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Is there anything more whimsical, more magical than the idea of being able to befriend a crow?

With the ability to recognize individual people, remember faces and learn from experience, these glossy-feathered birds are among the cleverest birds we're likely to encounter in our gardens. They're also steeped in symbolism, appearing in various traditions as spiritual messengers or guides associated with wisdom, transformation and the mysteries of life.

For those who enjoy looking for a little meaning in the natural world, then, spotting one could feel like more than just another garden bird sighting. Especially if you're the sort of person who obsesses over your birth month bird, or spends ages wondering what the first bird you see each morning says about your day ahead.

Should You Befriend a Crow?

Look, we all love finding little stories and connections in nature. Indeed, some of us even believe that the bird we see most in our garden says everything about our gardening style – and a regular crow visitor might suggest there's something rather welcoming about your outdoor space. So, yes, it makes sense many of us are secretly wondering how to befriend a crow.

(Image credit: John C Magee / Getty Images)

If you've been on social media lately, you may have stumbled across the (admittedly niche) trend of CrowTok, which sees people share videos of their feathered visitors, the food they leave out and, occasionally, the curious little objects their avian friends appear to bring in return. And while we might like to imagine these offerings are thank-you gifts, there's some fascinating science behind the behaviour.

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Yes, the National Audubon Society has explored how crows sometimes leave objects for people who feed them, with corvid biologist John Marzluff explaining that a clever bird could learn that leaving an object results in a tasty reward.

It's a lovely reminder that our relationship with nature can be full of surprises. Crows are social and remarkably observant birds, and while they're wild animals rather than pets, they can learn to recognise familiar faces and become more comfortable around people who treat them consistently and respectfully.

So, if you'd love to befriend a crow and see a few more of these clever characters dropping by your backyard, there are some simple ways to make your outdoor space more appealing. From offering their favorite snacks to creating a safe spot where they can stop for a drink, here's how to attract crows to your yard – and perhaps even earn their trust in the process.

1. Offer Their Favorite Snack

If there's one way to catch a crow's attention, it's with a tasty snack. Peanuts are a popular choice, and unsalted peanuts are a good option to offer. You could also try a little variety with other suitable foods, such as cooked eggs (plain, obviously, so hold the seasoning!) or mealworms.

It's not just what you offer that matters, however; it's how regularly you do it. Environment for the Americas recommends putting food and water out at the same time and in the same place each day, as crows are intelligent enough to recognise routines, and may soon learn when to expect a visit.

Start by putting out a small amount, then, and clear away anything uneaten to avoid attracting unwanted visitors. With time, your regular visitors may begin to recognize you as the person responsible for their daily delivery.

2. Give Them Somewhere Safe To Perch

(Image credit: Beata Whitehead/Getty Images)

Crows are naturally cautious birds, so where you put their food can make a big difference if you're trying to make friends with one. Rather than hiding snacks away in a traditional hanging bird feeder, then, try placing a small amount on a low feeding platform or another suitable open surface (like this nifty Deck Bird Feeder from Amazon).

A spot near a fence, shed roof or sturdy tree branch can give them somewhere to perch while they tuck in. And, ideally, you should choose somewhere with clear sightlines, as this allows crows to keep an eye on their surroundings and spot potential danger.

Try to give them plenty of space, too. If you're watching from indoors, they'll have the opportunity to get comfortable with your presence without feeling as though they're being observed too closely.

3. Prove Fresh Water... And Time

Food might get their attention, but a reliable source of fresh water can give crows another reason to visit. Try placing a shallow bird bath or sturdy water bowl somewhere accessible, with a gently sloping edge that makes it easy for birds to drink and bathe.

Keep the water fresh, changing it regularly and cleaning the dish to prevent a build-up of dirt and bacteria. Position it somewhere relatively open so visiting crows can watch for potential predators while they stop for a drink... and then get ready for the most tedious part of our How To Befriend A Crow 101 Guide: be patient.

Oh yes, rather than rushing outside to get closer, try sitting quietly at a distance while the birds eat and drink. Some crow enthusiasts on Reddit also suggest making a gentle whistling sound as you put food out, as this helps the birds associate that sound with a reliable food source, but that one is well and truly up to you!

It takes time to befriend a crow. Give it a little while, though, and you may find that your visitors become less wary when you're around. Just let them set the pace – earning the trust of a wild crow is a relationship worth taking slowly.

Sure, you might not end up with a crow delivering shiny little presents to your doorstep, but creating a garden where these intelligent birds feel safe enough to visit? Well, that's a rather lovely reward in itself, I say!

For a plant that’s such an iconic part of our festive decorations, the Christmas cactus is surprisingly sensitive when it comes to flowering well. Put this beloved houseplant in the wrong spot in your home and its flowerbuds could even drop off – yes, every last precious one! So, it pays to know what conditions will keep your Christmas cactus happy, and the common spots that will likely lead to a dramatic bud drop and zero holiday blooms.

When we think of cacti, most of us naturally picture a dry desert environment baking under a scorching sun. But Christmas cacti evolved to live in the rainforests of Brazil, where they thrive in damp air and dappled sunlight. They don’t grow in soil in the ground but cling to tree branches or shady rock crevices, their roots anchored in small pockets of decomposing leaves. And that’s a far cry from living in a pot of soil in the dry air of our well-heated homes – which is why Shlumbergera can be so persnickety about the conditions they require to flower well.

Once you appreciate why your plant is so fussy, it’s easy to give a Christmas cactus everything it needs in November and December to swell its buds into bounteous blooms. And if you’ve gone to the effort of persuading a Christmas cactus to bloom right on time for the holidays, don't waste all your hard work by putting your plant in the wrong spot now! For a glorious cascade of flowering stems to add to your holiday decor, these are the five spots to avoid.

1. In a Dark Hallway or Corner

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Developing buds and blooms require a tremendous amount of energy, and a Christmas cactus gets 100% of this from sunlight. While Shlumbergera needs regular periods of dark to set its buds, as soon as you spot those tiny dots of color on the stem ends, the plant needs to be moved to get more light, otherwise it won’t have enough energy to develop them into flowers.

The type of light is important, too. Because Christmas cacti naturally live in a rainforest under a canopy of leaves, indirect sunlight is best. That simply means putting your plant in a bright, sunny room but in a spot where it’s not directly hit by sunlight. East- and west-facing rooms are typically best for high levels of indirect light to get a Christmas cactus to flower well.

If there’s not enough natural light in the spot you’d like your plant to be, then a basic dimmable LED grow light such as this from Walmart is the easy answer.

2. Where it May Get Knocked or Moved

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

We know that adequate light is vital if a Christmas cactus is to flower, and in the rainforest beneath a dense tree canopy, sunshine is a precious commodity. So Shlumbergera buds lock onto the direction light is coming from – and if you then move the plant, buds will twist towards the changed light source. This sudden environmental shift stresses the plant and buds will likely drop off.

This phototropism only begins once the flowerbuds start to form a teardrop shape or reach around ¼ inch long, so you have until then to decide exactly where to position your plant for the holidays. Even the slightest rotation causes the plant to waste energy on reorienting buds to the light source, so to get the best possible flower display, many folk draw a small pencil line on the pot and the surface it’s sitting on, so it’s easy to realign if it does get knocked. If you’re using a grow light, mark its position, too, and be careful not to move it.

3. By a Drafty Window or Doorway

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Once they’ve set their buds, Christmas cacti like a fairly even temperature of around 65-70°F, which happily is the cozy range most of us keep our homes heated to. In their native rainforest where temperatures are normally highly stable, a blast of cold air may herald a life-threatening freeze so can trigger the cactus to immediately enter survival mode. And it's pretty dramatic: if temperatures suddenly dip, Shlumbergera can react by ditching its buds or flowers to conserve energy so it can concentrate on keeping its core alive. This natural response happens just the same in a draft of cold air from a window or when an exterior door is opened and closed.

4. Next to a Fruit Bowl

Ripening fruit produces a harmless gas, ethylene. All fruit that can still ripen after picking – apples, pears, peaches, tomatoes and avocados as well as bananas – produce ethylene, and that’s the exact same gas a Christmas cactus emits when it’s stressed enough to enter survival mode. Understandable, then, that Shlumbergera are incredibly sensitive to this gas, and simply sitting next to a fruit bowl can be enough to trigger Christmas cactus bud drop.

5. Near a Heating Vent, Radiator or Fireplace

(Image credit: Getty Images)

As this plant naturally evolved to grow in a humid environment, Christmas cacti can really struggle in the dry, heated air of our homes to start with. But place the plant anywhere near a heating vent, radiator or fireplace where the air is continually stripped of moisture, and stems will quickly dehydrate and buds brown, dropping off before the flowers even open. This is one of the most common reasons for a Christmas cactus not flowering as these houseplants are often put on a fireplace mantelpiece or windowsill above a radiator over the holidays.

So, positioning your Shlumbergera well away from any heat source is a must. Take the next step and give your plant the humidity it craves, however, and it will not only flower more profusely but those hydrated blooms will last for longer. Thanks to the regular steam from showers, cooking and kettles, bathrooms and kitchens typically have air that’s moist enough for a Christmas cactus to thrive and, in other rooms, a humidity tray is the solution.

Standing a Christmas cactus on a Bonsai pebble tray such as this from Lowe’s is ideal, or make your own with a plant saucer and pea gravel pebbles like this Landscape Rock from The Home Depot. The plant must sit on the pebbles above the water level so, rather than being drawn up into the potting soil, the water evaporates to add moisture to the air. Another simple way to increase air humidity is to group your Christmas cactus with other houseplants as they’ll form their own microclimate.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you've been wondering where to put a Christmas cactus, now you know the common places to rule out. It's well worth searching out just the right spot as when a Christmas cactus gets the sunlight, stability and humidity it needs as fall deepens into winter, you’ll be surprised how much more enthusiastically it flowers. Happy holidays!

A hosta in a garden bed has a lot of soil wrapped around its roots when the cold comes. Put that same hosta in a pot on the patio, though, and it's an entirely different story. Cold air reaches the roots from every side of the container, and even tough perennials and shrubs can experience winter damage that way.

The usual advice for overwintering container plants involves hauling pots into the garage or wrapping them up. But there's a cheaper option in the yard right now – the leaves piling up along the fence, waiting to get bagged for the curb.

This isn't the regular leaf mulch over the potting mix that it sounds like. Mulch on top does nothing for the pot walls. Dry leaves packed around the sides, in bags or inside a wire cage, put back some of the protection the ground would have given.

Why Fallen Leaves Can Protect Potted Plants From Frost

Garden soil cools down slowly, and roots in a bed sit inside a huge mass of it. Pots don't have much of that buffer at all, and the root ball can drop close to the outdoor air temperature. Roots are also less cold-hardy than the stems and buds above them. As a rule of thumb, treat a potted plant as if it were two growing zones colder than your yard.

So what do the leaves actually do? Squeeze a handful of dry ones, and you'll notice how much of it is just air. Still air doesn't carry heat away from a pot very fast. A sunny afternoon can thaw the edge of a root ball – then it freezes hard again overnight, and that back-and-forth can tear roots and shove plants up out of the mix. The leaves slow those swings down.

So, there are two ways you can use fallen leaves to insulate pots, both using leaves against the pot walls.

(Image credit: Malorny /Getty Images)Method 1: Make Insulating Bags of Leaves

Start with dry, fairly clean leaves, removing any sticks or diseased foliage. Loosely fill sturdy garden bags or old feed sacks – don't stomp the leaves down. The extra space lets air circulate, and that’s what does the work. Walmart sells a three-pack of reusable 72-gallon leaf bags that stand 30 inches (76 cm) tall – taller than the rims of many patio pots.

Cluster the pots against a wall of the house, on the ground instead of a deck rail or plant stand. Water them well before the soil freezes, since moist potting mix holds heat better than dry mix. Then line the bags up snugly around the outside of the group. Leave the foliage uncovered, and keep a gap to check that the soil isn't soggy and the drainage holes are clear. You can lift any bag whenever a pot needs moving.

Method 2: Make a Leaf-Filled Protective Cage

For one big pot, or a few crowded close together, try a wire cage. Bend chicken wire or flexible garden fencing into a loose ring around them, with several inches of space between the wire and the pot. The Otryad 36-inch galvanized chicken wire roll from Home Depot will do the job, and it snips to fit.

Pour the leaves loosely into the gap, up to about the rim, keeping them off green foliage. A light cage can tip in wind. Pin its bottom edge down with 12-inch steel landscape staples.

After heavy rain or snowmelt, check the leaves in the middle. Wet, flattened leaves don't trap much air anymore, and they hold moisture against the pot, so swap them for dry ones. Take the cage down in spring, after the last hard freeze.

(Image credit: Getty Images)Which Potted Plants Benefit Most?

This trick works best for plants that are hardy where you live but have their roots stuck above ground.

• Hostas need a cold, dormant winter, so bringing them indoors isn't the answer. Leaves around the pot shield dormant crowns and roots from repeated freezing and thawing.
• Heucheras (Coral Bells) are a good place to start. Their shallow crowns are prone to heaving when the mix freezes and thaws, so press any lifted crowns back down in late winter.
• Hydrangea roots stay protected inside the leaves, but bigleaf types carry next summer's flower buds on last year's stems, well above the bags. Those stems may need their own cover – Agfabric's 10-by-50-foot frost cloth can wrap them loosely when hard cold moves in.
• Roses, even those rated for your zone, can lose roots in a pot through a hard winter, especially in colder climates. Leaves cover the root zone while the canes stay in the open.
• Young Evergreen Shrubs like potted dwarf spruces and junipers keep losing water through their needles all winter. Don't bury the branches. Water once the mix thaws on a mild day.

(Image credit: Volker Luebke / 500px / Getty Images)When Fallen Leaves Won't Be Enough

Leaves don't generate heat; they simply slow the rate at which a pot loses its warmth. Citrus or a tender salvia ringed with leaf bags still gets hurt in a hard freeze. Those, along with tropicals and anything else outside its hardiness range, need a bright, frost-free spot indoors before the first frost.

Where winters get brutal, deep cold can outlast the leaves. Sink the pot to its rim in a garden bed instead, or move it into an unheated garage or shed that stays roughly 35–45°F (2–7°C). Bamford Plant Caddies from Amazon will let you roll plants where you want them.

Those leaves were going to the curb anyway. Stacked in bags around the patio pots, they won't look like much, honestly. Any hydrangea that comes through winter with healthy roots won't need replacing, though, and nobody paid for the leaves.

When spring settles in, dump the bags over a garden bed or into the compost bin, and let the leaves break down there. Next fall, you'll have a new pile along the fence to start over with anyway.

For homeowners, November represents the last opportunity to prepare your backyard’s largest living feature for the rigors of winter. Yes, I’m talking about your lawn. The weather can change on a dime, and if you’re not careful, it can leave its mark all over your lawn. Depending on where you live, one week can mark the difference between lush grass and frozen turf.

