after replanting they should bloom again nicely.

Outdoor Frost-Tender Bulbs: It’s also high time to dig up the rest of the outdoor frost-tender summer bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers of such lovelies as:

• acidantheras
• tuberous begonias
• caladiums
• crocosmias
• gladioli
• tuberoses

Spread them out on newspapers to dry for a couple of weeks in a well-ventilated room. Throw out any mushy or damaged bulbs, then store the remainder in paper bags filled with dry vermiculite, sawdust, or peat moss (choose a cool, 35-40ºF place that doesn’t dip below freezing at any time). You can use plastic bags, too, but if you do, pierce them all over with a knitting needle or other sharp object to allow air can get the bulbs.

Canna Care: If you’ve grown cannas, wait till their foliage has been damaged by frost. Then, after letting the bulbs dry out for a few days, cut back the stems to 3 or 4”, carefully dig up the rhizomes (be careful not to wound them with your trowel), and let the bulbs dry at room temperature for a few days before storing in vermiculite-, sawdust-, or perlite-filled bags as above at a temp of 40-50ºF. In spring, replant the entire clump or separate the rhizomes, leaving a portion of the old stem attached to each root.

Dahlia Care: Treat dahlias similarly. When the first frost blackens their leaves (or if a hard freeze is predicted), cut off their stems about 6 inches above the tubers. Carefully dig the clumps and rinse them off. Let them dry out of direct sun and wind for a day (no longer or they’ll begin to shrivel). Store the clumps of tubers as is, or carefully separate the tubers from their stems, making sure to include any “eyes” (small, raised nubs near where the tubers attach to the main stem) with each tuber. (From these eyes new flower spikes will rise next year.) Store as above in vermiculite-, sawdust-, or perlite-filled bags as above at temps between 35-50ºF.

Hardy Bulbs: You can still plant hardy bulbs this month. For a complete set of tips on bulb selecting and planting, see “What To Do In September” by clicking here. NOTE: Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is hardy in Santa Fe, but will rot in soils that are moist during the winter. When in doubt, dig it up and replant next spring in a bed lightened with lots of coarse (not fine) compost, such as Payne’s Soil Conditioner, and coarse builder’s sand (not playground sand) or fine gravel.

October Composting

You can’t have too much compost! The three-bin system is ideal for compost addicts. (Wiring wood pallets together works just fine.) Don’t compost meat scraps — they attract bears — and don’t compost anything that’s mildewed or otherwise clearly diseased; trash-bag it.

Otherwise, layer your heap with green garden detritus alternated with layers of dried stuff like shredded black and white newspaper or straw. Sprinkle compost starter between the layers, then wet the pile thoroughly and let Nature take her course.

When one bin is filled to the top, transfer its contents to the next bin over (this has the added benefit of aerating your compost!) and begin again with the newly emptied bin. That way you have three bins going at all times, so that come spring — when all of your compost ends up in the rose bed — you’ll wish you had twelve.

October Containers

Time to bring indoors those containers that are not frost proof. Before you store them, wash them out with soapy hot water to which a few tablespoons of bleach have been added. Rinse well and allow to air dry before stacking.

October Fertilizing & Mulching

Bare earth invites weeds, so mulch, mulch, mulch this month. Wet newspapers (black and white pages only) covered with straw, compost, or manure make great mulch; so does a 3-4” layer of Payne’s Organic Soil Conditioner. Hold off on feeding your trees, vines, shrubs, and perennials until early spring, lest you encourage them to put out new tender growth that the frosts will damage.

October Grasses & Lawns

Rake all the leaves from your lawn, then spread a thin topping of compost over it, raking it in to settle it. If parts of your lawn aren’t growing well, it might help to core aerate before spreading the compost. Don’t cut back your ornamental grasses more than half way, or you will impair their vigor next year. Better yet, don’t cut them back at all till early spring: that way, birds can take advantage of your grasses’ ripened seedheads.

October Herbs

Time to think about setting up an indoor herb garden for winter! A sunny windowsill will do. But if you’re a herb fanatic, a four-foot double fluorescent shop light unit, available inexpensively at hardware and big box emporia, is all you’ll need to grow sweet basils, rosemary, cilantro, chives, thymes, and other culinary herbs.

Use a sandy or well-drained soil mix (Ball Grower’s Mix No. 3 is ideal, but any sterile potting soil with extra perlite added will work fine) and a time-release fertilizer such as Osmocote™.

