Oct. 5-11: In the garden, it’s time to…
Plant your garlic, too; it's a bulb. It's better to order these online or buy from a nursery rather than use the garlic from the supermarket.
Make an investment for the spring. Absolutely nothing (short of winning the lottery) will pull you out of the winter doldrums like beautiful flowers popping up out of the snow. Earliest are the snowdrops (Gallanthus) and crocuses, which may start blooming in our area as early as February. Daffodils are next, along with many of the minor bulbs like grape hyacinths, scilla, and chionodoxa, and then the tulips. All of these are available through bulb catalogs or many of the big-box stores. It's best if you can go to your local nursery to actually feel that they are solid and healthy. Set your alarm, though, while shopping, or you will spend way more time and money making impulse buys as well. (I say that as if it's a bad thing …)
Plant your garlic, too; it's a bulb. It's better to order these online or buy from a nursery rather than use the garlic from the supermarket. Supermarket garlic, although it's great for cooking, is not necessarily hardy in our Zone 7 world. Rule of thumb for garlic — as well as most bulbs — is to plant them three times as deep as their widest point. So if a bulb is 1-inch wide or 1-inch tall, it should be planted 3 inches deep.
Last week I said to stop watering your amaryllis and put it somewhere dry. This week I want you to make sure there are no critters lurking on the leaves. Soapy water is good for removing mealybugs, which look like somebody dabbed liquid Styrofoam on your leaves.
Sally McCabe is associate director of community education at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (phsonline.org) and a co-owner of Cobblestone Krautery (www.cobblestonekrautery.com).