This week in your Massachusetts garden & landscape
Week of October 15, 2018
Prepare cauliflower with herbs of basil, chives, dill, garlic, parsley and rosemary for delicious flavor!
- If vines are a favorite in your landscape, consider planting the snail vine (Vigna Caracalla) next season. This annual vine, which is easily grown by seed, will grow 8’-10’ in one season. It consists of hairy leaflets and vigorous stems. The flowers are what are most unique resembling pink to rose colored snail shells as they form later in the season. Snail vine sure is a conversation piece. It thrives in full sun.
- Would you like to grow a different basil next season? Consider ‘Dark Opal’ basil. It is a beautiful, ornamental variety with deep purple foliage and an Italian basil flavor. It looks stunning as a pesto or purple cider vinegar.
- If transplanting small trees or shrubs are in your gardening plans for next season, now is a good time to root prune these plants in preparation of being transplanted. Sever half the roots in a circle 2’ from the trunk.
- Collect seeds from annuals and perennials that you want to grow next year!
- Avoid bending and stooping while performing your fall gardening chores by choosing tools that have long handles.
- Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) produces white or pink flowers in spring followed by red fruit in early fall. Thriving as a groundcover under trees in partial shade, Kinnikinnick looks beautiful covering a hillside. It is evergreen and drought tolerant once established. Hardy in zones 2-6.
- A beautiful new selection of Asian kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) that offers deep-pink color in its floral bracts in late spring is Scarlet Fire (‘Rutpink’). It is a slow grower, however, it can eventually reach a mature height of 25’ and a spread of 20’. It is hardy in zones 5-8 and thrives in full sun to part shade.
- Start seeds of basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, thyme and chives for growing indoors this winter. Herbs require lots of light for best growth. Place the pots of newly planted seeds near a window that receives direct sunlight most of the day. Your plants will be happiest there all winter!
