A sunny window can grow your herbs all winter
It is time to start thinking about the indoor herb garden. Before frost, carefully lift and pot small herb plants or large perennials such as rosemary or lemon verbena to bring inside.
After lifting them from the ground, you may want to keep them outside for a few days in a partially shaded spot with even moisture. This will help them adjust to a move indoors.
The shock from moving plants from outside to inside can cause some yellowing of leaves. Once inside, keep the herbs in a sunny window.
• Plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas that prefer acidic soil conditions can benefit from an application of granular sulfur to the soil in fall.
If your blue hydrangeas have turned pink, then sulfur applications may return the flower color to blue. Avoid contact with the sulfur by wearing latex gloves and keeping dust out of your eyes.
Apply to the soil and gently scratch in. Sulfur works slowly in the soil and repeated applications may be necessary from year to year.
• Peonies are dependable, long-living, hardy perennials. Their neat foliage stays green from spring until frost, and follows large, showy blooms. They do best in full sun, although they can tolerate partial shade. Flowering is reduced if placed in the shade.
September is a good time to plant peonies as well as divide and transplant existing ones. Lift roots carefully and use a sharp tool to cut the large, fleshy roots into smaller pieces. Be careful not to make these pieces too small — each section should have at least three eyes.
The eyes are reddish growing buds that emerge from the top of the roots. You will find them in spring and fall. Set these divisions an inch or two below ground.
• Be aware of the weather as you spray to control weeds late in the fall. Herbicides are most effective when temperatures are consistently above 55 degrees and weeds are actively growing. Spot spray the weeds to minimize the amount of herbicide you use.
• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.