Winter Garden Tutorial

Just because summer is gone doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to gorgeous blossoms. Here are five tips for a glorious winter garden that will take you into spring.

1 Plant a ground cover. Go with a flowering variety like sun-loving gazanias or trailing African daisy. Or opt for a native variety like the trailing manzanita or the evergreen currant, both of which like shade.

2 From shrubs to perennials, plant like crazy. Now is the time. The idea with late fall/early winter planting is to get plants into the ground in time for rainy season, which usually begins in November.

3 At the nursery, select cool season flowers that will last through the winter and into spring. Why wait until April to plant when you can enjoy blossoms from December through May? Great choices include calendula, cineraria, columbine, coral bells, cyclamen, delphinium, dianthus, foxglove, Iceland poppy, johnny-jump-up, sweet William and viola. Feed them regularly.

4 November is the time to plant California natives. Go for varieties that are drought-resistant (not all natives are) to minimize your water bill.

5 Plant bulbs to blossom in spring including anemones, daffodils, Dutch irises, grape hyacinths and ranunculus. Wait until late December or early January to plant tulips, hyacinths and crocuses.