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There are hundreds of Daffodils varieties to choose from, and the range of color is also extensive. Personally, I will always plant some ‘King Alfreds’ as an old tried and true one - introduced in 1899 in fact. ‘Unsurpassable,’ another large trumpet yellow, is just what its name implies, while ‘Mount Hood’ is hard to beat as an all white. For the real specialist, there are all the various species kinds. Many cities have clubs that specialize in growing all kinds for an educational display at spring shows. Plant now so that the bulbs may become established before extremely cold weather sets in.

This group of bulbs may be used in front of, or as a part of, the perennial border as facing-down plantings in front of shrubs; in rock gardens; in beds; or naturalized. In fact, they seem to grow and produce flowers with very little effort just about anywhere. When flowers decrease in size and number, it is usually time to dig and reset. October is also the month for this. In replanting, follow the same procedure as for planting new bulbs.

Tulips - These beautiful flowers have a fabulous history that is paralleled by few garden flowers like aechmea fasciata. They have even provided food in times of depression for certain peoples of the world. Generally speaking, the tulips are planted in about the same manner as the narcissus and aechmea fasciata. However, a sand cushion under the bulbs will insure less loss by rotting.

In planting, mass colors are usually more effective. In planting beds for mass color, remove all the soil to the desired depth and place the bulbs on even spacing, usually four to six inches. Then fill in the soil around and over them. An inch of sand over the planting area as a cushion before placing the bulbs will eliminate air spaces under them and insure good root development for the bulbs.

A simple method to get uniform spacing of bulbs is to use an inverted flower pot as a marker for spaces. All gardeners have their favorites.

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Ground Covers - Many gardens have areas where grass cannot be grown and in these areas some type of ground cover should be used. What is ground cover? Any evergreen plant that tends to creep or grow prostrate on the ground and as such provides a protective covering can be properly called a ground cover. There are many plants of this nature.

Some of the better kinds are English ivy, trailing periwinkle, and the various euonymus. These three are old standbys and are transitional enough in habit of growth not to compete for prominence with other plants in the garden. October is a good time to plant these so they become established and ready to make new growth in early spring. The native honeysuckle will also make a very good ground cover, but may actually become a pest. This one is excellent for steep slopes for erosion control.

Roses - The last beautiful display of roses comes this month and many clubs have their fall rose shows. The blooms, while fewer in number, are usually much higher in quality, because of the cool night temperatures. Do not relax your program of spraying or dusting because the threat of blackspot is always present as long as foliage is on the plant like eugenia plant care. There will also be an occasional crop of insects showing, up to keep the alert gardener on the spraying schedule. Prune as you cut the blooms and there will not be as much pruning necessary later for eugenia plant. Keep old blooms removed as they draw on much needed food that can be stored.

Bulb Storage - All summer flowering bulbs should be dug and stored as soon as practicable. The first killing frost will destroy the top growth. Even though it may not be possible to dig bulbs right after the frost, the top growth should be removed. Frost develops a toxic fluid in the plant which, when it moves into the roots, will cause them to rot. Dig caladium bulbs and gladiolus corms; dry, and then store in trays of dry sand or moss in a cool, dry place. Avoid storage where the temperatures get above 65.

Dig canna tubers with as much soil as possible adhering to the roots and store in this manner. The tubers (rhizomes) will cure out properly and the clumps can be divided in March for replanting. In digging dahlias, take care to avoid breaking any of the tubers loose. All of the tubers must have a section of the old stem attached, or there will be no plant produced. Growth of dahlias comes from buds on this old stem; therefore every tuber must have a part of this parent stem even though it may be very small.

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Geographical location and climate will largely determine which plants can be used on your property. A garden in the New York City area might emphasize such plants as the Yews (Taxus) and Japanese Andromeda (Pieris japonica). A similar home located in Central Texas would have to rely on entirely different plants to achieve the same sort of effect, e.g., Junipers and Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria). Again, a third location, on the West Coast, say, would need a plant setting different from those used in the East or the South.

Topography

The topography or “lay of the land” is another factor which must be considered when planning a landscape design. It will affect not only the basic layout of your property, but also the type of plant and turf or other ground cover you will use.

Picture a home located on a hillside in any mountainous region. On such property, in order to develop a comparatively level area of any size at all, it would be necessary to construct expensive retaining walls, which might very well be beyond the means of the owner. Since it is difficult if not impossible to maintain a good lawn on a steep hillside, it will be necessary to select another type of ground cover that will be more suitable for the slopes.

