This week in your Massachusetts garden & landscape

Week of November 26, 2018

Spruce up your breakfast routine by adding basil, chives, dill, fennel, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon or thyme to your eggs. You will love the delicious difference!

Beebalm (Monarda spp.) is a wonderful choice when creating a pollinator-friendly garden. Growing in full sun to part shade, beebalm will thrive in average to dry conditions, blooming in midsummer in colors of lavender, red, purple, white and pink. It reaches a height of approximately 4’. It is a caterpillar host plant, is ornamental and edible, medicinal and herbal. Beebalm attracts a wide variety of bee species as well as hummingbirds.

Consider growing culinary flowers in your garden next season. Blue cornflowers, marigolds, anise hyssop, borage, coriander and squash blossoms are all colorful, fragrant and delicious!

When putting up your Christmas tree, remember that a fresh tree can drink up to one gallon of water per day! Try to use a tree stand that holds two to three gallons of water and keep it constantly full. Right before you put the tree in the stand, cut off an inch of the truck at the bottom exposing fresh wood. Immerse the tree in warm water before it has a chance to dry out. By cutting the end of the tree prior to putting it in the stand, you’ve given it a much better opportunity to be able to drink up all the water it needs and extend its life throughout the season.

If you have hardy perennials or woody plants growing in pots that you plan to leave outside all winter, you will increase their chance of survival if you bury each pot up to its rim and cover the root zone with mulch.

Roses should be protected throughout the winter months. To do so, mound some composted manure (I like to use the dehydrated kind) around the base of the plant. Top it off with straw or leaves to help insulate the rose and help with freezing and thawing temperatures throughout the winter months. In the spring, remove the straw or leaf layer and work the manure into the soil. The manure acts as an early-spring fertilizer for the plant. Your roses will love it!