Thankfully, these lawn care essentials are neither grueling nor time-consuming. Do these simple jobs now, and they will save you trouble and expense later. They will help to protect your turf over winter and give it the healthiest start next spring. From what to do with your mower to when to apply that last round of fertilizer, these pivotal lawn care tasks can help with any shape or size.

These tips can also help you whether you have warm or cool-season grasses to deal with. You just need to adapt the approach depending on which type you are growing. Cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, and perennial ryegrass remain semi-active in November. But warm-season varieties such as Bermudagrass, Zoysia, and St Augustine are approaching dormancy. Here are the 6 key tasks you need to check off before the first true hard freeze locks your soil for the season.

Get Your Lawn Winter Ready

When freezing temperatures arrive, your lawn’s soil moisture solidifies, expanding underground and turning grass blades brittle. In severe cold snaps, winds can wick moisture, inducing winterkill. Conversely, heavy snow falling on debris-laden turf can create the stagnant breeding grounds favored by snow mold fungi. Keep your USDA hardiness zone and regional weather in mind with these tips, but try to think one step ahead of the worst-case scenario so you don’t get caught out.

(Image credit: Somnuk Krobkum / Getty Images)

Before diving into these tasks, it’s important to check your soil temperature. Turf reacts to ground conditions, with root growth in cool-season lawns tapering off once soil temperatures plunge below 45°F (7°C). Second, verify that your mower blades are sharp. Dull mower blades can shred dormant grass tips, leaving wounds that turn brown, lose moisture, and invite cold-weather fungal pathogens. If you haven’t got one, the Sharpal 103N All-In-One Lawn Mower Blade Sharpener from Amazon is a great-value gadget for restoring razor-sharp cutting edges.

Spending just an hour or so on late-fall lawn preparation right now will really pay off when the warm spring weather returns. It also gives your grass all the help it needs to get through the sleet, wind, frost and snow that could be waiting just round the corner. Whatever your growing zone and grass species, here’s what you need to do to get your grass fully winter-ready!

1. Clear Fallen Leaves To Prevent Smothering

(Image credit: Nieriss / Shutterstock)

Allowing heavy leaves to carpet your turf over winter is one of the quickest ways to ruin a healthy sward. This is a vital task for all types of turf, whether your grass is going dormant for the winter or not. For grass that is still growing, thick layers of leaves block sunlight and energy production. For grasses in any stage of growth or dormancy, leaves can trap moisture, restrict airflow, and encourage disease. Left unchecked, smothering leaves will suffocate entire sections of turf, leaving bare, dead zones by spring.

Your removal strategy should match the volume of fallen leaf cover. For light to moderate leaf scatter, use a mulching mower and let the nutrients fall naturally into the ground. However, if your yard is buried under dense, wet blankets from mature oaks or maples, rake or blow them off immediately. If you’re after a good rake, the True Temper Clog-Free 24-inch Poly Leaf Rake from Walmart is durable and reliable and won’t tear at late-season turf. Collect the leaves for rich leaf mold or vegetable garden mulch. Focus extra attention on perimeter fence lines and low dips in the lawn, where fall winds can quickly create suffocating drifts.

2. Give Your Lawn its Final Cut

(Image credit: Liudmila Chernetska / Getty Images)

Timing your final mow comes down to knowing your grass type, and considering the weather. In northern regions, cool-season grasses (fescues, bluegrass, ryegrass) continue growing until ambient soil temperatures consistently sit below 40°F (4°C). So they could still be growing in November if the weather is mild, but plan for a last cut soon. In the south, warm-season lawns (Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia) have ceased upward growth and could be dormant already, so your last cut may already have happened.

When making a final cut, aim for a medium length. Cutting grass too short will leave the lawn more vulnerable to stress over winter, exposing tender root crowns to frost heaving and biting winds. Conversely, leaving turf overly tall causes long blades to fold over under heavy snow or winter rain, forming dense mats that trap moisture and increase the risk of disease. Aim for a final height of 2-2.5 inches (5-6cm) for cool-season lawns, and 2 inches (5cm) for warm-season lawns.

Once complete, hose down the underside of the mower deck, empty the fuel tank or run the carburetor dry, and store your mower away clean. Buy Sta-Bil Storage Fuel Stabilizer Fluid from The Home Depot to help keep leftover fuel fresh while mowers are stored in winter and give effortless startups next spring.

3. Apply a Final Feed (If Appropriate)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Late-fall lawn fertilization can be either beneficial or destructive, depending on the species of grass you cultivate. For cool-season turf, late fall is often considered the most important feeding of the year. Cool-season roots remain active, absorbing nitrogen and potassium. So this last infusion of nutrients supports strong root development and helps encourage early spring green-up and drought resistance. Buy Scotts Turf Builder WinterGuard from Lowe’s for a slow-release boost to cool-season roots.

Timing depends on location. In some areas, November may be too late for a last application. Apply fertilizer only while the grass is still green and before the ground freezes solid. If you’re unsure, contact your local extension office for guidance. Meanwhile, warm-season grasses should not be fed in November. They are entering dormancy or are already dormant. Nutrients added now could trigger new growth that have zero cold tolerance, leaving the turf vulnerable to winterkill during sudden freezes. Wait until spring to feed your warm-season turf.

4. Adjust Watering Routines & Winterize Irrigation Systems

(Image credit: The_Burtons / Getty Images)

Cooler weather and shorter daylight hours reduce your lawn’s evaporation rates. Continuing to run summer lawn watering schedules through November wastes water and runs the risk of waterlogging. If your cool-season turf is green and receiving less than an inch of natural rainfall per week, you only need to provide occasional deep waterings. Irrigate only when the top two inches (2cm) of soil feel dry to the touch, and irrigate during morning hours so grass blades dry before nightfall.

Do think about winterization with watering, too. Trapped water in underground pipes, sprinkler bodies, and backflow preventers expands upon freezing, cracking brass valves and rupturing poly lines. Turn off the main water shutoff valve, deactivate the controller, and blow out the lines using a commercial air compressor, or open manual drain valves. Disconnect, drain, and coil all garden hoses, storing them indoors. Leaving a pressurized hose attached to an outdoor spigot traps water inside the sillcock, leading to burst interior pipes during winter freezes.

You can get Frost King FC1 Foam Faucet Covers from Walmart in double packs. Durable, weather-sealed expanded polystyrene shells with rubber cinch ties that insulate exterior spigots against freeze damage.

5. Deal with Bare Patches in the Turf

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spotting thin, bare patches in your lawn during November is frustrating, but rushing out with a bag of standard seed and fertilizer is usually a waste of time and money. Across most northern and transitional zones, soil temperatures have dropped below the 50-55°F (10-13°C) threshold required for grass seed germination. Seed spread now will absorb moisture, fail to sprout, rot in cold mud, or be devoured by birds. Similarly, warm-season varieties cannot establish from seed in late fall.

Use November to diagnose and prep. Determine why the patch developed: is it compacted soil from a high-traffic shortcut, poor drainage, pet urine, or heavy tree shade? Aerate the bald soil with a hand cultivator, incorporate a light dusting of compost, and make a plan for early spring overseeding. If you live in an area with reliable, long-lasting winter snow cover, you can experiment with dormant seeding. Spread cool-season seed over the prepped soil just before the first big snowfall. The seed will remain dormant over winter, and the freeze-thaw cycles work the seeds into the dirt for uniform germination during the first warm days of March.

6. Protect Grass from Winter Damage

(Image credit: Santiago Urquijo / Getty Images)

Grass enters a vulnerable state in dormancy, and plants lose their natural elasticity. Walking, driving, or playing on frosted or frozen turf fractures brittle leaf blades and crushes delicate crowns. This creates winter lawn damage like marks and ruts that will not heal until active growth resumes in spring. Plan to keep people and pets off the grass for the next few months. Move playsets and heavy equipment off the lawn.

Another source of damage in winter is rock salt on nearby driveways and sidewalks. This can run off into lawn edges, drawing moisture away from grass roots and creating toxic soil conditions. So transition to plant-safe de-icing compounds. You can buy Natural Alternative Ice Melt from Amazon, which is safer for lawns and pet paws. Finally, avoid late-season core aeration or power dethatching, which can do more harm than good as grass prepares for winter.

(Image credit: Maksym Belchenko / Getty Images)

Not every November lawn task will be required for every yard. It comes down to understanding your grass type, watching the weather forecast, and focusing on clearing leaves, timing a final cut, managing water correctly, and limiting traffic over vulnerable winter grass. Tackle these chores now to protect your grass over winter and to give it the best chance at a healthy, strong start next spring.

Need more ideas for getting the most from your plants, indoors and out, and looking for the best seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

Charlotte York – ahem, I mean Kristin Davis of Sex and the City fame – recently showed off a Thanksgiving centerpiece that would look perfect on any table this fall.

Much like Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kristin has taken a DIY approach to her Thanksgiving decor, using homegrown pumpkins in a very different way to the usual tried-and-tested Halloween methods.

In the clip (which you can watch here), Kristin can be seen tucking a glass jar of sunflowers into a gutted pumpkin, transforming it into a vase. And, if you're interested in copying the look, I've consulted a few experts to help.

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1. Start With The Right Pumpkin

(Image credit: Kyrylo Syvun / Getty Images)

If you want to steal Kristin Davis's Thanksgiving decor for yourself, the trick is to treat the pumpkin as a container, not a planter.

“Choose a firm, unblemished pumpkin, cut the top wide enough to fit a glass jar, and scoop the inside completely clean, because leftover pulp shortens the life of both the pumpkin and the flowers,” says Morgan Brooks, founder and editor of Plant Style Home.

Nadi Melam, founder of Florals Memories, insists that you should “choose a pumpkin that’s flat with a large opening (slightly wider than it is tall, this will mean it’s lighter!)”.

2. Keep Your Water In A Jar

(Image credit: MaximFesenko)

The experts at Almondsbury Garden Centre insist that the jar element of Kristin Davis's Thanksgiving decor is non-negotiable. “Once hollowed out, place a glass jar or small watertight container inside to hold the water,” they say.

“This is important as pouring water directly into the pumpkin can cause it to soften and rot more quickly.” Brooks adds a practical bonus, saying “it lets you change the water every two days without disturbing the arrangement, which matters more for freshness than any floral preservative”.

Melam says most leaks and wilting come down to the same few things, all of which can be staved by the jar. “Dry off the pumpkin, choose a tight-fitting jar, remove all the leaves below the water line, and you will solve most of your problems.”

3. Prep The Sunflowers

(Image credit: Leong Seikchoong / FOAP / Getty Images)

When it comes to filling your pumpkin vase, Melam has a tip for choosing your flowers, saying, “The most beautiful flower in the shop is the one with the least amount of time left in its life.” Look for buds that are just opening, because “when the bud first begins to open, there is still its prime to come.”

At home, Brooks says to “Cut the stems at a sharp angle, strip every leaf that would sit below the waterline, and condition them in warm water for an hour before arranging.”

Your next step is to build around your arrangement. “Sunflowers carry heavy heads on thick stems, so place them first as the structure of the arrangement and fill around them with smaller fall flowers and foliage,” says Brooks.

4. Keep It Low

(Image credit: VICUSCHKA / Getty Images)

Reilly Renwick, designer and creative lead of State of the Wall, says the secret to recreating Kristin Davis's Thanksgiving decor is a tight palette. He says, “The key is to keep it thematic. Not just fall-themed, but dialed into a specific palette of colors that complement each other instead of standing out individually without coherence.” He does have one warning: “Fall colors are, to no fault of their own, awfully close to compost colors.”

Because sunflowers are so large, he suggests pairing them with “smaller blossoms, like alstroemeria, gypsophila, or small roses.” And don’t let the arrangement block the view across the table. “If in doubt, just keep it at 12 inches or shorter,” says Renwick.

5. Use Your Own Garden

(Image credit: Olena Belevantseva / Shutterstock)

The pumpkin fades first, so Melam advises making it ahead of time: “I’d suggest you put this together a day or two in advance and keep it in a cool place until needed.”

To keep costs down, raid your own garden. “If you have zinnias in your garden, your problems are solved,” says Renwick, who also recommends dahlias, marigolds, asters, and mums. Almondsbury suggests, “Using flowers and foliage from your own garden, such as autumn asters, dahlias and ornamental grasses, and adding just a couple of sunflowers for impact.”

When Thanksgiving is over, Melam says you can “Compost the pumpkin and save your favorite flowers.”

Shop Thanksgiving Decor Essentials:

Artgar Pumpkin Decor Set

Amagic Flameless Tea Lights Candles

Socomi Fall Table Runner

Kristin Davis’s centerpiece is appealing due to its simplicity; not everything needs to be super showy and over the top to steal the show at the Thanksgiving table.

When shopping for new perennials, you’ll often find the choice of potted or bare-root plants. Bare-roots are dug up while dormant and shipped without soil around their roots. Since they’re lighter, they’re easier and less expensive to ship – which is why many plants sold online arrive bare-root.

But bare-root planting isn't all about saving money. Planting during dormancy lets plants focus more energy on developing strong, healthy roots. Cooler temperatures and often rainier conditions are ideal for many bare-root plants, minimizing stress during the transfer.

While there are many reasons to add bare-root plants to your garden in fall or spring, it's best to give them four to six weeks to establish roots before the ground freezes. This is later than your first frost date, as the soil usually takes longer to freeze. Check when the ground is likely to freeze in your area before choosing and buying bare-root perennials.

If you're out of time for the season, late winter or early spring is another great time to do this. However, it's worth ordering your plants in fall, as many nurseries sell out of popular varieties well before spring. You can often order now for delivery at the right planting time.

How to Plant Bare-Root Perennials

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When your perennials arrive, their roots should be wrapped in moist material. Keep them wrapped until you’re ready to plant to prevent the roots from drying out or becoming stressed. First, choose the right location based on the plant’s soil, moisture, and sunlight needs. Then, prepare the soil by pulling weeds, loosening it, and adding compost.

Once you’re ready to plant, unwrap the roots and inspect them. The roots should be firm and plump. Trim off any mushy, brittle, or moldy roots, but avoid cutting into healthy roots. If the roots aren’t very moist, soak them in water for 30 to 60 minutes before planting.

Plant the roots in a hole large enough to fit them and let them spread out, following the recommended planting depth for each plant. Before planting, sprinkle a mycorrhizal fungi inoculant, such as Xtreme Gardening Mykos Mycorrhizae from Amazon, directly over the roots and in the planting hole. These beneficial fungi form partnerships with the roots of many perennials, helping them absorb water and nutrients.

Backfill the hole with soil, gently firming it around the roots to remove any large air pockets. Give the plant a thorough watering to help settle the soil, and continue watering as needed to keep it moist until the ground freezes. Finally, apply a light layer of mulch around the plant to help retain moisture and protect the roots from temperature fluctuations over winter.

