As fall is in full swing, the leaves are still falling, the squirrels have already eaten most of the dogwood tree red berries (they’re supposed to wait until early spring!), acorns are keeping the birds happy and the squirrels, mocking birds are stealing the Pyracantha berries (again supposed to wait until spring!), day lily blooming in November (strictly only an early summer bloomer), still no killing frost on this 16th day of November! Roses blooming now 10 months out of 12! WOW! Times they are a changing!

1. By your roses from a trustworthy nursery! No bare root planting yourself! You won’t succeed!

2. Cut back your roses at Valentine’s Day week! All the way back to 16 inches! Otherwise they put on such heavy growth they’ll fall over with new blooms next spring! Found that out the hard way! Live and Learn!

3. Plant Ginkgo trees early in your life!!! They are slow growers but oh so beautiful! Allow 15-20 years for a spectacular tree! Plant several! They make a fantastic fall show of yellow leaves around Thanksgiving week!

4. Plant crinums, Amaryllis, day lilies, tree lilies, angel trumpets, roses of course (Knock Outs if you’re new to roses). After you get good at it try Easy Does It, Julia Childs, Ginger Snap! Ginger lilies! White, yellow, red!

5. Mulch everything this month with pine straw!

Go outside a lot! Look up at the clouds! Breathe in deeply! Smell the roses! Smell the ginger!

Give thanks for being alive to enjoy the bounties of this earth!