Gardening Tips for November 2024

---

Annuals - Calendula, Bellis perennis,  Primrose (used as annual).

Perennials/Shrubs -Chrysanthemums, Japanese anemone, Penstemon ‘Midnight’, Hydrangea quercifolia (great fall color), Lavender, Repeat Blooming Iris.

Evergreen Shrubs (frost hardy) - Myrsine africana (African Boxwood) Myrtle, Elaeagnus, Escallonia.

Bulbs - Alliums (ornamental onions), Scilla peruviana, Freesia.

Veggies: Garlic (plant first part of month), Spinach, Onion sets.

Seeds - Sweet Peas, Larkspur, Wildflowers.

Extras - Frost Cloth, Dormant Oil Spray, Bone Meal for bottom of bulb planting holes.

• See Mary's Blog Post: Garlic Time.
• Sweet Peas - These darlings of the garden are cool-season annuals that are planted in winter. Seeds can be sown or six-pack size plants can be planted starting this month through February. Protect from cutworms, earwigs, snails, slugs and other pests. Sweet peas prefer well draining soil with added compost. Provide trellis' for their tendrils to attach to (the tendrils attach best to pencil sized or smaller wire trellis). At the end of the season, Sweet Pea vines can be hard to remove from chicken wire.
• Pomegranates - Cut Pomegranates from the tree or shrub instead of pulling on them. Pomegranates are ready for harvest when they are well colored and heavy for their size. Rain will make pomegranates split open, so harvest before the rain or cover during rain until they are ready. Split open fruits and old fruit left on the tree encourages fungus to grow. 
• Pruning - Continue to deadhead (remove the spent flowers and the flower stem) Pansies and Iceland Poppies. Deadheading keeps the plants from going to seed and encourages the plants to bloom all winter here in Zone 9. Elaeagnus can be tip pruned to encourage branching to push below the cut which creates a fuller stem.  
• Pest Management - Snails, slugs, earwigs, and sowbugs want the tender plants in the garden. Continue to bait or hand-pick and put in hot, soapy water. Also, clean up leaves from planting beds that have winter bloomers and bulbs as these pests hide in the leaves. If you have a deciduous plant that gets powdery mildew or other fungus every year, even though it is planted in the best environment, plan to spray while the plant is dormant. Remember to spray the entire plant to saturation and to spray the soil under and around the plant too. One spray is usually not enough to smother all the fungal spores so plan to spray twice or even three different times while the plant is leafless.
• Fruit Trees – To help manage fungal diseases, keep fallen fruit and leaves picked up under and around fruit trees. Remove all old fruit from the trees. This also helps to manage insect pests and keeps rats away.
• Primroses and Cyclamen - Each of these plants can grow in full sun during the winter but not once temperatures heat up in spring. The good news is they each transplant well so you can plan to move them to dappled shade for the hot part of the year.
• When you're ready to learn more about gardening and how to care for your plants  Contact Mary at The Gardening Tutor.

Follow The Gardening Tutor on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. The Gardening Tutor How-To Videos are on our YouTube Channel.

Subscribe to The Gardening Tutor's Newsletter on our homepage so you'll know when the tips post. It's FREE! Plus, You'll Get Extra Tips for Subscribers Only. Also sign up to receive our BLOG Posts. We never share your email.

ALL CONTENT by Mary Frost (no AI).