1. Peonies

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Peonies bloom with large, beautiful flowers in late spring or early summer, and they are among the longest-lived of all garden perennials. This makes bare-root peonies an excellent investment. Plant peonies in an area with fertile soil, excellent drainage, and full sun.

Fall is a good time for bare-root peonies. Plant them so the eyes, the small growth buds, sit 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.0 cm) below the soil surface. Planting them too deeply will prevent flowering.

Eden Brothers currently has a sale on peony roots, and my pick is this beautiful Pastel Mix Collection. Or try the Jumbo Mix for the most flamboyant flowers.

2. Daylilies

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Another popular flowering perennial, daylilies are adaptable, forgiving, and easy to grow. They flower in summer, with each bloom lasting only a day, but with an ongoing parade of new flowers for weeks.

Eden Brothers' Fragrant Rebloomer Mix is a great place to start, or for containers, the Stella de Oro Daylilies from Burpee are small but impactful.

Plant daylilies in full sun or partial shade in well-drained soil. They generally do well when planted as bare roots in fall, but allow them a few weeks to establish before the ground freezes over. Otherwise, wait until spring. Plant the crown no deeper than one inch (2.5 cm) below the soil.

3. Bearded Irises

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This classic perennial blooms in late spring and early summer with some of the garden's most striking flowers. Their frilled petals on top of tall stalks come in many colors – I adore these pastel coral-pink Beverly Sills Irises from Burpee, as well as these pale blue Sea Double irises.

Bare-root bearded irises come as root rhizomes that you can plant four to six weeks before the first hard freeze. Plant them in full sun and soil that drains very well. If you live in a region with cold winters, timing is essential. If it’s too late now, wait until spring. When planting, lay the rhizomes horizontally in the soil, with the upper surface just barely covered.

4. Oriental Poppies

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Like irises, oriental poppies offer frilled, colorful, and striking flowers on stately stems. They add drama and structure to beds with late-spring and early-summer blooms in shades of bright orange and red, and even pink and white. They grow best in full sun and well-drained soil.

As long as they have time to establish, you can successfully plant bare-root poppies in fall, though these stunning Harlem Oriental Poppy Roots from Jackson & Perkins will ship in the spring. Take care when choosing a location for poppies. They develop long taproots that don’t transplant well.

5. Astilbe

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Astilbe plants are known for their plumes of feathery flowers that bloom in shades of red, purple, pink, and white in summer. Astilbe thrives in partial shade, or even more shade, and rich, moist soil. Younique Pink Astilbe from Burpee is a lovely compact variety for containers, while Mighty Chocolate Cherry Astilbe from Jackson & Perkins reaches over 6 feet, making it a striking border option.

You can plant bare-root astilbes in fall if they have enough time to establish, or in the spring. Plant to a depth that keeps the crown at soil level.

6. Bleeding Heart

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This is another shade-friendly perennial suited to woodland gardens and beds with partial or full shade. Bleeding heart blooms in spring with characteristic heart-shaped flowers that hang from gracefully arching stems. Choose a spot with moist but well-drained soil.

Bleeding hearts don’t tolerate being moved very well, so choose your spot carefully. Get them in the ground in fall with plenty of time to establish. The crown should be one to two inches below the soil surface with the eyes facing up.

Eden Brothers sells Bleeding Heart Roots Mix to preorder for spring, or pick up a bleeding heart bare-root from Spring Hill Nurseries at Walmart for fall planting.

Shop Bare-Root Perennials

Peony Roots – Pastel Mix

Daylily Roots – Fragrant Rebloomer Mix

Sea Double Iris Bare Roots

Harlem Oriental Poppy

Younique Pink Astilbe Bare Root

Spring Hill Nurseries Bleeding Heart Bare Root Perennial

Bare-root perennials are a good investment if you take the time to plant them right. They cost less than potted plants and can give you years of reliable blooms with good care. If you’ve missed the fall window for planting these in your region, make your selections over the winter and order them for a spring planting, another excellent time for most bare-root plants.

A rainy week in fall can turn a full feeder into a clump of wet, sour seed that's unsafe for birds to eat and a waste of your hard-earned money. A few simple changes to your bird feeding set-up to keep seed dry, however, keeps both your feathered friends and your bank balance a lot happier.

A backyard feeder can still look full from the kitchen window after a couple of rainy days in a row, but get closer and you'll see the seed inside has darkened and packed into a wet plug above the ports. In some cases, you can dry out the seed, but soggy birdseed costs more than the price of the bag. Damp seed quickly grows mold and fungi, some that release harmful toxins that can cause fatal infections in these beneficial garden friends. Wet grain also gives harmful bacteria an easy start and parasites a place to survive, turning a crowded feeder into a disease hotspot. Some seed decays into a mush that small birds can't safely digest, too.

So, knowing when it's safe to dry bird seed, and how to keep it from getting soaked in the first place, is an essential part of feeding birds through fall and winter.

(Image credit: Getty Images)Can I Dry Out Wet Birdseed?

Good seed isn't cheap and you'll find plenty of bird-feeding advice online recommending spreading wet grains on a tray to dry out. That suggestion comes with a catch, however. If the birdseed got damp in a recent rainfall just after you filled the feeder an hour ago, then go ahead and dry it out so you can feed it to your garden birds. However, seed that's been sitting soaked inside a feeder or has been out in all weathers for days is likely contaminated, and there's no good evidence that drying makes contaminated seed safe again.

You see, if a bag of birdseed just got wet on the garage floor an hour ago, a gust blew rain across the scoop on the way to the feeder, or the bag sat open by the door during a drizzle, you know that seed is likely still clean. But seed in a feeder is a different story: birds have been perching on it and leaving droppings, harmful bacteria may be multiplying in the damp conditions, or parasites and pathogens may be present. So, the safer call is always to throw soggy birdseed out.

How Do I Dry Out Damp Birdseed?

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If you're confident the birdseed is clean and only recently wetted, spread it on a clean baking tray or fine mesh screen, one seed deep if you can, and leave it to dry indoors in a warm room where the air moves. A rimmed baker's pan like this from Walmart keeps seed from rolling off. Stir the seed occasionally and, once it pours loosely again, it's safe to feed. If the seed smells at all musty or shows any fuzz while it's drying, though, toss it out.

Should I Throw Wet Birdseed Away?

It's an easy call to throw out birdseed if it's moldy, clumped together, smells musty or sour, or looks darker or discolored compared to when it went into the feeder. But even if the seed still looks normal, it may still carry mold or bacteria which can affect bird health – fungi can grow inside a seed's shell and often there's nothing on the outside to give it away. So, if you ever find yourself wondering is wet birdseed safe, bag it up for the trash and keep your backyard birds safe.

(Image credit: Getty Images)Do I Need to Clean a Soaked Feeder?

Bird experts recommend cleaning a bird feeder every 1-2 weeks in winter, and it's wise to clean it whenever it gets soaked through, too. It's a good idea to give your feeders a quick look after any heavy rain: if the seed doesn't shift freely when you tip the feeder to one side, it needs cleaning. The more often you clean a feeder, the quicker and easier the job becomes, especially if you use diluted white vinegar to clean bird feeders, so it needn't be a chore.

Empty out the wet seed, take the feeder apart and scrub each piece in hot, soapy water. It's easier with a long brush with straight and curved ends like this Songbird Essentials 2-in-1 feeder cleaning brush from Walmart. Clear each drainage hole with a toothpick, too. Rinse thoroughly then let every piece dry completely before refilling and hanging up the feeder. Rake up any wet seed and hulls under the feeder as well.

How to Stop Birdseed Getting Wet

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Of course, the best solution to one of the most common bird-feeding problems is to prevent the seed getting wet in the first place. Many hanging feeders come with a dome or rain guard that sits above the seed tube to keep the worst of the rain off the ports, but they're rarely big enough to provide effective protection. Adding a more robust layer of protection, like this bird feeder rain guard from Amazon that comes in either a 16-inch or 19-inch diameter design with a snap hook to clip the feeder on underneath, is far more effective and doubles as a squirrel baffle, too. For a hopper feeder, look for a design with a roof that overhangs the ports and has drainage holes in the base or, on a tray feeder, a mesh bottom that lets rainwater run straight through.

Practical & pretty

Beserie Hanging Bird Feeder Rain Cover & Squirrel Baffle

Robust Rain dome

GBekery Metal Bird Feeder With Weatherproof Dome

Mesh Base

Birds Choice Eco-Friendly Hopper Bird Feeder With Removable Roof

Keep feeders away from roof edges and gutters where runoff pours straight down, and during wet spells, only put out as much seed as birds will finish quickly. Keep birdseed dry in storage, too, by using a lidded container that mice can't chew into like Behrens Galvanized Steel Can from Home Depot.

Making sure you don't leave soggy birdseed in feeders is an important part of helping backyard birds survive winter. Just like taking steps to stop your bird bath freezing over, this is an easy job for us gardeners that's hugely beneficial for our feathered friends. There are so many ways to feed birds through fall and winter, from planting a berry-bearing shrub to feed birds through winter to saving kitchen scraps and using the lard-smear trick that makes sure smaller songbirds get their fair share of food, and it's a joy to help our garden visitors. But if you're choosing to offer a nutritious supply of grains, do make sure you're not serving up any fatal fungal spores alongside by keeping birdseed dry.

All hail native perennials! They are, after all, the easiest way to create a garden that comes back year after year, growing fuller, more colorful and more beautiful with each passing season, right?

No gardener worth their salt wants to start all their hard work from scratch every spring, and why should they? If you can build a garden that gradually finds its rhythm, with established plants returning reliably, filling out their spaces and creating a landscape that feels more natural and abundant over time, it's a no-brainer to make native plants your mode of attack!

Perennials are especially wonderful plants to build that kind of garden around; if you go native, they can deal with local conditions, making them relatively easy to grow once established. They also offer something beyond good looks, providing food and habitat for bees, butterflies, birds and other wildlife.

7 Native Perennials for a Garden That Looks Better Each Year

From cheerful summer blooms to delicate grasses, birth month perennials to lush woodland foliage, these seven natives bring a lovely mix of color, texture and seasonal interest.

Plant them in the right conditions, give them time to establish, and they'll reward you with a garden that gets better with every growing season. You can't say better than that, right?

1. Coneflowers

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Coneflowers are one of those plants that make a garden feel instantly more welcoming. Their daisy-like flowers are drought-tolerant and able to withstand an awful lot of neglect, which shifts them firmly into the almost too-good-to-be-true category of native perennials.

For a particularly beautiful display, go for the Magnus Purple Coneflower from Nature Hills; it promises big bold blooms that never droop, and its flowers attract useful pollinators, while the seedheads provide a valuable food source for birds later in the season, not to mention lots of structure and interest through the colder months.

2. Coreopsis

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If you love a garden filled with sunny color, coreopsis is a wonderful native perennial to consider. Its cheery flowers look delicate, but these little bloomers are tough and incredibly drought-tolerant... even if you're garden gets to that point in the summer when it resembles a frying pan.

I especially love the Moonbeam (available at Nature Hills), which produces masses of buttery-yellow flowers over a long summer flowering season. Its understated colour makes it particularly useful for combining with stronger shades of purple, pink and orange.

3. Pink Cloud Muhly Grass

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Not every plant in a beautiful native perennial garden needs to produce traditional flowers; sometimes, it's the texture, movement and changing seasonal appearance of a plant that make it special. And pink muhly grass? Well, this pretty cloud-like ornamental brings all three to the table, and then some.

Bag yourself some from Nature Hills and plant it in a sunny position with well-drained soil. Once established, you'll find that it is relatively drought-tolerant and doesn't require much fuss (so long as you avoid overly wet or poorly drained locations, particularly during winter).

4. Ostrich Fern

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A beautiful garden needs more than flowers, and an ostrich fern is an especially lovely choice if you dream of adding a lush woodland feel to your yard thanks to its feather-like fronds.

Unlike the sun-loving flowers elsewhere on this list, ostrich fern (which you can buy at Nature Hills) prefers a cooler, shadier position with consistently moist soil. In fact, like most ferns, it is usually at its happiest beneath trees or along the edges of shaded garden beds, so long as it has enough moisture.

5. Bee Balm

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Bee balm is always an excellent addition to a garden, as its shaggy flowers are packed full of color and nectar, making them very popular with hummingbirds (and therefore a great way to try and lure your birth month hummingbird into play).

For a native planting, Monarda fistulosa, commonly known as wild bergamot, promises lavender-pink flowers with a fantastic aroma. If you prefer a more dramatic splash of color, the Jacob Cline variety is all about those bright red blooms, while the Spotted Bee Balm does exsctly what it says on the tin.

Shop Bee Balm:

KVITER Spotted Bee Balm Heirloom Flower Seeds

Perennial Farm Marketplace Perennial Farm Marketplace Monarda D. 'jacob Cline' (bee Balm) Perennial, Size-#1 Container, Red Flowers

KVITER 1,000 Wild Bergamot Heirloom Flower Seeds

6. Black-Eyed Susan

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Few perennials bring as much cheerful late-summer color as black-eyed Susan. Its golden-yellow petals are basically sunshine in floral form, and they are brilliant for filling out borders in hotter, drier conditions... not to mention blooming for months on end.

It grows best in full sun, tolerates a range of soil conditions and is all but catnip to pollinators. Well worth splashing out on something like the Glitters Like Gold Black - Eyed Susan from Nature Hills so you can sit back and watch it do its thing.

7. Anise Hyssop

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Anise hyssop is one of those gorgeous lavender dupes that offers something lovely in almost every respect. It has attractive aromatic foliage, tall flower spikes, a wonderful ability to attract pollinators, and some USDA Zones may find that this one keeps on going until the end of October (especially if you deadhead spent flowers).

CATMINT Sacred Roots Nursery Anise Hyssop

Anise hyssop is a brilliant wildlife-friendly plant that keeps blooming all fall.

Try planting anise hyssop alongside coneflowers, coreopsis and black-eyed Susans (all of which appear on this list, handily!) for a colorful and super pollinator-friendly border with plenty of height and texture.

One of the greatest pleasures of growing native perennials is watching a garden develop over time. Just take care to choose plants that suit your garden's conditions rather than trying to make every plant grow in the same environment if you go down this route.

It's also worth combining plants with different flowering seasons, not to mention leaving some seedheads standing for winter interest. Over time, you'll find that your garden doesn't just look better for it; you'll also find that it needs less intervention and begins to take on a character of its own as familiar flowers return each spring, pollinators visit throughout summer, and new combinations of color and texture emerge.

Are native perennials basically a miracle plant, then? Well, no... but they're as close to one as you're ever likely to get! Anything with a 'plant, sit back, relax' vibe to it is always going to prove a winner over time.

Some of the best gardening tips never make it onto a seed packet. They come from people who've worked the same ground for years and notice what the rest of us walk past – like how a tomato leaf changes color before trouble starts.

