This month doesn’t have a lot of inside or outside gardening chores for those of us in zone 5 or 6, and it’s probably a blessing, since the holidays create busy-ness of their own. But there are a few things to keep in mind as you go about your preparations for celebrations.

November isn’t a busy month in the garden, but use the occasional nice days to finish up tasks that you may have put off.

You can still get some of those spring bulbs in the ground before it freezes. Lilies should be in by now, but things like tulips, crocus, and daffodils will be just fine. Many stores have specials on them now, so stock up and get planting! You’ll be glad you made the effort when spring arrives!

Though many of us hate to see it come, winter is on the way, but not before we enjoy the lovely, crisp autumn days of October.

Now is the time to plant those spring-blooming bulbs such as tulips, crocus, daffodils, and hyacinths. It’s easy to tuck them into spaces between perennials and at the foot of ornamental trees. The more the merrier – in spring, anyway – when they’re all in bloom!

The garden is taking a definite turn for the season in September. This can be a good thing! It’s the time for fall beauties to shine – things like mums and asters, toad lilies and goldenrod. The black-eyed Susans are in full bloom and many plants that looked tired in the hot days of August perk up in the cooler days of fall.

It’s about this time of the summer when I get tempted to rip everything out of the garden and give up for the year. Usually, we need rain and some of the plants are starting to suffer the effects of that, coupled with the heat. August is a transition from summer into fall, and it takes a bit more work to keep things looking good.

These are the salad days of summer! Guests at your 4th of July picnics and barbecues will enjoy the harvest from your fruit and vegetable gardens and you can use the cut flowers to decorate your tables, inside and out.

May was wonderful, but June is downright delightful. We’re seeing the fruits of our labors this month. Salads fresh from the garden are in order, as lettuce and spinach can be cut. Growth is lush in the flower gardens too, having been given a good start with spring rains. And now comes the warmth that really brings out the best in the perennials and warm season vegetables. Spring chores are behind us, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do.

There may be no better days in the garden than those in May. It’s alive with color and verdant with fresh spring shades of foliage. The sweltering days of summer have yet to arrive, so most activities in the May garden are pure pleasure.

This begins the season we’ve all been waiting for. Though we started some gardening activities last month, April will be the one that helps you sleep well every night. The fresh spring air and all that great exercise in the garden do a body good!

Outside activity picks up in March as the garden awakens from its long winter nap. Spring bulbs are beginning to bloom – snowdrops, crocus, chionodoxa, and others – and leaf buds are swelling and beginning to open on shrubs and trees.

February is an exciting month! Before it’s finished, you may begin seeing the earliest signs of spring. For sure, winter still has some tricks up its sleeve, but Mother Nature reminds us not to give up hope and spring will be here soon.