Here’s the November calendar for Wave Hill, the jewel of a public garden in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Go to the Wave Hill Web site for more info:

Ongoing
Tue, Sep 9 – Sun, Nov 30 Surprisingly Natural: the Nature of the Bronx
Sat, Oct 18 – Sun, Nov 30 Sunroom Project Space: Tamalyn Miller
Every Tuesday Garden Tours
Every Wednesday Gallery Tours
Every Thursday Gallery Tours
Every Saturday Tai Chi Chuan
Every Saturday Gallery Tours
Every Sunday Garden Tours

November
Sat, Nov 1 Cooking Demonstration: Cooking with Squash and Pumpkins
Sat, Nov 1 Family Art Project: Dances with Leaves/Baile con las hojas del otoño
Sun, Nov 2 Family Art Project: Dances with Leaves/Baile con las hojas del otoño Read more of this entry »

Q: My garden containers and window boxes were showpieces this summer. The beautiful annuals planted in the pots added color, texture and lots of interest to the front of the house as well as the patio. What can I do to keep these containers great looking during the coming winter?

A: It’s true that empty window boxes and garden planters add to the dreariness of the winter season. With the correct potting material, winter-hardy plants along with a few sprigs of berries and evergreen branches, container gardens can change winter from the bleakest season to one that rivals the warm-weather one. Read more of this entry »

For my story on chickens in suburbia, I stopped by to have a look with two local chicken growers: Liz Sinnott in Pound Ridge and Clara Zander in Somers.

The Sinnotts got their first chickens in May as day-old chicks. They’ve just begun to lay eggs in the last few weeks.

They recently got a few White Cochins from another family.

Read more of this entry »

Perennials: Prune back chrysanthemums as soon as they finish blooming. Finish cutting down all perennials except those with interesting seed heads, which can be left for winter interest and hungry birds.

Rake up and destroy fallen leaves under rose bushes to reduce the carryover of insect and disease problems. Prepare to mound up soil to 10 to 12 inches around the base of hybrid teas after the ground has cooled completely. If rambling rose canes are waving in the wind tie them together but do not prune. Continue planting bulbs. Read more of this entry »

Ask the Master Gardeners

Q: Now that most of the harvesting is done, what’s a person to do in the garden besides pick up leaves?

A: Put your garden to bed for the winter: clean up. Remove all yard waste such as dead plant matter and leaves. Cut back canes, prune stems and cut down the dead foliage of herbaceous perennials after two or three hard frosts and when leaves begin to brown.

This will ensure that not only is your garden going to look tidy and well kept, but it will minimize fungus and disease problems in the future. Compost as much of the organic matter as possible, except diseased parts, tomato plants and weeds that have gone to seed. Trash those.

It is also a good idea to retain a pile or two of stalks and brush, uncomposted, in a less visible part of your yard, to help beneficial insects overwinter. Some pests may overwinter in there, too, but they will be prey food for next season’s beneficial insects.

Now’s a good time to build up your leaf pile to keep as mulch or as a handy brown-matter addition to kitchen waste in your compost pile.

Let your mower do the picking up and shredding for you. Leave a sufficient amount of small shredded leaf bits on your lawn as a free fertilizer — leaves are a good source of phosphorous.

And not least of all, clean your garden tools and oil necessary parts to prevent rust so they will be ready for next spring.

Sona Mason, Pearl River, master gardener, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program comes to a close for the year with a tour of the Steinhardts’ 55-acre estate in Bedford from 10 am to 4 pm on Nov. 2. You should go for a look if you’ve never been.

The 7-acre maple garden, with hundreds of rare Japanese maples, should be at peak color.

Here’s a post from earlier this year, with photos.

Call the Garden Conservancy at 888-842-2442 for the address.

Nov. 3
Larchmont: Garden Club of Larchmont 95th Anniversary Fundraiser. Luncheon, fashion show sponsored by Ann Taylor, silent auction. $25. 11:30 a.m. Larchmont Avenue Presbyterian Church, 60 Forest Park Ave. 914-834-8769.

Nov. 5
Ossining: “Greening” Your Backyard. Instructor: Linsay Cochran, Teatown environmental leaders learning alliance coordinator. Topic: Learn why and how, with an overview of green lawn care, native plants, composting, watering, mulching, seed-starting, natural pest control and soil amending for an organic home vegetable, flower and herb garden. Registration. $20. 7 p.m. Teatown Lake Reservation, 1600 Spring Valley Road. 914-762-2912. Read more of this entry »

Viridiflora tulips feature flowers that have streaks of green running through the basic bloom color (white, pink, red, yellow etc.)
They usually bloom in late spring and are highly valued for their artistic shapes and unusual color combinations.

Viridiflora tulips are also known for their exceptionally long flowering capability, making them a welcome addition to any spring garden.

Because they always have the color green running up the outsides of the petals, these tulips tend to mix well with other flowers and can help to pull several different colors into a cohesive pattern.

This fall, White Flower Farm is offering a new viridiflora tulip called ‘Flaming Spring Green.’

(photo courtesy of White Flower Farm)

Also from the Nursery Management and Production Newsletter; ARS is Agricultural Research Service:

“ARS looks for lost ladybugs
USDA’s ARS needs the public’s help looking for once-common ladybug species that are now hard to find. Researchers are asking people to photograph every ladybug possible, and to send the photos to Cornell Univ. so researchers can inventory the insects. The scientists are particularly looking for rare species, such as the nine-spotted, two-spotted and transverse lady beetles. The “Lost Ladybug Project” online allows participants to track and map the ladybug data.”

From the Nursery Management and Production newsletter:

“Oak wilt appears in New York
Some eagle-eye residents in Schenectady County, N.Y., noticed diseased red oaks and alerted Cornell Co-op. Ext. Plant pathologist Chris Logue confirmed oak wilt. It’s the first known case in the state.

“Oak wilt is caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum. Movement of the pathogen in these trees is so rapid that it may kill trees in as little as 3 weeks. Prior to this discovery, the nearest known oak wilt site was in Erie, Pa.”