I recently stumbled across a fascinating piece of gardening history that feels just as relevant today as it did when it was written. Back in 2013, Amish farmer Joni Miller sent Modern Farmer a 45-page handwritten essay on organic gardening and farming, packed with diagrams and advice on everything from compost to certification paperwork. All he asked in return was a two-year subscription.

Much of what Miller wrote will sound familiar to organic growers. Some of it surprised me, though, and it's fascinating to see how well his ideas line up with newer research. These are the eight lessons I found most interesting, and how to use each one at home.

1. Learn to Read Your Plants – They're Telling You What They Need

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Miller suggests making a little chart of leaf colors, and I love the idea of reading a vegetable bed that way. For tomatoes and eggplant, he says lower leaves that yellow once the plants start bearing give up their potassium to the fruit. A black, rotting spot on a tomato's bottom – aka blossom-end rot – in his experience, means poor calcium uptake.

Newer research largely agrees, though each symptom has other causes, too. Lower leaves also yellow from a nitrogen shortage, plain old age, or early blight (Alternaria linariae). Blossom-end rot does come from calcium not reaching the fruit, but the soil usually has plenty, and uneven watering tends to be the real trouble. I'd sort that out before buying fertilizer.

2. Pay Attention to Your Weeds – They Could Reveal Problems with Your Soil

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The weed section grabbed me most. Miller noticed foxtail and other grassy weeds sprouting better in tight, high-magnesium soils, and lambsquarters surging after heavy turkey manure. Velvetleaf liked rich ground, Canada thistle faded once soil was loose and cultivated, and pastures full of dandelions never grew lush. As he puts it, "Reading soils by their weeds is an art!"

Researchers read weeds the same way today, as clues with wiggle room. Weeds tolerate a range of conditions, so dandelions might mean compacted soil and chickweed might mean wet ground, or a neighbor's seed heads might just be blowing your way. Then confirm with a soil test, using a home kit that you send to a lab, like the MySoil Soil Test Kit, available on Amazon.

3. Catch Garden Pests When They're Young and Vulnerable

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Miller's pest advice starts with life cycles, using squash bugs (Anasa tristis) as his example. The nymphs that hatch look like little spiders and start out soft. Each molt hardens them, and by the later ones, he found few organic sprays could touch them. If oil can't smother the eggs, his trick is to "target for those young spiderlings while they're easier prey."

That means turning squash leaves over. Look at the undersides, often in the crook between two veins, and you'll spot copper-brown egg clusters. Duct tape pulls them off easily. If a few nymphs get past you, insecticidal soap or neem oil, like Bonide Captain Jack's Neem Oil Spray, will knock them back, sprayed early or late, when bees are quieter. Adults, by then, are another story, and hand-picking works better on them.

4. Mulch with Alfalfa Hay to Feed Your Soil as Well as Suppress Weeds

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Straw mulch is nothing new, so Miller's note about greenhouse tomato growers using alfalfa hay caught my attention. It keeps weeds down, but the bigger benefit, he says, is that "the decomposing alfalfa feeds the vegetables with high-quality nutrients."

Modern studies hold that up. Alfalfa is a legume, so it has more nitrogen than straw and breaks down faster. It holds moisture, too. Once the soil warms, spread 2–3 inches (5–8 cm) of weed-free hay around tomatoes and peppers, leaving a gap at the stems.

Ask if the hay field was sprayed, as some hay herbicides linger, and tomatoes are very sensitive. Can't find bales? Try using alfalfa meal instead, like Down to Earth organic alfalfa meal from Walmart.

5. Let Weeds Germinate Before Planting Your Crops

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I was surprised to learn you can time weeding with a thermometer. Miller counts heat units. You average each day's high and low, but a high over 90°F (32°C) only counts as 90, a low under 50°F (10°C) counts as 50, and you subtract 50. Weed seeds need about 60 units to germinate, he says, so he harrows right before that and starts back at zero with each new flush.

Weed researchers still study the same idea today, under the label stale seedbed, which is a funny name for it, honestly. Simply prepare the bed a few weeks early, water it, and wait for the first weeds, usually a week or two in warm soil. Slice them off in the top inch (2.5 cm) – digging deeper brings buried seeds up to sprout. WaLensee's stirrup-style action hoe from Home Depot suits that shallow work. Then sow without stirring the soil again.

6. Water Early and Keep the Air Moving to Prevent Disease

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This one sounded simple to me, and it is, just about. Miller waters his greenhouse plants in the forenoon, not the evening, and opens the vents on sunny days so plants don't stay damp. Fungal diseases, he warns, "explode in stale, damp environments."

Current advice backs him up. Picture tomatoes watered at dusk, still wet at midnight. That's where early blight and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) get going. Water the soil in the morning instead, space and stake plants for airflow, and stay out of wet rows. Greenhouses need open vents or a fan, and patio pots need elbow room.

7. Grow Green Manure Crops to Restore Tired Garden Soil

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For run-down soil, Miller says green manure crops really help, along with soil tests. Bare soil takes a beating from winter rain. A cover crop holds it with roots and shades out weeds, too. Turned in or left on top, it adds organic matter. Legumes like crimson clover and field peas also pull nitrogen from the air, with help from root bacteria.

This late in fall, I'd go with cereal rye. Oats and field peas want a late-summer start, and a cold winter usually finishes them off. Crimson clover, available from Outsidepride on Amazon, needs a few weeks of growth before hard frost – unless your winters are mild, that one's an early-fall job. In spring, cut the crop around flowering, before seed sets, then wait two to three weeks to plant.

8. Save Seeds from Your Best Plants to Develop a Garden That Thrives

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Farmers in Miller's community save back their own soybean seed, which he says "helps that variety to somewhat adapt to your farm's soil type." You don't need a farm for it. Save seed from several of your healthiest, most productive open-pollinated plants, not one favorite, and do it again the year after, too. Little by little, your seed comes from plants that thrive in your garden.

Beans, peas, lettuce, and tomatoes are the easy ones, because their flowers mostly pollinate themselves. Squash, cucumbers, and corn need isolation or hand-pollination, since bees and wind can cross them with nearby varieties. I'd skip F1 hybrids, though, since their seed can come up quite different. Dry your seeds well, then store them somewhere cool in labeled kraft paper seed envelopes.

Much of Miller's letter covers certification forms, buffer strips, and ice houses. But tucked in between are gardening ideas that today's research still backs up. Next season, I'm taking a slower look at my weeds and tomato leaves. You might notice things you've been walking past for years.

Wrapped in frost cloth or burlap, an old tomato cage becomes a cheap but effective shelter to protect plants this winter. All sorts of tender shrubs and perennials need winter protection, and temporarily shielding even hardy plants from the worst of the weather can help them thrive. So if you're about to pack away your tomato cages in the shed, stop – they've got another job to do now it's time to winterize garden plants this fall.

Pulling up tomato plants and stacking their cages in the shed until spring is one of the last big gardening jobs of the season. That's a lot of good wire sitting around in the dark all winter, and this trick puts it right back to work. Most gardens have a plant or two that struggles through the cold months, and overwintering plants usually means spending money on shrub covers, frost tents or frames, or insulating zip-up plant jackets built for the job. None of it costs much alone, but the outlay adds up across a whole bed and your old cage can do much of that same work to winterize plants.

This trick won't save everything, but for the right plants a tomato cage wrapped in frost cloth or burlap is a smart, cheap way to help your garden get through winter unscathed. So, if you're gardening on a budget and wondering how to protect plants in winter, here's the smart solution.

Why Tomato Cages Make Such Good Winter Plant Protectors

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Throw insulating fabric straight over a shrub and it settles right onto the leaves and buds, and cold will seep through wherever it touches. Wet snow is worse. Its weight can bend or snap branches under the cover. But put a tomato cage in there first and the fabric sits on the frame instead, with a little gap between cover and plant. This method also gives you a frame to fasten the fabric to so it stays put when the wind picks up.

How to Turn an Old Tomato Cage Into a DIY Frost Protector

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Start with the cage itself. You'll probably find dried leaves and sections of vine still wound through the wire. If last summer's plants had Septoria leaf spot (Septoria lycopersici) or early blight (Alternaria solani), those scraps can carry it over, so pull every one out and disinfect by scrubbing the cage with diluted household bleach and a rinse.

Next comes the fit. Lower the clean cage over the plant and see where the branches end up. Any branch poking through the wire is, more or less, where the fabric will touch the plant later, so the stems need room inside. Push the legs down firmly and, out in an open, windy bed, tie it to a sturdy stake if needs be.

Now wrap the frame in breathable frost cloth or horticultural fleece: one Agfabric frost blanket, available from Home Depot, covers more than one cage. Fasten the fabric to the frame using clips like these stainless steel garden clips from Walmart. Take the fabric right down to the soil as warmth comes up out of the ground at night and a gap at the bottom lets it leak out. Pin the fabric to the ground with galvanized landscape staples like these from Walmart.

Skip plastic wrap, because the plant needs to breathe and a wrapped cage heats up fast on mild afternoons and damp, still air favors gray mold (Botrytis cinerea). Even without a waterproof wrap, peek underneath every few days and let some fresh air in if needs be. Once the cold snap is over, take the temporary covers off, leaving the frame in place ready for the next weather dip.

Which Plants Benefit Most From This Trick?

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Depending on your USDA zone, the plants that need winterizing in fall aren't just those that aren't hardy enough to survive plummeting temperatures: you can use this trick to extend a crop or protect next year's flower show, too. Ever had a hydrangea leaf out nicely and then barely bloom? Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is the classic candidate because it forms next year's flower buds on old wood, and those buds sit on bare stems all winter. Hard freezes can kill these delicate buds so while the foliage comes through just fine the following year, blooms are few and far between.

Hybrid tea roses and perennials that are borderline hardy in your zone are good candidates too. If you've planted young shrubs this year – especially if you've been tempted by Black Friday sales on evergreen shrubs and you're planting late in fall – they'll also benefit from being kept cozy during cold snaps. Boxwood and other small evergreens can pick up winter burn from drying wind and sun, and burlap like this Wellco natural burlap roll at Home Depotcuts down on both without pressing on the foliage.

Of course, you'll need to match the plant to the cage size. But if you're planning to upgrade your tomato cages to use a more substantial modular tomato support set-up like these heavy-duty square tomato cages, also from Home Depot anyway, it makes sense to do so now when you can use them to protect bigger shrubs that need a wider frame.

For Extra Protection, Fill the Cage With Insulating Leaves or Straw

Once the plant goes dormant, usually after several hard frosts, a sturdy cage can be packed with loose insulation to provide further insulation too. Dry shredded leaves, straw or pine straw like this from Amazon is best. On a bigleaf hydrangea, you can fill right up around the buds, while roses mostly need the extra insulation over the crown and lower canes.

Keep that fill dry and loose. Leaves raked off a wet lawn and packed tight against living foliage or a crown stay soggy, and that can lead to rot, so let them dry out first before covering with frost fabric. In spring, pull out the fill a little at a time once the worst cold has passed.

What This Trick Won't Protect Against

Frost cloth doesn't make any heat of its own, but only slows the loss of warmth rising from the ground at night, buying a few degrees on a clear, still night. In a long, deep freeze, the soil underneath cools off too, and that leaves the cover less and less to work with. Truly tropical plants won't turn winter-hardy inside a wrapped cage, either: hibiscus and mandevilla belong indoors once nights turn chilly, well ahead of frost. In colder regions, some tender plants on the edge of hardiness still do better potted up and stored in a frost-free spot.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

For most of the year, a tomato cage has one job. But with a cozy comforter of frost cloth, a few clips and a bit of care, this garden staple picks up a second role in winter, sheltering plants that would otherwise need a store-bought cover and helping to ensure another flower-filled year in your garden. When spring comes, unwrap your precious plant, hose off the cage and send it back to the tomato bed. It's the same old cage pulling double duty, and this trick to reuse it over winter barely costs a dime.

Your peace lily (Spathiphyllum) may well have spent the early part of fall thriving in its regular corner with little more than a weekly drink. But this can all change sharply when November arrives. Suddenly, the lower leaves droop, that trademark glossy sheen can look dull, and the leaf tips might turn dry and brown, even if you haven't changed your routine. The real shift is taking place in the house around the plant, and that’s easy to miss when the plant hasn’t moved an inch.

Peace lilies are naturally resilient, but they are sensitive to environmental shifts. The days are shorter, the sunlight angles have dropped, and central heating systems are kicking into gear. Good peace lily care through winter is largely about keeping up with those changes. The good news is that the fixes are small. It’s just about recognizing that your plant’s needs change as winter starts to set in.

By tweaking your habits and pausing unnecessary chores that may have been essential just a month earlier, you can protect root health and ensure your peace lily remains a centerpiece of lush green calm throughout these next few chilly months. Not only will these adjustments protect your favorite houseplant in winter, they will help to set the stage for more striking white spathes come spring. So here’s how to keep your peace lily healthy once the heat comes on…

Winter-Proof Your Peace Lily

Indoor winter living often creates conditions that clash with tropical houseplant health. We seal our doors, turn up the furnace, and seek out cozy, dry warmth. For a peace lily, that same forced-air heating strips ambient room humidity down to single digits while leaving drafty windowpanes ice-cold. Coexisting happily indoors through winter means balancing these conditions, providing the warmth your peace lily needs while protecting it against parched air, dark corners, and soggy soil.

Diagnosing leaf symptoms early in November prevents minor seasonal stress from escalating into root damage. If your entire plant suddenly collapses into a limp heap, check the soil before reaching for the watering can. If the potting mix is bone dry, a thorough drink will perk the foliage up within hours. If the mix feels soggy and heavy while the leaves hang limp, waterlogged roots are suffocating: stop watering now!

(Image credit: Valeriy_G / Getty Images)

Brown, crispy leaf tips usually stem from low humidity, uneven moisture, or mineral salt accumulation from tap water. Occasional yellowing on a leaf lower down is normal ageing. However, multiple yellow leaves can indicate insufficient light or waterlogged compost or insufficient light. A long-probe soil moisture meter can help you determine deeper root moisture. I’m a big fan of the XLUX Long Probe Soil Moisture Meter, available from Amazon, which delivers instant readings, so you can address overwatering and soggy potting mix before fungal rot sets in.

As for flowers, don't expect too many right now. Winter usually isn't when peace lilies bloom. A plant that rarely flowers at all, though, probably needs a brighter spot, unless it's still young (under a year old, some won't bloom yet). Knowing some of the warning signs, hopefully the following tasks will help you avoid calamity this winter…

1. Dial Back Watering to Ward Off Rot

(Image credit: Olga Yastremska / Getty Images)

The quickest way to harm a peace lily in November is sticking to a rigid summer watering schedule. As natural day length shortens and light intensity wanes, your plant enters a semi-dormant rest period. Transpiration slows, cell division halts, and roots need less moisture from the soil. A potting blend that dried out in 5 days during July can easily stay damp for 3 weeks in November. Keeping the soil constantly saturated starves roots of oxygen, eventually leading to Pythium root rot.

