Crystal Rennicke

With Thanksgiving only days away have you thought about taking your turkey to the backyard this year? Click here for some recipes for grilling your Thanksgiving dinner.

And even though the weather is getting cooler, there are still things to do out back. See our regional checklists for things to get your garden ready for winter.

Along with the flurry of the holiday season, we’re excited to announce a giveaway for Birds & Blooms and Backyard Living. Starting December 1st, we’re giving away over $20,000 worth of great prizes. Visit our web site for more details.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, please use this link to sign up for yourself.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
--Crystal

READ ON TO DISCOVER...

• Plant of the Month
• Yard Smarts
• Question of the Month
• December Regional Checklist
• Frugal Gardener Tip of the Month
• Submit Your Story

Plant of the Month

Gaillardia Commotion’s™ Frenzy or Tizzy
Botanical name: Gaillardia Commotion™ ‘Frenzy’ and ‘Tizzy’
Hardiness: Still to be determined.
Size: 18 to 24 inches high; 24 inches wide.
Light needs: Full sun.
Soil: Moderate-fertility, well-draining.
Featuring: Bold color with continual flushes of bloom until first hard frosts (may even persist until Halloween or Thanksgiving in some regions!).
Growing advice: Remove spent flowers for continual bloom. Trim back to 2 to 3 inches above ground in early spring. 

Click here for more information and how to order.

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Yard Smarts

Winter “Window Boxes”
I have several outdoor bonsai plants that I’m careful to protect over our cold Utah winter. So I place them in a wooden box, surround them with dry leaves and put them in a window well with a Plexiglas cover.

To monitor the temperature, I install a thermometer that sends a signal inside the house. The temperature rarely dips below 29°, even when it’s -10° outside. This technique has helped my bonsais to survive the winter. –Linda Farr, West Jordan, Utah

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‘Magic Carpet’ spirea

Question of the Month

Q: Can you suggest some smaller shrub varieties that are not evergreens and that are low on maintenance? –Paul Kaser, Liberty, Indiana

Melinda: Lucky for you, nurseries are now selling a wider variety of small-scale plants. Whatever plants you pick, be sure they match the growing conditions for the available planting space.

For full sun, try ‘Frosty’ potentilla. This heat-and drought-tolerant plant produces white blooms throughout the summer and grows to only 2 feet tall.

For part shade to full sun, two weigela varieties come to mind. ‘Midnight Wine’ has purple foliage and pink flowers on a 12- to 18-inch-tall plant. The little larger (3- to 4-foot) ‘Dark Horse’ weigela has magenta flowers and bronze foliage. In hotter climates, be sure to provide a bit of afternoon shade for these plants.

Spireas tolerate full sun to partial shade. ‘Magic Carpet’ (right) produces pinkish purple flowers from late spring through summer. This 18- to 24-inch plant is covered with red-tipped, golden green foliage that turns bronze in fall. Summer-blooming ‘Little Princess’ spirea has rose-pink flowers on a 2- to 3-foot-tall plant, and ‘Dwarf Alpine’ has similar flowers on a 12- to 18-inch plant.

Sun-loving ‘Coral Beauty’ cotoneaster produces showy white flowers in spring, coral-red fruit that persists into winter and glossy foliage that develops a purple tinge in fall. All of this interest is packed on a 2-foot plant.

See more of Melinda’s answers

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December Regional Checklist

Shorter days and cooler weather mean busy, but bountiful, days for gardeners across the country. In most areas, fall harvest is in full swing. It’s also a good time to tidy up the yard and garden.

• Northeast
• Northwest
• Southwest
• Central
• Southeast

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Frugal Gardener Tip of the Month

Nifty Sifter
We try not to use chemicals in our vegetable garden but, on occasion, it’s necessary to keep the bugs away. To disperse it evenly and in small amounts, I bout a flour sifter at a yard sale and put insecticide dust inside. All you need to do is squeeze the handle, and it sifts just the right amount of insecticide on the plants. But make sure you label it and keep it away from your kitchen. –Charleen Dew, Springfield, Tennesee

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Step Back to the Victory Era!

The editors of Reminisce magazine bring you Reminisce Through the Decades: The 1940s, a 6-hour-plus, three-DVD set of real-life stories from the ’40s! For more information, go to www.reminisce.com.

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