Moxie Gardener

The wilted leaf of a tomato plant kissed by the first frost of the season.

Our first freeze of the season happened the other night, about two weeks later than average.  It wasn’t a killing frost, just a dip right to freezing.  Most plants survived, but the tomatoes, peppers, beans, and basil are history.  Most of the flowering plants are looking a little straggly.  Others have ripe seeds which need to be collected before they scatter.

Marigolds  and calendulas (if you cover them) will continue to bloom after a light freeze until killed by a hard frost, as long as you deadhead them.  Ditto for pansies and violas.  Fall asters and mums both have flowers that last a long time and will continue to show color until a hard, killing frost.

The sunflowers that didn’t freeze are splotched with brown rust and the zinnias with powdery mildew.  They should be pulled and the diseased foliage put into the trash.  Toss the petunias.  A slight kiss of frost puts them out of service and they tend to look ragged by fall.

Don’t cut down all the spent foliage on the perennials.  Some provide outstanding winter color and interest.  Other perennials help trap leaves, debris and snow in their stems which provides extra winter protection for their roots.

It’s also time to cover and/or protect hybrid and sensitive garden roses for winter.  The showy tea roses and others in that class need more protection from winter the further north you live.  Here in Minnesota the best way to guaranty their winter survival is to bury them.

Leave the broccoli stalks in the ground after cutting the mature heads; they will continue to put out side shoots until severe freezing weather arrives for good.

Most herbs—except basil, cilantro and Rosemary—will continue to grow until a hard killing frost.  Even here in Minnesota, I am usually able to pick fresh herbs with which to make stuffing for the Thanksgiving turkey.  I do pile some leaves on the parsley if a hard freeze is predicted though.

Turn the compost pile after you’ve added the frostbitten and spent plants from your garden clean-up.  Compost piles generate heat as decomposition occurs.  The compost pile will remain active for several weeks after freezing weather arrives for good.  Continue to turn the compost pile every seven to ten days until it freezes.  You will be rewarded in spring with nearly finished compost, great for mulching spring plantings.

If you have one, set up a cold frame, preferably over some fall-planted salad greens.  The greens will continue to grow, slowly, until severe sub-zero weather arrives for good.

Fall may have arrived and Jack Frost may have killed off some plants in the garden, but for die-hard gardeners like me, the season is definitely not over.