This step is easy: insert a finger a couple of inches (5cm) into the potting mix. Water only when it feels dry and crumbly to the touch. When you do water your peace lily, soak the root ball thoroughly with room-temperature water until it drains freely from the base, then empty any runoff collected in the saucer. Never leave a peace lily sitting in stagnant, chilled water. If your plant droops, check soil dampness first.

A nifty way of reducing the risks associated with poor drainage is to give your plants some elevation in the drainage tray. Kakuna Plant Pot Feet, available from Amazon, can be inserted between the pot and tray to minimize chills and waterlogging.

2. Relocate into Brighter, Filtered Light

(Image credit: Erhan Inga / Shutterstock)

Peace lilies have an enduring reputation as indestructible low-light houseplants, but there is a difference between surviving and thriving. While they tolerate the subdued light of a shaded summer room, the dramatic drop in November’s daylight hours and sun intensity can throw low-light corners into near-darkness. Without help, your peace lily cannot produce the energy needed to support its broad leaf surface, leading to faded foliage, drooping stems, and a halt in flower spathe production.

Take time now to reassess where your peace lily sits and check how much light reaches the plant around noon. If needed, move the plant closer to an east or north-facing window, where it can absorb hours of bright, indirect winter daylight. Keep the leaves a few inches (8-10cm) back from direct contact with windowpanes, as freezing outdoor temperatures radiate through cold glass and will chill leaf tissue.

If placing your plant near a south or west-facing window where bright afternoon sun beams through, hang a sheer curtain to diffuse the rays; direct, unfiltered sunlight can still scorch foliage even in winter. For darker rooms lacking bright exposures, supplemental artificial light provides an easy fix. The GE BR30 Grow LED Light Bulb from Walmart fits a standard socket and lamp fixture, emitting balanced, warm-toned full-spectrum light that sustains photosynthesis through dark winter months.

3. Boost Ambient Moisture and Guard Against Heating Blasts

(Image credit: Kostikova / Getty Images)

Indoor central heating is a double hazard for peace lilies: it strips moisture from the air, while creating extreme temperature pockets. Peace lilies thrive in relative humidity levels between 50% and 60%. When heating systems get switched on, indoor humidity frequently plunges below 20%. This dry air saps moisture from leaf margins, causing crispy brown edges and papery tips. Position your plant away from forced-air vents, radiators, space heaters, and wood stoves. The blast of hot air will quickly scorch foliage. At the same time, keep plants shielded from exterior door drafts and chilly single-pane windows, maintaining a range of 65-80°F (18-27°C).

Skip leaf misting, which provides only a brief humidity spike and can encourage fungal leaf spotting. Instead, place your pot on a wide tray filled with pebbles and water (keeping the pot base resting above the water line). Alternatively, group multiple houseplants together, or run a small ultrasonic room humidifier nearby. To help you track things, buy a digital sensor like the TempPro TP50 Digital Room Temperature and Humidity Monitor, available from The Home Depot. This compact digital sensor monitors relative humidity and ambient temperature fluctuations, helping you pinpoint cold drafts and heating hotspots.

4. Pause Fertilizers and Skip Repotting

(Image credit: FotoHelin / Shutterstock)

During the dark days of late fall and winter, feeding a peace lily does far more harm than good. Because diminished daylight slows metabolic activity, the plant is not producing new tissue or developing roots. Adding liquid houseplant fertilizer during this semi-dormant time means mineral salts can build up in the potting soil. Over several weeks, this salt buildup can burn roots and brown leaf tips. Now is the time to withhold all supplemental feeding until active spring growth returns in late March.

Similarly, postpone repotting until the warmer, brighter days of spring. It doesn’t matter if you see a few roots poking out of the drainage holes: peace lilies tolerate being slightly pot-bound and recover faster in spring. Moving a sluggish plant into a larger pot now can shock them. The only exception is emergency repotting. If a plant has collapsed from severe root rot, gently tip it from its pot and rinse away old soil. Trim off brown mushy roots with sterile shears, and repot into fresh, well-aerated potting mix. A great lightweight blend for emergency winter repotting is Espoma Organic Houseplant Potting Soil Mix, available at The Home Depot.

5. Wipe Down Leaves and Monitor for Opportunistic Pests

(Image credit: Kinga Krzeminska / Getty Images)

In just a few weeks, broad peace lily leaves collect a fine film of household dust, pet dander, and airborne grease. Dusty foliage can be severely limiting in winter. Dust acts as a barrier, scattering what little winter light reaches the leaves and reducing the plant's already limited photosynthetic capacity. Cleaning the foliage is a quick, high-reward task that keeps leaves breathing and photosynthesizing efficiently. Support each leaf from beneath with one hand, and gently wipe the upper and lower surfaces with a soft cloth moistened with room-temperature water.

As you clean, inspect the leaf undersides and stem junctions for pests. Dry winter heating can encourage rapid outbreaks unless you catch them early. Bits of white fluff could be citrus mealybugs (Planococcus citri). Flat tan bumps are often brown soft scale (Coccus hesperidum). Faint speckling and webbing usually mean twospotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae), which thrive in dry, heated rooms. Gently dab mealybug clusters with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, or treat leaf undersides with a gentle organic insecticidal soap or neem oil wash. Bonide Captain Jack’s Neem Oil Spray, available from Amazon, is a brilliant organic way of controlling spider mites, scale, and mealybugs.

(Image credit: MarinaMos / Shutterstock)

By giving your peace lily a little focused attention in November, you provide the support it needs to navigate the winter months with ease. Dialing back the watering can, finding a brighter pocket of filtered daylight, raising ambient moisture levels, and letting the roots rest will keep the foliage healthy and glossy.

Set up well in November, a peace lily usually comes through winter looking much like it did in summer, just growing a little slower. The fertilizer and the bigger pot can wait until spring, and so can you. When longer spring days return, your well-rested peace lily will be primed to surge back into active growth, rewarding you with fresh green leaves and a striking display of signature white blooms.

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As leaves drop in fall, I always wish I’d planted more evergreen shrubs in my garden to give structure and color all through the winter. From tall arborvitae cones to slender columns of holly and perfect no-prune spheres, evergreens give a garden a shapely skeleton on which to hang seasonal blooms. While I’m lucky enough to have mature yew hedges and an old conifer I’m planning to cloud-prune, I want to add evergreen accents to borders and alongside a path to punctuate my garden design. Globes of green leaves in patio planters are high on my wish list too.

What's stopped me? One of the basic principles of garden design is to always repeat-plant evergreens in odd numbers – and bying multiple plants gets expensive, fast. But Home Depot must have been listening in to my garden-design dreams because it’s not even Thanksgiving yet and a heap of my favorite evergreen shrubs just had their prices slashed in an early Black Friday plant sale. And frankly, the prices were pretty decent even before they went on sale.

Let’s skip straight to the good bit, shall we?

1. Emerald Green Arbovitae

Privacy Hedge

Emerald Green Arbovitae

If you’re thinking about planting a privacy screen or hedge, look no further than Emerald Green arborvitae. It naturally grows into a narrow pyramid, reaching 10-14 feet high but only 2-4 feet wide, so you don’t lose too much yardspace or sunlight but get dense foliage to screen your garden from prying neighbors. While many evergreens fade in the coldest winter months, this variety is well known for keeping its bright, glossy tone year round. Thuja occidentalis ‘Smagard’ puts on about 6-12 inches of growth a year so while you won’t get privacy overnight, you won’t need to spend half your weekend pruning it forever more either. Suitable for zones 3-8.

(Image credit: Getty Images)2. Sprinter Boxwood

Stylish Mounds

Sprinter Boxwood

While most boxwood shrubs grow incredibly slowly, sprinter boxwood lives up to its name, meaning you can buy a smaller, cheaper plant. And don’t worry that Buxus microphylla will grow too big because it maxes out at 2-4 feet high and wide: large enough to have an impact in your yard without taking over. Sprinter boxwood keeps its glossy green foliage year-round and has excellent resistance to diseases and pests, including boxwood blight. Suitable for zones 4-9, this handsome shrub is easily shaped to create structural evergreen mounds in a border, a low square hedge or appealing spheres in planters.

(Image credit: Getty Images)3. Anna’s Magic Ball Arborvitae

Mini Spheres

Anna’s Magic Ball Arborvitae

Thuja occidentalis ‘Anna van Vloten’ is a dwarf evergreen that naturally grows in a compact sphere without ever needing to be clipped. With wonderfully textural fan-like foliage, it keeps a bright golden-green tone year-round and grows well in zones 3-8. Anna’s Magic Ball arborvitae only grows to 10-15 inches high and wide and looks delightful dotted through a border. If you’re looking for compact shrubs to boost your curb appeal or want to add some stylish year-round planters to your patio, here’s the easy solution.

4. Danica America Arborvitae

Geometric Shape

Danica America Arborvitae

Here’s another dwarf cultivar of Thuja occidentalis that naturally grows in a compact ball shape without requiring any pruning. Danica America arborvitae is a little bigger at 2 feet high and wide and a brighter green, but what really sets it apart is its fan-like foliage that grows in vertical layers. The evergreen foliage is denser than Anna’s Magic Ball, too. Use it to create a smart geometric accent alongside a path or add stylish structure to a border without taking up too much space. It's one of the best evergreens for containers, too, and suitable for zones 3-7.

(Image credit: Getty Images)5. Sky Pencil Holly

Vertical Accent

homedepot Sky Pencil Holly

For instant style in zones 6-9, few evergreen shrubs have the striking aplomb of sky pencil holly. It’s a cultivar of the lovely Japanese holly and while it grows 6-10 feet tall, it stays a slender 1-2 feet wide with unusual vertical branches. The leaves are small, glossy and dark green – more like a boxwood than a holly – so the growth is dense, accentuating the shape. So, while sky pencil holly doesn’t boast red berries (though it does grow small black berries in fall), its silhouette provides more than enough drama. Happy in a large planter or in well-drained ground, sky pencil holly looks fabulous either side of a doorway or gate, or planted in a loose line, and is one of the best shrubs for a front yard.

6. Encore Azalea

4-Season Beauty

Autumn Royalty Encore Azalea

So far, so green. And while it’s wonderful to have shrubs that bring texture and a year-round skeleton of leaves, some evergreen shrubs also deliver a generous splash of color. And Encore azalea is one of the very best flowering plants to add to your garden in fall. While many azaleas are deciduous, and older varieties only flower for a few short weeks in spring, the Encore series not only keeps its leaves through winter but repeat-blooms all through spring, summer and autumn. It maintains a tidy, rounded shape so requires very little pruning, and there are all sorts of flower colors to choose from. Suitable for zones 6-10, Autumn Royalty has bright magenta blooms and you’ll also find Autumn Lily with white flowers, Autumn Carnation with pink flowers, and Autumn Embers with red-orange flowers in Home Depot’s sale.

(Image credit: GoBuyPlants / Encore Azalea)7. Gold Splash Wintercreeper

Low-Maintenance Lovely

homedepot Gold Splash Wintercreeper

Euonymus fortunei ‘Roemertwo’ is one of those easy wins that every garden needs, requiring little looking after but working hard four seasons of the year. Don't be put off by the fact it's a wintercreeper as this cultivar is a compact mounding shrub. Its evergreen foliage doesn’t lose its variegation and revert to green like many shrubs, and thank goodness because the lime-green leaves have lovely gold margins that positively glow on a dark winter day. Adding to the color, Gold Splash wintercreeper boasts yellow fruit that open to reveal orange seeds in fall. Highly resistant to disease, this neat, ultra-tough shrub reaches 18-24 inches high and wide in zones 5-8.

(Image credit: Getty Images)8. Brandywine Viburnum

Berries for Birds

Brandywine Viburnum

Okay, so Viburnum nudum ‘Brandywine’ isn’t evergreen but it does look good all through winter on account of the multi-colored berries that cling to the branches months after leaves have fallen. Brandywine viburnum is one of the best berry-bearing shrubs to feel birds through winter as its berries only sweeten once the worst winter weather sets in, providing a valuable late-season pantry for our feathered friends. Those berries provide quite a show, too, starting green then shifting through pink and blue to a glossy dark purple. Hardy in zones 5-9, this low-maintenance shrub reaches 5-6 feet high.

It's official; Kate Hudson’s Christmas tree from last year is still inspiring holiday decorations in 2026.

It's hardly a surprise. After all, the actress (best known for her starring turns in Bride Wars and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) kept her Christmas tree simple, classy, and very less is more: think silver, bronze and gold bows, a few ornaments and not much else.

Now, a bow is almost as Christmassy as it gets, whether it’s tied on a tree, a wreath or a present. A nostalgic tree does have one risk, though: if you do it without thinking it through, it can go from warm and charming to dated really quickly. Some experts gave me tips on how you can avoid this, and get Kate Hudson’s Christmas tree look.

Why Bows Are Back

For those who have yet to see Kate Hudson's Christmas tree in all its glory, flick your eyes downwards...

A post shared by Kate Hudson (@katehudson)

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It feels like a rebellion against the minimalist matchy-matchy (and beige) trend that has been going on for so many years, doesn't it? “People are tired of the same old, store-bought, themed trees,” says Irena Cara, interior designer and co-founder of Nova Wrap.

Reilly Renwick, designer and creative lead of State of the Wall, points to Millennial parents whose kids are now the age they were in the 1990s. Many of them, he says, want to revive “the warm, festive and childlike vibe of a 90s Christmas, as opposed to what people are now calling the ‘sad beige’ of contemporary tree styling.”

So, how best to recreate it? Other than buying some of this beautiful metallic gold ribbon from Amazon. We have a few ideas...

1. Borrow The Feeling

(Image credit: Denkraslab / Shutterstock)

Hey, we might not have Goldie Hawn as a mum, but when it comes to Christmas nostalgia, a lot of millennials remember our parents' houses being packed with all kinds of stuff, and so much color that it felt cluttered. So, the biggest worry with going with a nostalgic look is the tree looking tacky.

For Renwick, “the biggest challenge for anyone trying to create a nostalgic tree is how to evade the ‘tacky’ accusations.” His answer is to look at what Kate Hudson did with hers. “The whole point of this ‘comeback’ thing is to evoke the festive vibe of the 90s, not to recreate it in painstaking detail,” he says.

Shop Nostalgic Christmas Tree Essentials:

Morex Ribbon Ribbon Wired Lamé

Wavyknot 12 Pcs Vintage Glass Christmas Tree Ornaments

Bunny Chorus Vintage Christmas Tree Skirt

2. Keep Metallic Bows Rich, Not Flashy

(Image credit: Moment Capsule / Shutterstock)

Want the Kate Hudson look? “My advice is to use the metallic bows with restraint, in such a way that they stand out but still leave space for the other decorations and the tree itself to still be visible,” says Renwick.