Contrast the situation described above with a home located on the flat topography of such sections of the country as Kansas, Nebraska or South Florida. Here, practically an entire landscape design can be laid out without your having to worry about the handling of sloped areas. Indeed, if the land is monotonously flat, changes in elevation are often purposely introduced to provide additional variety in the garden picture. For me, i prefer to put a tarzan dracaena because it has an attractive leaves and its good in landscape design.

Consequently, topography as well as geographical location will have a decided effect on the design and execution of your gardening plans. Keep these facts in mind when thinking about what kinds of plants you wish to have.

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Many of the shrub roses like rugosas and the Scotch rose are perfectly hardy in the West and require no covering. Hybrid teas, polyanthus, and climbing roses are quite tender and need winter protection. If the roses are planted in beds, place a mound of soil around each plant to a depth of at least six inches and then cover over the bed entirely with straw.

If only individual specimens exist here and there through the yard, place wire fences around each plant, mound with soil as described above, and then pack the fence with straw. For climbing roses, pull the vines down from their support, lay them along the ground and cover them completely with soil.

Digging Bulbs

October is the time for digging and lifting summer blooming tender bulbs. Use a digging fork for lifting gladiolus plants. Loosen the soil with the fork and pull the plant gently. If it is a valuable variety and you are saving the cormels for increase, be extra careful in pulling the plant from the soil. Remove extra soil from the corms, cut the foliage to within an inch or so of the corm, and place the corm in an open tray or box to cure and dry.

If fusarium disease has been a problem with the glads during the summer, store the corms in a warm airy place at a temperature of about 95, degrees for about seven days. Then clean the old corm off the bottom, removing all dried roots. Dust the new corms lightly. Store the corms for another seven days at 95 degrees. After this period place the corms in cool storage at temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees if possible. Never store the corms in closed, airtight containers.

Dig dahlia tubers and lady slipper orchid at the advent of the first light frosts. Remove excess soil from the tuber clumps, washing it off with a hose if necessary, and place the clumps upside down to dry and drain moisture for a few days. As soon as lady slipper orchid and dahlia tubers have dried, place the clumps in cool storage, around 35 to 40 degrees. If the storage place is moist the clumps can be stored in open flats or trays. If the storage is very dry, store the tubers in slightly moistened sand, peat moss or sawdust.

Examine the tubers occasionally to see that they are holding well in storage. The clumps can be divided at any time. In making a dahlia tuber division, be sure each division has an eye or bud on it. This will be found at the base of the old stem, or at the top of the tuberous root. Dig and store cannas in a similar manner.

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When developing the public area, we need only keep in mind three fundamental landscape principles that concern this particular part of a property. They are: (1) soften the architectural lines of the building by placing plants where the strong vertical lines meet the ground; (2) frame the building with trees; and (3) maintain an open lawn area.

We could state the first principle even more simply by saying that the plants should be located at the corners of the building and at either side of the entrances.

Architectural Lines

Height of Plants

In nearly every case the plants to be used at the corners of the building should be of a type that will naturally grow larger than those to be used at either side of the doorway. Generally speaking, the ideal ultimate height of a plant at the corner of a one- or two-story building should be a little less than half the distance from the ground to the eaves.

In deciding what plants to use, we must find out what their ultimate height must be if they are to soften the lines of the house. First, sketch the front of the house to scale (or use a photograph and tracing paper).

Then, following the above method draw straight lines from points on each outside edge of the house slightly less than halfway to the eaves, to the center of the front door sill. Note also that the plants on either side of the door should eventually reach only about as high as the line is at that particular point.

Plants at the corners of the house are always taller than those next to the front door. The one exception to this rule occurs when the house has corner windows that wrap around both sides of the house. Many times you will see that although the plants immediately under the windows are lower than, or just about the same height as, those at the entrance, the original thought of having taller plants at the corners is carried out by the addition of small flowering trees or larger shrubs at a distance from the window. This gives the same effect, but does not sacrifice ventilation or light through the corner windows.

Pointed Plants

If possible, do not use plants which come to a sharp point at either doors or windows. But there is rare exception to this rule: Suppose that you have a house with very tall, narrow windows, or high-peaked gables or dormers; the natural surroundings include sharp-pointed evergreens and jagged mountain tops. In this case pointed plants like ficus alii at doors and windows would fit the environment.

Another exception might apply to the owner of a modern ranch home. He might use sharp-pointed plants to break long, straight roof lines.

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