I would also go out and get some weeding done right about now to get a head start on weeds, but that just me. :) I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions...Robby

It may be getting a bit too late, but you may also want to plant some spring bulbs. Many bulbs (tulips or Crocus are perfect examples) need a period of cold before they can bloom in spring. Planting them now is a great idea for early spring color.

You can actually do this for most perennials: prune hard to the ground and mulch to protect from extreme cold. I would also rake up your leaves. This is good in case you have a lawn that you want to come back next spring and also you can use the leaves as a winter mulch instead of straw.

Hey Lauren...This is a pretty complex question actually, but I can give you some general hints to help you out. The reason why it is complex is because different plants will have different winter needs. Some plants (especially plants that are native to your region) need no special attention at all. You could merely look at them funny and they will do just fine. :) Other plants you may have to dig up and bring inside for winter. If you have some plants in your yard that are on the borderline of your cold hardiness zone, there are some things you can do to promote better chances of survival this winter. For example, roses prefer fairly warm conditions and if given warm weather year round, they would never drop their leaves. Luckily roses can grow in cold climates. This advice is meant for a garden rose that produces long canes in spring and summer. After the rose drops its leaves, cut the canes back so that they are about 1' off of the ground. Always cut a stem just above where a leaf used to be. The buds (which will turn into the new stems come spring) are tucked away in the axil of where the leaf and branch meet. If you cut below where the leaf used to be, you will also remove the bud. After pruning the roses down, place some straw over the roses to cover them. This will provide a buffer from the snow and form a tiny igloo for your roses. Instead of the the snow coming into contact with the plant tissue, it will contact the straw and form a little capsule that will be slightly warmer than the exposed environment.

As for your Caladium, I am surprised that their leaves have big chunks taken out of them. Usually if Caladiums have some type of pest problem it is with bacterial or fungal leaf spots. Also, Caladium is known for having high concentrations of oxalate in their leaves which normally causes upset stomach for "higher" animals. I wonder if you may have a slug problem. Also, caterpillars can chomp on those leaves, but that's not as common as the microbial pests. If you see any caterpillars, simply remove them from the plant. There are pesticides/insecticides available which will kill the caterpillars as well. You might also want to check to see if your Caladium is getting direct spray from either a sprinkler/hose or is directly under a water runoff of some sort. Caladiums have big, delicate leaves (as I'm sure you are aware) and can easily be ripped by physical damage. Also, just an FYI...many Caladiums will lose their leaves as winter approaches anyway. The leaves drop and the underground bulbs may come back for another growing season in spring. I hope all this info is helpful to you. Let me know if you have any further questions. Cheers...Robby

As for temperature and mums, mums are not affected by temperature when discussing if it will make the mums flower. Temperature will affect the length of time it takes for the flowers to fully develop after the mums have already started the blooming process. Naturally, the colder the temperatures, the longer it will take for the blooms to fully develop. Also, very low temperatures can cause the blooms to develop poorly or even arrest their development.

If I were you, I would remove the spent blooms off of your mums. If they don't receive any type of artificial light during night, they should be blooming once again shortly (could be a couple of months though).

Hey Jacquelyn...Mums come in a variety of forms, but I'm guessing that you are growing exhibition mums which technically are perennial plants. This means they grow for several growing seasons. This also means that they should flower season after season. Luckily, horticulturalists are very aware of how to get mums to flower: mums need long nights to bloom. Fortunately, for you the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer, so your mums should bloom on their own. In greenhouses, mum growers will pull shade cloth over their growing mums to make the mums "think" the nights are long. Mums can be fooled into thinking that the nights are not long if there is even a small amount of light that breaks up a long period of dark. For example, a lit porch or lights from inside the house that shine on your mums can break up the long night needed to induce flowering.

I hope this information was helpful. Be sure to contact me if you have any other questions. Happy Gardening!!!! Robby

The one last thing that I do want to point out is this...Perilla are annual plants. This means that your Perilla was going to die off anyway. Annual plants will live for only 1 growing season. (This is a general statement...there are ways to prolong the life of an annual, but it requires a good amount of work to keep them going.) Perilla are mostly propagated by seed in spring. If I were you, I would probably let the Perilla go through it's natural course, but be sure to pick up some seeds for next spring.