Cara has practical tips for gold, silver, and bronze. “Use brushed or matte ribbon to take the ‘shiny’ edge off, especially if the metals are varying warm tones. Also, make sure the bows are of varying sizes, to keep things interesting.”

For quantity, she says: “On a tree between 6 and 7 feet, use between 20 and 30 bows.” Lighting matters too: “Warm white lights make metallics look even better.”

3. Give Your Ribbon A Story

(Image credit: Bogdan Sonjachnyj / Shutterstock)

A Christmas tree runs the risk of feeling tacky, true, but it can also feel too generic, like it should be in a department store in the 90s. Nadi Melam, founder of Florals Memories, has a way to avoid this.

“You can’t purchase nostalgia, but you can tie it!” she says. Her suggestion is to reuse ribbon that already means something. “Use ribbons that have a story, such as paper that a bouquet you received came wrapped in. On the loose end of the ribbon, write down the date you received it, and now your tree is a timeline.”

Melam preserves flowers for a living, so she also suggests pairing a ribbon with a flower from your own garden. She says you can build the look slowly: “You can add one more ribbon to your tree each year.”

4. Mix Old And New

(Image credit: RgStudio/Getty Images)

If you already have tons of ornaments that have been passed down by family or maybe something your kids have made, bows can tie them into a whole scheme.

Cara says to put the old pieces where people look first: “Place heirloom and vintage pieces at eye level in the center where people look first.” Then, let the ribbon link everything together. “Match the ribbon to details on the older ornaments, such as a gold edge or a red glass.”

5. Refresh it Each Year

(Image credit: Sanghwan Kim / Getty Images)

A big advantage of a bow tree like Kate Hudson's is that it’s very cheap to update, as ribbon is super easy to swap out for different colors and patterns. “Swap out the ribbon and keep the ornaments to change decorations year to year for a small cost,” says Cara.

Melam says to store ribbon carefully between seasons: “Moisture and light will cause your ribbon to fade, so store it flat in a cool, dark, dry place.”

Kate Hudson’s tree works because it feels warm and traditional without trying to look like a time capsule. Keep your color palette tight and give your ribbon some history to recreate the same nostalgia.

It’s not necessarily too late to plant amaryllis bulbs for Christmas, but timing does matter. Amaryllis typically blooms six to eight weeks after planting, so early to mid-November is your last chance to get bulbs in the pot if you want striking holiday flowers in time for the big day.

If you’re growing amaryllis for holiday flowers, choose the right type. Amaryllis usually refers to Hippeastrum, a South American native, not true Amaryllis, also known as belladonna lilies from South Africa. Most Hippeastrum bulbs sold this time of year are grown in the Southern Hemisphere and will bloom in six to eight weeks. Dutch-grown bulbs take longer, so avoid these.

Flowering also varies by the plant’s growing conditions, which means you have some control. While early or mid-November is the ideal time to plant a holiday amaryllis, you can do a few things to speed up the process if you’ve just missed the window.

How to Plant Amaryllis Bulbs

(Image credit: Westend61 / Getty Images)

Getting healthy holiday blooms isn’t just luck. How you choose and plant your bulbs is important. Start by selecting the best bulbs. Look for large, firm, and healthy bulbs without soft spots, damage, or mold. If you see a bulb that has the tip of a green stem emerging, grab it. This bulb has already begun to break dormancy and should flower sooner.

While unusual varieties can be expensive, you don't need to spend a lot of money on bulbs – Walmart sells preplanted bulbs for under $6.

Next, choose a good-quality potting mix, such as Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix, available at Amazon, and a container with drainage holes that is only one or two inches (2.5 to 5 cm) wider than the bulb. Position the bulb in the pot so that the pointy end is up and one-third to one-half of the bulb is above the surface of the potting mix.

Water your planted bulb thoroughly, letting it all drain through, before setting it in a warm, bright spot. Keep the potting mix just slightly damp, never soggy. Amaryllis doesn’t need much water and can rot in soggy conditions.

Can You Make Amaryllis Bloom Faster?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While you can’t significantly alter the timeline for flowering, a few easy tips encourage strong and steady growth:

• Soak the Roots. Stimulate the roots to help them come out of dormancy by soaking them in lukewarm water for a few hours before planting the bulb.
• Keep it Warm. Amaryllis plants grow best in warm conditions. Situate your plant in a spot that is around 70–75°F (21–24°C). More heat isn’t better. Placing it on or over a radiator, for instance, can backfire.
• Provide Plenty of Light. A sunny, south-facing window will provide the bright light this sun-loving plant needs to grow strong stems. Be sure to rotate the pot every few days to keep the stem straight.

You can’t do a lot to force it, but these conditions provide everything your plant needs for a healthy growth rate. Just don’t overdo it. Fertilizer, too much heat, and too much water can do more harm than good.

What if I Left it Too Late?

(Image credit: Vladdeep / Getty Images)

Be realistic about timing with amaryllis bulbs. If it’s late November, you might still have time for a Christmas flower. Choose the largest, healthiest bulb, with a bit of green growth, if possible, for the best start. Provide the best conditions and cross your fingers.

If it’s already December, you won’t get a flower by Christmas from a dormant bulb. However, you can probably find a potted amaryllis that has already broken dormancy and has a stem. This plant will likely bloom by Christmas.

How to Prolong Amaryllis Flowers Over the Holidays

(Image credit: Johner Images / Getty Images)

You got some gorgeous blooms in time for Christmas, but now you want them to last. It’s time to switch your care strategy from encouraging growth to keeping flowers looking their best.

• Drop the Temperature. Warmth is important for growth, but once flowers have opened, it’s best to cool things down. Put your plant in an area that is a little cooler, around 65°F (18°C). Your plant still needs bright light, though.
• Avoid Overwatering. Soggy soil is a big no-no for an amaryllis. As the plant grows and blooms, you can increase watering slightly, but the goal is to keep the potting mix just slightly moist.
• Support the Stem. Open flowers can cause stems to lean or flop. Use a stake with ties or clips to support it. This orchid support stake and clip set from Amazon will keep tall amaryllis stems upright without distracting from the beautiful blooms.
• Keep Rotating. Continue to rotate the pot every few days so the plant gets even sunlight. This helps keep the stem straight and sturdy.

When the flowers do fade, snip them off to keep the plant looking tidy. Once all the flowers are done blooming, cut the stem back close to the bulb. With the right care, you should enjoy healthy, attractive flowers for two to three weeks.

Shop Amaryllis Bulbs

Here are a few great options available to buy now, with beautiful blooms that will bring a festive splash of color to your home.

Van Zyverden Ferrari Amaryllis Bulb (Preplanted)

Luna Amaryllis Bulb

Bonnie Plants Red Waxed Minerva Amaryllis Bulb

Jumbo Sweet Nymph Amaryllis Bulb

Pink Waxed Apple Blossom Amaryllis Gift

Royal Velvet Amaryllis Bulb

Whether you get flowers in time for Christmas or not, forcing an amaryllis bulb indoors is a great winter activity. Enjoy your blooms, even if they don’t open until January. And if you’re up for it, you can keep the plant going and encourage it to bloom again next year.

Even in November, backyards can look like they got some time left, perhaps with a few late-season tomatoes still clinging to the vine and container tropicals green on the patio. But all it takes is one hard freeze, dropping overnight temperatures with a day or two’s notice. Suddenly, tender leaves turn black and crops are ruined. What’s worse is that much of the damage stays hidden until spring.

You’ll only discover a split copper pipe when you turn on the hose in April, or realize you lost your prized dahlia tubers when green shoots fail to emerge. Sure, not every chore needs to be tackled now. Routine pruning and bed edging can wait until late winter. However, certain tasks carry a hard deadline set by the weather: this includes anything involving overwintering plants, as well as plumbing fixtures that hold water.

In some yards, this deadline has already passed, and in others, it's coming up this week. Completing the following tasks before temperatures plunge can save you hundreds of dollars in expensive winter damage, and keeps everything in the best shape for spring. Here’s how to make sure your garden emerges strong and healthy next year.

Don’t Risk Hard Freeze Ruin

Understanding the difference between a light frost and a hard freeze can give you the lead time you need. Growers sometimes talk about frosts and freezes interchangeably, but the differences matter. A light frost occurs when air temperatures hover right at the freezing threshold (32°F / 0°C), forming ice crystals on leaf surfaces. While tender annuals like basil and coleus blacken quickly at this temperature, cold-tolerant vegetables like kale shrug it off (and even taste better).

A hard freeze is more aggressive. It occurs when ambient temperatures drop to 28°F (-2°C) or lower and remain there for several hours. At this depth of cold, ice crystals form inside plant cell walls, bursting cellular membranes and killing unhardened woody stems. A hard freeze also freezes water inside pipes, outdoor faucets, and irrigation lines. True frozen ground, where soil hardens into an impenetrable crust, usually develops weeks later after sustained sub-freezing weather.

(Image credit: Sergii Gamzin / 500px / Getty Images)

Northern gardens are often done by November, while milder regions may still have several weeks. Because first-freeze dates are geographical moving targets, your regional location dictates your timeline. Gardeners in northern USDA hardiness zones 3-5 often face hard freezes by mid-October, while those in milder zones 7-9 may not see temperatures dip below 28°F until late December or January. This can help prevent panicking too early – or waiting too late.

Don’t wait for a freeze warning to assemble your gear. Keeping insulated spigot covers, garden forks, frost fabric, and storage crates on hand now ensures you can secure your yard quickly when the first blue whistler rolls in. To help you track things, it’s also a good idea to have a thermometer on standby. The TempPro TempAir 500 FT Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer, available from Amazon, can help you to stay one step ahead of any overnight shocks. Then you’re ready to tackle these tasks…

1. Harvest All Tender Crops and Herbs

(Image credit: Mike Healy / Shutterstock)

One frost can ruin tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and basil. Even near-freezing temperatures in the mid-30s can cause chilling injury to peppers and eggplants, dulling skin quality and introducing rot spots. So strip your vines of all mature crops before freezing weather arrives. Use sharp scissors or snips like Fiskars Micro-Tip Garden Snips from Amazon.

Gather every ripe tomato, along with full-sized green tomatoes that have developed a glossy, pale-green sheen. Placed in a cardboard box indoors at room temperature, mature green fruits will ripen off the vine over the next few weeks. Leave small, hard fruits behind, as they lack the maturity to ripen. Pull up basil plants to process into pesto or dry indoors.

However, you can leave cool-season brassicas and root crops where they are. Collards, Brussels sprouts, kale, carrots, and parsnips tolerate temperatures well below 28°F (-2°C). The cold triggers these hardy crops to convert complex starches into plant sugars, which can help them taste sweeter after frost.

2. Lift and Store Tender Tubers, Bulbs, Corms

(Image credit: ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock)

In regions with cold winters (typically zones 7 and colder), tender summer-flowering bulbs, tubers, and corms won’t survive in freezing ground. Leaving dahlias, cannas, calla lilies, caladiums, gladioli, and tuberous begonias in the soil too long, and the fleshy storage organs will freeze, decompose, and turn to mush. Dahlias and cannas benefit from waiting until an initial light frost blackens the foliage. (Tuberous begonias are more tender and often need to get lifted earlier as the leaves yellow.)

Once that light freeze hits, don’t wait for the ground to freeze solid. Cut black stems back to 4-6 inches (10-15cm). Carefully insert a garden fork into the earth, at least 12 inches (30cm) from the main stalk to avoid impaling the tubers. Gently pry the root clump upward. Shake off loose soil, and allow the tubers to cure in a dry, frost-free garage for a few days.

Then gently pack in cardboard boxes filled with dry peat moss, vermiculite, or wood shavings. You can buy Plantonix Premium Vermiculite Bliss from Walmart to help protect dahlia and canna tubers against humidity spikes and fungal rots. Store in a dark, cool space between 40-50°F (4-10°C). Where winters are mild (zone 8 and warmer), dahlias can stay in the ground, provided soil drains freely and is protected with mulch.

3. Disconnect Hoses and Drain Water Features

(Image credit: Nickbeer / Getty Images)

Plumbing and outdoor water features carry the highest financial risk when a hard freeze arrives. Water expands by about 9% when it turns to ice. Even if your home features modern "frost-free" outdoor hose spigots, leaving a garden hose attached prevents the internal valve from draining properly. The pipe inside the wall can split, unnoticed until it leaks in spring. So uncouple every hose, stretch them out on a gentle incline to drain residual water, and roll them up for indoor storage.

If your home has an interior shutoff valve for exterior spigots, close it now. Open the outside tap to bleed the line, and then secure an insulated foam faucet cover over the fixture. You can get Frost King FC1 Foam Faucet Covers from Walmart in double packs. Drip lines can usually be drained by opening the end caps. In-ground lawn sprinkler systems require compressed air to blow all standing water out of the pipes, manifold valves, and pop-up heads. Too much air pressure can crack pipes and heads, so if you don't know your system, winterizing sprinklers is better left to a pro.

Anything holding standing water is at risk. Drain cast concrete, ceramic, and stone water fountains. Cover them with waterproof tarps to prevent pooled water from freezing and cracking the masonry. For bird baths, stone bowls will split under hard freezes, so store decorative basins indoors. To support backyard birds in winter, add a designated heated bird bath such as the Gesail Heated Bird Bath from Amazon. You can attach this to a decking or balcony and it’s a great depth for smaller songbirds. Alternatively, float a clean rubber ball or rubber duck on the surface of frost-safe metal basins to keep surface water moving.

4. Bring Tender Plants Indoors and Insulate Planters

(Image credit: Dima Berlin / Getty Images)

Container-grown plants are far more vulnerable to cold than specimens planted in garden beds. Cold air surrounds the container on all sides, dropping potting soil temperatures up to 20°F lower than garden beds. An outdoor shrub rated hardy to your zone might still freeze and die if left unprotected in a pot. Roots in a pot sit above ground, with cold reaching them from the sides as well as the top. They're also less cold-hardy than the stems above them.

Tropical plants, potted citrus, pelargoniums, and tender patio perennials should be moved indoors once nighttime temperatures hover around 50°F (10°C). Before anything goes inside, inspect leaf undersides and stem junctions for hitchhiking pests like aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites, as well as webs or anything sticky. Wash the foliage with a gentle stream of water. Use Bloem Plant Caddies from The Home Depot to roll heavy container citrus plants and tropicals indoors. Keep them apart from houseplants until you're sure nothing hitched a ride.

Pots left out need plants rated a zone or two hardier than your area. For hardy perennials, boxwoods, and dwarf conifers in large patio containers, group pots along a sheltered, south-facing foundation wall. Elevate on pot feet to ensure drainage holes remain ice-free, and wrap in burlap or bubble wrap to protect root balls from freezing solid. An unheated garage is fine for many hardy potted plants: just water them now and then so the soil doesn't dry out completely.