Keep the tops of your plants within 3” of the light-tubes. (To maximize the light intensity on my herbs, I set up the light unit against my living room or kitchen wall, then back it with a Mylar sheet, available in rolls at the aforementioned emporia. I also drape the shelf under my herbs with Mylar. That way they think they are in full sun! This works particularly well with sweet basil. Imagine: fresh pesto all winter. Yummmm…)

October Houseplants & Tropicals

Like it or not, the holidays are fast approaching. Consider giving the gift of green! Indoor dish cactus gardens, air plants (all the rage in Europe right now for in-home air freshening!), easy-care orchids (some exquisitely fragrant!), bonsais, tubbed citruses — all these make popular presents, particularly when packaged with appropriate fertilizer. And did you know that both Payne's North and South offer beautiful gift wrapping free? Come by our retail stores or call Nancy or Gaby (South Store, 988-9626) or Peter (North Store, 988-8011) for their gift suggestions!

October Perennials

Check, repair, or replace faded or broken garden labels. Divide and replant peonies if you haven’t already.

October Pests & Diseases

Cut grass and weeds around your shrubs and trees to prevent rodents from nesting in the weeds which can girdle your trunks. Clean up all plant debris and, if it’s not diseased, compost it.

October Planting & Transplanting

Continue to plant container-grown trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, and biennials this month. The seeds of perennials, biennials, and cool season annuals may be sown outdoors now (see What To Do In August on this site).

October Shrubs & Trees

Take advantage of Payne’s Fall Sale and continue to plant shrubs and trees this month! Roots will remain in active growth into November (see directions for planting shrubs and trees in “What To Do For May”).

How about adding some Payne’s apple trees in your yard? Apples do very well in Northern New Mexico, and there are few things in life more satisfying than plucking and biting into your very own ripe, homegrown apple.

October Vegetables & Fruits

It’s garlic planting time! Garlic grows in segmented bulbs that are easily divided. Each segment, which is called a “clove,” will eventually grow into a complete bulb. Plant garlic cloves this month for harvesting next summer. Buy organic garlic (nonorganic and supermarket garlics are frequently treated with chemicals to inhibit sprouting on the shelf); choose only the firmest heads (no squishy, shriveled, or moldy cloves).

Prepare a bed for your garlic:

• pick a site in full sun
• dig in coarse compost, well-aged manure, and natural rock phosphate (not bone meal; it attracts rodents) to the depth of several feet.
• Mix well: the soil should be crumbly when you squeeze it in your hand, not sticky or sludgy. If it doesn’t crumble easily, dig in 3 inches of coarse builder’s sand or fine gravel (not playground sand) to increase the soil’s drainage (garlic can rot in heavy clay).
• Water in the dug bed, then allow to settle for several days before planting.

When you are ready to plant:

• Break up the garlic bulbs into individual cloves;
• Plant pointy side up, flat end down, 3 inches deep and 3 inches apart;
• Cover with a 2-3” layer of compost or straw mulch.
• Water in once, then forget about it till spring, when the little green or blue-green shoots will tell you your cloves have sprouted.

Rhubarb: October is also the month to divide clumps of rhubarb.

• Prepare new holes (organic compost, slow-release organic fertilizer such as Yum-Yum™ Mix);
• Dig up and divide the clumps, taking care to dig down as deeply as possible can so that the roots are undamaged when you lift them.
• Replant the divisions so that they are at the same depth as they were when attached to the parent plant;
• Mulch with straw or compost and water in thoroughly.

Fruit Trees: Fruit tree pests can over-winter in fallen fruit and in leaves from beneath fruit trees, so in rake them up and compost them or trash-bag them.

Cover Crops: Early this month, it’s too late to plant a winter cover crop for your vegetable bed. (See “What To Do In September” by clicking here.)

October Watering

Established trees, shrubs, and non-xeric perennials will need a deep watering at least once a month mid-fall to early spring.

With the onset of the first frosts, it’s important to remove hoses and drip systems from outdoor faucets — if they are filled with water when it freezes, ice expands and may rupture the lines.

After disconnecting hoses and drip systems from the faucets, lay the hoses on a slope to drain, then hang them up outdoors in a sunny spot where the morning sun will thaw them in case you need to reconnect them for winter watering. You may also want to cover outdoor faucets with faucet insulators.

October Weeding

It’s time to tackle the last big weeding before the really cold weather hits. The effort you expend today will help cut down on the thousands of ragweeds, lamb’s quarters, and Russian thistles that might otherwise come up in your beds next spring. Bag the debris; by this time your weeds will have set their seeds, and composting them will just spread those seeds throughout your garden next year.

October Wildlife

(Compiled by Rand B. Lee; edited by Ruth Johnson. Many thanks to various County Agricultural Extension Services, to Charlie Nardozzi, Horticulturist, of the National Gardening Association, and to Dr. Leonard Perry of the University of Vermont Extension Department of Plant and Soil Science, for some of the material in the sections above.)