Perennial, Annual & Bulb


	Ornamental kale should be doing well in the cool, rainy weather of November. Remove leaves that collect around kale and feed the plants. Keep the soil mulched. Watch for pests, such as worms, that attack kale and other cool weather annuals.

Kale actually is a vegetable, and can be used as food for the winter table. Look up some recipes and try it for a new taste. No need to dig up the plant. Just pull off the number of leaves needed for the recipe.

If you are just planting kale at the beginning of November, place the heads in close bunches for a more dramatic color effect. Rows or groupings of purple kale interspersed with rows or designs of the more leafy green-and-cream colored kale present a lovely winter garden scene.

In cleaned-up flowerbeds, till the soil and add organic matter, which will decay over the winter and add nutrients for next spring and summer's plantings.

November Tips for Bulbs

Finish planting spring-flowering bulbs as soon as possible, before rain and cold make the work unpleasant or too difficult. November is a good month to plant tulips. Remember to add soil amendments and fertilizer, such as bone meal to the planting soil.

You can still successfully plant daffodils, crocus, snowdrops, hyacinth, iris and other spring blooming bulbs.

Dig and store tender bulbs, such as cannas, dahlias, gladiolus and others. Store these in a dark, cool, dry area in containers of sawdust or other moisture-absorbing material.

November Tips for Perennials

It is too late for the planting of most perennials, except peonies, oriental poppies, balloon flower and hollyhock. Other perennials are more shallow-rooted and are better planted in spring.

Mulch perennial borders and beds. This helps prevent heaving during the winter and also stops the soil from warming up too much during premature “heat waves” in February and March, which will cause too-early sprouting.

Some hardy chrysanthemums and asters will still be blooming. Let them fade naturally and leave flowers and foliage on the plants over the winter. You can remove them in the spring. Light mulch, such as straw or hay, will provide protection; or you can dig a few clumps and store the roots over the winter. These perennials should be divided in the spring.

Prepare hybrid roses for the onslaught of winter. Cut back tall canes to about 24 inches, but do not prune roses at this time. Mound loose earth –not heavy clay soil – around and over the bushes. Then apply mulch over the rose bed.

Remove young climbing roses from trellises. Peg them to the ground and cover with soil. Older ones may be wrapped in straw and held in place with burlap. Older roses growing on fences and walls can be left to fend for themselves.

Roses may be set out this month, provided they are strong and dormant plants. Few such are available at this time in the Midwest. Roses planted in November should be watered thoroughly and pruned to about 12 inches high, mounded with soil and mulched, as with established roses.

Most of the following will bloom sporadically until frost and continuous cold temperatures:

Anthemis (Golden Marguerite)	Aster (Hardy)	Coreopsis (Tickseed)	Cupid's Dart (Catanache)
Echinacea	Chrysanthemum	Daylily	Delphinium
Felicia (Blue Daisy)	Fleabane (Erigeron)	Helianthus (Perennial Sunflower)	Heliopsis (Oxeye)
Liatris (Gay Feather)	Potentilla (Cinquefoil)	Rudbeckia	Hollyhock

Dividing, seeding and transplanting

Some perennials can still be seeded or divided and transplanted in November. However, the weather is quickly changing, so sooner the better. With small seedlings or root cuttings, wait until spring. Here is a list of some of the plants that can be handled this month:

Plant Name	How to Propagate
Adonis	seed outdoors
Anchusa (Catchfly)	seed outdoors, or will reseed itself
Artemesia (Silver Mound)	root divisions, seed outdoors, or take stem cuttings to over-winter indoors
Brunnera (Siberian Forget-Me-Not)	seed outdoors
Candy Tuft (Iberis)	seed outdoors
Chinese Lantern (Physalis)	root division
Coral Bells (Heuchera)	root division
Coreopsis (Tickseed)	seed outdoors
Chrysanthemum	buy nursery stock and transplant
Daylily	root division
Dianthus (Pinks/Sweet William)	seed outdoors or take stem cuttings to over-winter
Fleabane (Erigeron)	root division or transplant nursery stock
Hosta (Funkia/Plantain Lily)	seed outdoors or divide crowns
Iris	plant rhizomes
Lungwort (Pulmonaria)	seed outdoors
Lychnis (Maltese Cross)	seed outdoors
Myosotis	bulbs
Pansy viola)	nursery stock or seed outdoors
Peony	root division
Rudbeckia Coneflower/Echinacea)	seed outdoors or root division
Oriental Poppy	seed outdoors or root division, or plant nursery stock
Scabiosa Pincushion Flower)	seed outdoors or root division
Shasta Daisy	root division
Spurge	root division
Stokesia Stokes' Aster )	root division