5. Mulch Shallow Roots and Shield Vulnerable Shrubs

(Image credit: Vasil Dimitrov / Getty Images)

Fall is an ideal time for planting perennials and shrubs, but specimens tucked into borders within the last 6-8 weeks have not had long to root and establish. As freeze-thaw cycles strike, frost heave can push shallow perennial crowns and strawberry plants out of the ground. Mulch can help, but you need to time this right. Wait until after the first hard freeze has cooled the ground.

Once the top inch of soil is cold, apply a 3-4-inch (8-10cm) layer of coarse, loose organic mulch to new plantings and strawberry patches. Good options are shredded pine bark, clean wheat straw, or chopped leaves. You can buy Timberline Pine Bark Nuggets from The Home Depot. Keep it pulled back 2-3 inches (5-8cm) from plant crowns to prevent moisture buildup and winter rot.

Vulnerable shrubs require above-ground shielding. Broadleaf evergreens like boxwood, rhododendron, and cherry laurel continue to lose moisture through their leaves in winter. Combined with winter sun and wind, this can cause foliage burn. Water deeply before soil freezes. Then drive stakes into the ground around vulnerable shrubs while the soil is still workable, and fasten some burlap to form a windbreak. On old-wood bigleaf hydrangeas, use these screens to protect fragile flower buds.

6. Clean and Store Glazed Pots and Tools

(Image credit: John McKeen / Getty Images)

Porous containers left out in freezing conditions are a common source of costly winter loss. Unglazed terracotta, ceramic pots, and composite clay planters absorb water during fall rains. When temperatures plunge below 28°F (-2°C), the moisture trapped within the clay walls expands, causing pottery to crack and split. This won’t always be obvious until spring, when a planter crumbles as soon as it is lifted.

Before freezing weather arrives, empty all unused potting soil, as a damp potting mix retains water that accelerates cracking. Scrub the inside walls with a stiff brush to remove mineral salts. For a good set of stiff bristles, buy the OXO Good Grips Heavy Duty Scrub Brush from Amazon. Allow the pottery to dry in the sun, then store the containers upside down in an unheated shed, garage, or dry basement. If planters are too heavy to move inside, empty the soil, turn them upside down on wooden blocks off the ground, and secure a waterproof tarp over them.

Take a few minutes to drain all watering cans, sprayers, and outdoor hoses, storing them where residual water cannot freeze and split their seams. Finish by scraping dried soil off spades, trowels, and hoes. Wipe the blades with a rag dipped in mineral or vegetable oil. This will prevent rust while tools sit idle over the winter months.

What Can Wait

(Image credit: Marketa Bement / Getty Images)

Some common fall chores can wait until well after the first hard freeze. In fact, tackling certain jobs too early can do more harm than good. Hold off pruning deciduous shade trees, fruit trees, and summer-blooming shrubs like panicle hydrangeas until late winter or early spring. Pruning now opens fresh wounds that cannot form protective callus tissue before a severe cold sets in, increasing the risk of injury and infection.

General border clean-up and leaf raking can also be paced out. Leaving dried flower heads, ornamental grasses, and hollow perennial stems standing in early winter provides structural interest in snowy beds. More importantly, these standing seed heads supply winter food for foraging birds like goldfinches, while hollow stems provide shelter for overwintering native bees and beneficial insects.

Finally, mulching hybrid tea roses and established perennial crowns can wait until several hard freezes have pushed plants into deep dormancy and chilled the soil. Rushing to mulch warm soil traps ground heat, delaying dormancy and encouraging tender shoots. Focus your immediate energy on plumbing, tender crops, and cold-vulnerable tubers; the rest can be tidied over the coming weekends.

Need more ideas for getting the most from your plants, indoors and out, and looking for the best seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

Forget perfectly matched ornaments and traditional red-and-green colour schemes. This Christmas, Vancouver’s interior designers are embracing unexpected colours, nostalgic treasures and some festive whimsy.

From chartreuse and hot pink to vintage decorations and handmade paper Christmas trees, this year’s Homes for the Holidays event invites visitors to rethink festive decorating.

Taking place Nov. 21 and 22 at Vancouver’s historic Cecil Green Park House, the annual fundraiser brings together local designers who transform individual rooms into their own interpretations of Christmas, all in support of YWCA BC’s Housing Action Fund.

For Trish Knight, interior designer at Knight Varga and chair of Homes for the Holidays, the magic is in seeing how differently each designer approaches the season.

“One of my favourite things about Homes for the Holidays is seeing how designers can walk into the same historic house and come away with completely different ideas about Christmas,” says Knight.

“We give them the creative freedom to interpret the holidays in their own way, and the results are always a wonderful mix of traditional, unexpected, elegant and sometimes a little whimsical!”

A colourful Christmas

This year, designer Phyllis Lui, who recently launched PippyLui Design Studio after many years with Kalu Interiors, is transforming the house’s Yorkeen Room into a colourful Christmas celebration she calls Merry & Bright.

Her inspiration came from an unlikely source: a friend’s clothing.

“I was drawn to the colours and the way they worked together, and it sparked an idea that I could translate into a festive interior. It is a reminder that inspiration can come from anywhere and sometimes the most unexpected places,” says Lui.

Working with the room’s existing butter-yellow walls, Lui is using chartreuse yellow, Kelly green and fuchsia for a bright, playful alternative to traditional holiday colours.

Walnut furniture from Portside Interiors grounds the vibrant palette, while custom pillows, floral arrangements from The Flower Factory and a playful sheep sculpture add warmth and personality. A custom artwork by local artist Dana Mooney will also be available through the event’s silent auction.

“For me, great design is about creating an emotion, not just a beautiful room. With ‘Merry & Bright,’ I wanted people to walk in and instantly feel a little happier!” says Lui.

Her approach reflects a broader trend Knight is seeing in holiday decorating, where adventurous colour combinations coexist with a renewed appreciation for family heirlooms and treasured ornaments collected over decades.

“Rich burgundies, chocolate browns, soft pinks and unexpected colour combinations are all making an appearance,” says Knight.

Among this year’s other installations, Stephanie Brown is creating A Rather Grand Holiday, inspired by the nostalgic, eccentric world of filmmaker Wes Anderson, with rich colours, symmetry and vintage details.

Bringing the magic home

Visitors don’t need a designer’s budget to recreate some of these looks.

Lui suggests starting with a few unexpected ribbons, cushions, ornaments or table linens to refresh a familiar Christmas scheme without a complete overhaul.

Handmade decorations are another inexpensive way to bring personality into a space. For her dining table, she’s creating small paper Christmas trees to use as place settings, a simple touch that families can recreate.

For both designers, however, the most meaningful decorations are often the least polished.

At home, Lui has two Christmas trees. One belongs to her children and is decorated with an enthusiastic collection of sentimental, mismatched ornaments, sometimes clustered together or facing the wrong direction.

The other is what she calls “Mom’s tree,” where she can indulge her love of a more carefully curated look.

“The imperfections are what make it so special,” she says of the children’s tree.

Knight takes a similar view of decorations collected over the years.

“Some of my favourite decorations are the ones that come out year after year, regardless of what’s fashionable. And honestly, if you’ve been collecting ornaments for 20 years, why would you suddenly want them all to match?” she says.

More than a beautiful home

Beyond the decorated rooms, visitors to Homes for the Holidays can explore the Terrace of Trees, shop Boutique Boulevard, browse the silent auction and enjoy live music.

New experiences for 2026 include Breakfast by Design, where VIP and VVIP guests can meet participating designers and hear about their creative process, private guided tours with former event chair Toula Favreau and a festive lounge where visitors can relax over a drink.

Knight, who joined the event committee in 2018, says it has become a cherished tradition for many Vancouver families and groups of friends.

Last year’s event raised $100,000 for YWCA BC, and organizers hope to build on that success this November.

For Knight, the connection between interior design and the cause is particularly meaningful.

“As an interior designer, I spend my working life creating homes for people. We put so much thought into making those spaces beautiful, comfortable and functional, but the most important thing a home provides is something much more fundamental: a sense of safety, security and belonging.”

The YWCA Housing Action Fund helps advance affordable housing projects for women and families, including single mothers and their children.

“We’re celebrating beautiful homes while helping more families experience the security of having one,” says Knight.

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As a seasoned gardener, if you ask me to name an easy-to-grow flowering perennial that returns reliably year after year, salvia would be at the top of my list. In my own garden, my ‘Hot Lips’ shrubby salvia shrugs off summer drought, asks for very little maintenance, and blooms generously from late spring through to November. Their nectar-rich flower spikes are magnets for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, drenching borders in rich purples, electric blues, hot pinks, and velvety crimsons.

Yet, despite their tough and easygoing nature, winter is the one season where salvias do need a bit of care and attention. The genus Salvia is vast, encompassing over a thousand species of annuals, woody sub-shrubs, and herbaceous perennials from regions as diverse as cold alpine meadows, dry Mediterranean hillsides, and tropical cloud forests. Because their natural habitats differ dramatically, their winter cold tolerance does, too. What protects a hardy meadow sage in New England will not save a tender Mexican bush salvia during a sudden polar snap. So winter salvia care needs to be adapted accordingly.

Taking action now, in this narrow window between autumn's close and winter's first freeze, is critical. Winter damage can happen fast, and yet knowing how to winterize salvias is surprisingly easy. By understanding your variety's cold tolerance and taking action fast, you can help prime your salvia in winter. Here’s how to easily guide your garden favorites through to next spring, so you can enjoy their lush, vibrant blooms for years to come.

Get to Know Your Salvias

The precise winter protection required will depend on where you live and the type of salvia you are growing. Some are cold-hardy perennials, while others are tender, frost-sensitive tropicals. So successful winterizing begins with identifying growth habit and hardiness classification. Deciduous herbaceous salvias like meadow sage (S. nemorosa cultivars like Caradonna and May Night) and woodland sage (S. pratensis) are cold-hardy in USDA hardiness zones 3-8. These perennials die back after hard frosts, resting safely underground before surging back in spring. They need little winter protection beyond good drainage and light insulation.

Shrubby, semi-hardy salvias (S. greggii and S. microphylla) occupy a middle ground, thriving in zones 6-9. These semi-evergreen sub-shrubs develop woody stems that can be damaged by sudden cold snaps or damp winter soils. In colder microclimates within these zones, they require protective mulching and shelter from wet winds. Finally, tender subtropical and tropical salvias, including velvet-flowered Amistad and Mexican bush sage (S. leucantha), flourish only in frost-free zones 8-11. These are large, bushy salvias that are killed by hard winter freezes, so in cooler zones, they require extra winter protection.

(Image credit: AlpamayoPhoto / Getty Images)

Before you begin, test your soil moisture levels and check that water drains away readily after rain. The XLUX Long Probe Deep Soil Moisture Meter, available from Amazon is a great dual soil moisture and pH diagnostic probe, giving instant readings to help you identify waterlogged soil pockets before the ground freezes. Once your soil is identified, you’re ready to take action. Here we clarify when to cut your salvias back, how to protect the roots from cold and wet conditions, and how to ensure you see your jewel-toned flowering favorites again next year.

1. Hold Off on Fall Pruning

(Image credit: Toni Jardon / Getty Images)

When salvias start looking ragged, the natural impulse is to reach for the bypass pruners and shear everything back to a tidy clump. This could be the most damaging mistake you make. Many perennial salvias (especially semi-woody and herbaceous varieties) have hollow, straw-like stems. Pruning these down in late fall leaves those open tubes exposed to the elements. Rain and melting snow funnel down the stems and collect at the base, causing crown rot and fungal decay in freeze-thaw cycles.

It’s best to leave these old stems, faded flower spikes, and withered foliage in place to keep driving rain away from the vulnerable center. This dried top growth also traps air, forming an insulating buffer that protects the dormant buds huddled around the crown. So resist all heavy pruning until early spring, when fresh shoots begin pushing through the soil. Even if you live in a warm-winter area, it’s still best to leave major pruning until spring. The only fall cuts you should make are removing broken or diseased stems. Use sharp bypass pruners like the Felco 2 Bypass Pruning Shears, available from Amazon, when removing broken salvia stems.

2. Insulate Crowns with Dry Mulch

(Image credit: Mariana Serdynska / Shutterstock)

Whenever I mulch plants for winter, I think of tucking a blanket around a sleeping child. Mulching salvias as cold weather is coming offers a layer of winter protection. When you apply mulch before the first hard freeze, you protect the root crown from severe cold and freeze-heave. In regions with fluctuating winter weather, bare soil expands and contracts, pushing shallow crowns up and exposing roots. Fully hardy salvia don’t need much winter protection, but a light mulch won’t hurt. When it comes to the semi-hardy salvias, however, mulching is a must to help overwintering plants.

The type of mulch, and how you apply it, are critical to avoid trapping moisture around the plant. Avoid dense, heavy materials like wet grass clippings, uncomposted manure, or thick leaf mold, which pack down and suffocate the plant. Instead, apply 3-4 inches (8-10cm) of loose, breathable mulch such as shredded pine bark, clean wheat straw, dry bracken, or horticultural grit. Keep it 2-3 inches (5-8cm) from the stems to avoid trapping moisture and inviting crown rot. Buy Bell Nursery Mini Straw Bales from The Home Depot for a loose yet insulating blanket.

3. Guard Against Winter Wet

(Image credit: Kate La Carte / Getty Images)

Cold isn’t necessarily fatal for salvia plants in winter. But too much water will take out your salvias faster than a freeze. Native to sun-drenched Mediterranean climes, salvias demand sharp drainage. When sluggish drainage keeps soil saturated, oxygen is pushed out of the roots, leaving the crown vulnerable to fungal diseases. You’ll want to take steps to avoid poorly drained soil and winter wetness for any type of salvia.

If your garden has heavy clay soil, take action now before winter sets in. Gently scrape away decomposing leaves, as wet leaf mats retain moisture over the crown. Work a handful of coarse horticultural grit, sand or perlite into the soil surface around the plant to speed up surface runoff. Back to the Roots Organic Perlite from Walmart is a great option for improving soil aeration and drainage around salvias. For container-grown plants, elevate the pots off cold, wet patio slabs. Use terracotta pot feet, pot toes, or bricks to ensure drainage holes remain clear of standing water.

4. Lift and Shelter Tender Salvias

(Image credit: Paul Maguire / Alamy)

If your salvia are tender varieties like Amistad or S. leucantha, treat them like the cold vulnerable plants that they are. Sub-tropical salvias can’t tolerate hard frosts or frozen soil. Leaving them unprotected in northern yards guarantees root death. Fortunately, tender salvias overwinter indoors with minimal fuss, provided you bring them into shelter before the first hard frost blackens foliage. If your tender salvias are in pots, trim the longest branches back by half, then move to an unheated garage, frost-free shed, cold frame, or cool porch, and keep at 35-45°F (2-7°C).

For tender salvias in beds, carefully dig up the root ball with a spade, keeping plenty of soil around the roots. Place into a plastic nursery container, backfill loosely with dry potting mix, and move it undercover. Use plant caddies such as the Bloem Plant Caddy from The Home Depot to wheel larger container-based salvias into the garage with zero strain or back pain. The goal is to keep the plant dormant. Water sparingly: just a cup or two a month keeps the root ball from drying out.

