A winter garden has its own quiet appeal. This serene corner is at the Clovis Botanical Garden. (Photo: Jeannette Warnert)

Tasks

• Monitor ground moisture, especially in beds and under eaves and patios.
• Store unused fertilizers and pesticides in a dry place.
• Dig and divide overcrowded dahlia tubers and store in a cool, dry place. Replant in late February.

Pruning

• Remove dead foliage and stems from dormant perennials.
• Prune junipers during cool weather to prevent sunburn.
• Prune and trellis caneberries.

Fertilizing

• Feed cool weather plants and vegetables.

Planting

• The time for fall planting is coming to an end.
• Order bare-root roses and perennials from gardening websites or catalogs.
• Fruits and vegetables: Lettuce, peas, edible pod peas - plant from seed or six-packs.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: fig, walnut (Juglans), crabapple (Malus).
• Annuals: larkspur (Consolida), flowering kale.

Enjoy now

• Annuals and perennials: cyclamen, dianthus.
• Bulbs, corms, tubers: paperwhite (Narcissus).
• Trees, shrubs, vines: barberry (Berberis).
• Fruits and vegetables: cauliflower, comice pears.

Things to ponder

• Enjoy the quiet of the winter garden.
• At the end of the month, apply dormant oil spray to deciduous fruit with copper fungicides, to control shot hole disease on twigs.
• