Providing Expert Advice
For the Home Gardener
Notes from my Garden: November
“In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures”
As I write, the rain is pounding on the windows and taking the last of the leaves from the trees. November is probably my least favourite month - cold, dark, dreary and wet. And little likelihood of gardening for more than five months. Sigh... Though I still have a few bulbs left to put in and some native plant seeds to plant.
Many native plant seeds (and other perennials) need a period of cold to germinate. This is referred to as cold stratification. Many seeds do not fully ripen until fall and may not have time to get established before winter, so they require a period of dormancy. Cold stratification helps to breakdown or soften the tough seed coat so that come spring, as the weather warms, the seed is able to break dormancy, germinate and sprout. There are two ways of using cold stratification. You can plant the seeds outside in the fall or even in the winter so they receive several months of cold, moist (think snow) weather. Alternatively, store the seeds in a damp paper towel placed inside a plastic bag in the fridge. Outside sowing is generally more reliable and easier. Be sure to label what you have sown and where! Some common native plants that require cold stratification are Echinacea, Milkweed, Blue Lobelia, St Johns Wort, Anise Hyssop, Fireweed, Joe Pyeweed. If you are collecting seeds, a rule of thumb is to take no more than 10% from any plant.
We recently put bird feeders up for the winter and I'm enjoying watching the finches, jays, chickadees and woodpeckers coming to visit. Not only do the finches and chickadees visit the feeder, they are also sampling the seed heads I've left in my garden. Rudbeckia daisies are a favourite! As I mentioned last month, I don't “clean up” my garden but let it naturally wither and decompose over the winter. In the spring, I'll do some cleanup when the pollinators and other insects have vacated their winter residence - only when the temperatures are consistently above 10 degrees Celsius. When that is in April or May depends on the weather. This year, it was well into May before the weather warmed up!
Grey County Master Gardeners are busy organizing our popular Winter Seminar series. These zoom talks are free though you must register as we have a limit of 500 attendees. See our events section for details, coming soon. As always, there is lots of resource material available on our website as well. November is a good time to read and research.
Happy Gardening!
Susan Cox, Group Coordinator
Grey County Master Gardeners
Part of an international non-profit community service network, Grey County Master Gardeners is a group of approximately 20 trained horticulturists who volunteer their time to provide advice to home gardeners in the Grey and Bruce area. This is accomplished by providing info to the public in various forms, including in person or virtual, through presentations, clinics and workshops, or through written work such as articles, posts, blogs or social media.
All Master Gardeners have successfully completed university horticultural studies and must meet ongoing continuing education requirements to make sure that our advice to gardeners is based on current horticultural knowledge.
There are over 25 local Master Gardener groups in Ontario, focusing on sustainable gardening information for the public. There are also Master Gardener groups in many provinces, most states and in some international locations. More information about the Provincial organization can be found at (MGOI – Motivating and Inspiring Gardeners in Ontario).
Not in Grey County? Don’t despair. You can find your local MG groups, including Toronto, Guelph, Collingwood and others, at www.mgoi.ca.
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Established in 1996, Grey County Master Gardeners are part of the province-wide Master Gardeners of Ontario (MGOI). Grey County Master Gardeners are trained volunteers who offer non-biased, science-based horticultural information and advice to home gardeners and community groups in both Grey and Bruce Counties.
Our Vision
An Eco-Responsible focus in the garden
Our Values
We believe in the importance of having an eco-responsible focus when gardening. This means we encourage gardening practices that enhance biodiversity, mitigate against climate change, are healthy for the environment and support human health. As a group, we prefer consensus whenever possible, however there are times when a majority rules. We value inclusiveness, collaboration, engagement of community and cooperation.