5. Take Semi-Ripe Cuttings

(Image credit: Paul Maguire / Getty Images)

Even with meticulous winter care, an unseasonal polar vortex or prolonged freeze can challenge borderline-hardy salvias. Taking a few semi-ripe salvia cuttings provides a terrific insurance policy. Select healthy, non-flowering or semi-ripe shoots (or snip the flower tip off a vigorous stem). Take a 3-4-inch (8-10cm) cutting below a leaf node. Strip the leaves from the bottom half, leaving 2-3 pairs of small leaves at the top. Dip into a rooting hormone such as HydroDynamics Clonex Rooting Gel from Amazon, to seal cut stems and trigger root growth. Insert the cuttings into small pots filled with a 50/50 mix of sterile seed compost and perlite.

Water gently, then place a clear plastic dome or bag over the pot to maintain humidity. Set your baby cuttings on a bright, warm windowsill, but out of direct sunlight. They should root within 3-4 weeks. Keep them lightly watered through winter, and pinch the tips in late winter to encourage bushy growth. Just bear in mind that rooting will be slower now than it would be with cuttings taken in late summer or early fall. Grown on a sunny indoor windowsill or greenhouse bench through winter, your salvia babies will hopefully be ready to plant out next May.

(Image credit: Thane Rogers / 500px / Getty Images)

By the time spring arrives, you’ll be eager for warmer days and fresh growth (and so will your salvias!). As sunny afternoons begin warming the soil, check your overwintered salvias for vibrant green shoots emerging. That is your signal that winter danger has passed. You can then prune away old standing stems just above the fresh growth nodes. If you have woody salvias, spring is the time to shape the plant. Cut it back by a third to clean up the shrub. Spring is also the time to pull back protective mulches and reintroduce sheltered container plants to outdoor sunshine. With their crowns preserved through the cold months, your salvias will soon be rewarding you with months of lush and lively color.

Need more ideas for getting the most from your plants, indoors and out, and looking for the best seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

We might have a while to wait until the third season of Wednesday drops on Netflix, but there's a new 'it' flower doing the rounds that's serving some serious Addams-flavored energy... and people have fallen hard for its gothic energy.

This should come as little surprise to those on top of their gardening trends, of course, because much of 2026 has come with a distinctly gothic twist – whether that's due to the gothic romance of Wuthering Heights, the bewitching gardens seen in Practical Magic 2, or Kat Von D's maximalist approach to black tulips.

Still, it's nice to see something a little different steal the spotlight from the world of pastel blooms, right? And Lilium 'Nightrider', the nearly black lily that's set to appeal to anyone who prefers their flowers with a little more drama, does exactly that.

High Drama, Low Effort

With its rich purple-black petals and subtle satin-like sheen, this striking lily looks almost completely black in certain light. It's an unusually dramatic color for a summer flower, giving it an almost otherworldly and deeply Wednesday-coded quality that's hard to ignore.

(Image credit: Merrillie/Getty Images)

Of course, it's not just the color that makes 'Nightrider' so special, or the fact that its upward-facing blooms appear in clusters on tall stems, creating a striking focal point wherever it's planted.

No, it's the fact that you don't need to be an expert gardener to enjoy this showstopper. Like other garden lilies, 'Nightrider' is relatively easy to grow, making it a really good choice for gardeners who want maximum visual impact without an overly complicated planting scheme.

The trick is to do the opposite of what you'd do with Wednesday Addams herself: give it a suitable sunny or lightly shaded position. Then, top it off with well-drained soil, then sit back and wait for that striking show come summertime!

Shop Gothic Blooms That Wednesday Would Love:

Votaniki Votaniki Nightrider Lily Bulbs

BULBORIUM Burgundy Dahlia Seeds

Burpee.com Chocolate Cherry Sunflower

Burpee.com Queen of Night Tulip Bulbs

Green Promise Farms Primo® Black Pearl Coral Bells

EKT Nursery Black Baccara Rose Plant Live for Planting, Deep Dark Red Rose Bush Shrub, Fragrant Flowers Vibrant Blooms, 4 to 8 Inch Tall, Ship No Pot

It goes without saying that this is a flower for those who love a little mystery, dramatic contrasts and planting that makes a statement, which is why you need to think hard about the flowers you pop it next to.

With that in mind, try pairing its almost-black blooms with silver foliage, deep burgundy flowers or soft white planting for a really striking combination that feels like something straight out of your favorite gothic romance.

Alternatively, leave it to do its Wednesday-style thing, and let it stand alone in a container where its unusual coloring can take all the attention. One thing is certain: if you're looking to introduce a little gothic glamor to your garden, this nearly black lily deserves a place on your radar.

I am confident in saying that a certain Miss Addams would absolutely approve.

If you're feeding garden birds this fall, you'll know that fat balls and suet feeders are often mobbed by dominant birds like starlings and grackles, leaving nothing for more timid feathered friends to feast upon – which is why you should also smear a little lard on a tree or fencepost. Adding fat to your bird feeding buffet is essential as temperatures fall, but small birds who need this energy-boost most often miss out. However, this quick bird-feeding trick ensures smaller, shyer nuthatches, chickadees, titmice, wrens and creepers get their fair share of high-energy fuel, because bigger birds are unable to cling to this vertical surface to feed.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Smearing lard, tallow or vegetable shortening onto a tree only takes two minutes4 but this simple addition really can make a difference to how smaller garden songbirds fare in winter. The smaller a bird is, the more vulnerable it is to freezing or starving as temperatures drop, and the more likely it is to be bullied from feeders by more aggressive birds. This fat-smear trick bypasses those bullying birds, mimicking natural foraging to tempt even cautious birds like brown creepers who are far too shy to use regular feeders.

If you like to feed birds in winter, tree-smeared lard can attract unusual visitors like woodpeckers to your yard as insects become scarce, and you'll also enjoy watching nuthatches walk headfirst down the tree trunk to enjoy their fat feast. Smearing lard on a tree also avoids the danger of smaller birds getting their tongues, claws or legs tangled in a fat-ball mesh holder. You can also easily mix birdseed into the fat to provide extra nutrients, or try our super-tasty bark butter recipe below.

How to Use the Lard-Smear Trick

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Any tree or fencepost will do, but aim for a more mature tree or older fencepost that has furrows or cracks that will hold more lard and give clinging birds a foothold. Take a golf-ball sized chunk of lard, tallow or vegetable shortening and press it onto the wood, ideally 5-6 feet high, on the shady side of the tree or post so it doesn’t melt in the sun.

Mix in a pinch of cayenne pepper to deter squirrels if needs be, as they’ll quickly learn to leave it alone while birds are unaffected by the taste and heat. Only smear enough fat on the tree for birds to finish during daylight hours to avoid attracting nocturnal scavengers like racoons and opossums. And if you live in bear country, wait until late November or December when they're in full hibernation before trying this trick.

The Right Fat to Use

You can use animal-based lard or tallow, and plant-based vegetable shortening to feed garden birds in winter using this quick trick.

Lard is cheap, full of fast energy for birds and has a soft, buttery texture so is easily pressed into bark furrows. Look for a product that’s 100% pure lard such as South Chicago Packing Lard, available from Amazon. You’ll find similar products at most grocery stores but read the ingredients list carefully: while you don’t need to worry about citric acid, avoid synthetic stabilizers like propyl gallate, BHT or BHA, commonly added to grocery-store lard to prevent it going rancid. Don't use products with added salt or sodium as birds can't process it and high levels can be fatal.

Tallow is simply suet in rendered form and, again, you need to look for a product that’s 100% tallow such as Farmer Bob’s 100% Beef Tallow, available from Amazon. It has a similar consistency to lard and has a higher nutritional value as well as being a great source of energy.

Vegetable shortening is less nutritious but it still provides a valuable high-energy boost to small songbirds in cold conditions. For regular use, an organic all-vegetable shortening such as Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening, available from Walmart is best. Unrefined and free of synthetic preservatives, it retains some nutrients and is firm enough to use for this trick. It's fine to use Crisco, also available from Walmart, if that’s what you already have in your panty, but it’s less nutritious and melts more easily so think of it as an occasional junk-food treat for birds.

If You Live in a Colder Zone

In the North, Midwest and Mountain West, temperatures are cold enough to simply smear lard or tallow straight onto the tree or post without it melting or spoiling in fall and winter. Vegetable shortening will need mixing with cornmeal to stiffen it up before using. Of course, you can still add ingredients to lard and tallow to increase the nutritional value.

If You Live in a Warmer Zone

In the South and Southwest, mild fall and winter days can be warm enough to soften lard, tallow and vegetable shortening, so mix with cornmeal to form a firmer dough before using.

The Tasty Bark Butter Recipe No Small Bird Can Resist

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While plain lard smeared onto a tree or fencepost works just fine, this no-cook recipe will tempt even the shyest feeders. Mixing a handful of natural, raw ingredients into the fat also creates a pliable dough that’s the perfect consistency to press into bark furrows in all zones.

Ingredients

• 1 cup lard, tallow or vegetable shortening
• 1 cup peanut butter with no added salt, sugar or Xylitol such as Crazy Richard’s All-Natural Creamy Peanut Butter from Walmart
• 2 cups oat flour such as Pure Oat Flour from Walmart (or put regular oatmeal into a blender and pulse for 30 seconds)
• 2 cups yellow cornmeal such as Great Value Corn Meal from Walmart

Instructions

• Leave the lard, tallow or vegetable shortening and peanut butter to soften at room temperature, then mash them together in a big bowl with a fork.
• Stir in the cornmeal and oat flour, adding a little extra cornmeal if the mixture still feels sticky, to get the consistency of a firm cookie dough.
• Shape into a log and wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight. The dough will keep for three weeks in the fridge or, once the roll has hardened, you can slice the dough into individual rounds of daily portions, wrap and freeze for up to three months.

Providing food for small, shy songbirds in this way is a useful part of a bird-food buffet in fall and winter. The more ways you can offer food, the better, from planting berried shrubs that provide a natural feast for winter birds to saving kitchen scraps for your feathered friends. Different species prefer different food types and also to feed in various ways, so using a range of bird feeders to satisfy different species is a smart move, too. Just don't forget to cater for the smallest backyard birds with this quick lard-smear trick.

Figuring out when to water houseplants seems like an easy call, right up until you're standing over a pot with the watering can. The top of the mix looks pale and dusty. You stick a finger in; it's dry, so you water. Then, a week or two later, the lower leaves go yellow, and it turns out the soil underneath was damp the whole time.

Too much water is behind a lot of the trouble people run into when watering houseplants, and fall makes it easier to get it wrong. Days are shorter now, and the light is weaker, so growth slows down, and a pot can stay wet far longer than it did back in July. Roots sitting in soggy mix can't get the air they need – and that's how rot gets started.

Your finger only reaches the first inch or so. In a deeper pot, that top layer can dry out days before the root zone does. One fix is a moisture meter, like the Yamron 4-in-1 from Amazon. They're not expensive and offer an accurate assessment of soil moisture. But another way of checking is to use a wooden chopstick – it costs nothing, if there's one left over from takeout in a drawer somewhere, and it reaches right down to where the roots are.

Why the Chopstick Trick Works

Bare wood soaks up moisture. Push an untreated chopstick or bamboo skewer down into damp potting mix, and the wood darkens wherever it touches wet soil, and crumbs of mix stick to it when you pull it out. Dry mix behaves differently. Dry particles just fall away, and the stick comes back pale and mostly clean.

Have you ever done the toothpick test on a cake? It's the same idea, just backward. With a cake you want the toothpick clean, but in a pot, a clean chopstick means the mix has dried out at that depth.

One important point: you must use plain wood for this. Lacquered or painted chopsticks shed water, so they won't darken much. A plastic one only shows you whatever soil happens to cling to it, and not much else, honestly.

(Image credit: Getty Images)How to Use the Chopstick Trick to Check Soil Moisture

Grab a clean, dry stick first. Any leftover dampness from the last check will throw off the reading. Standard chopsticks are long enough for small and medium pots, but big floor plants sit in deeper containers, and that's where 12-inch bamboo skewers come in handy. Walmart sells a pack of 100 for a few dollars.

Push the stick in partway between the main stem and the rim, straight down into the root zone. Did it hit resistance on the way? Ease off and try another spot, because forcing it through a thick mass of roots can damage them. Then leave it there, alone, for about 30 seconds to a minute so the wood has time to pick up any moisture.

Slide it out slowly and look along the whole length. If there's a dark band near the bottom with mix stuck to it, the lower part of the pot is still wet – even if the top inch came out clean.

If you still can't make sense of the stick, use a soil moisture meter or a leave-in option, like the Sustee Aquameter, which sits in the pot full-time and fades from blue to white as the mix dries. Either way, the reading only tells you what's in the pot. What you do next depends on the plant.

Reading the Results for Different Plants

A damp chopstick generally means there's still water down there, and a clean, dry one suggests the mix has dried out at the depth you tested. That isn't an automatic cue to grab the watering can, though. Peace lilies need their mix kept moist but never soggy, so water once the stick starts coming out dry through the upper part of the pot. Wait much longer, and the whole plant usually droops hard.

Pothos can go drier than that, a fair bit drier. Let the stick come out dry through a good share of the pot before you water. Snake plants and succulents go further still, and they're safest when the stick comes back clean all the way to the bottom. In winter, a snake plant may only need water every month or two. When one of them has been sitting in soggy mix for weeks, repot it into a fast-draining mix, like Miracle-Gro cactus, palm and citrus mix from Home Depot.

(Image credit: Getty Images)When the Chopstick Trick Might Not Work So Well

Chunky orchid bark is the big one. Those chunks are too coarse to stick to wood, and the bark soaks up water inside each piece rather than holding it on the surface. You can pull a clean, dry-looking chopstick out of a pot that's still plenty moist. Gritty, very coarse mixes muddle things the same way. A badly rootbound plant is tricky too, just in a different way. There's hardly any mix left between the roots, the stick won't go in easily, and water poured on top can run straight down the sides and out the drainage holes.

Use the chopstick as one clue, then. It can't measure anything precisely, so back it up with a few other checks. Pick the pot up right after a good soak and again a few days later, and you'll learn how light it feels once it's dry. Check the leaves as well. Yellowing lower leaves on a heavy pot usually point to too much water. And make sure every pot drains freely. Clear nursery pots with drainage holes, like these from Walmart, let you see roots and dark, wet mix through the side.

A calendar can't see inside a pot. If you water on the same day every week, it can go fine all summer and then start leaving roots wet for days once fall arrives and the light drops off.

Chopsticks are about as cheap as plant tools get, and one shows what's happening under the surface while watering needs shift with the seasons. Keep a dry one next to the watering can. It'll be right there the next time the soil has you guessing.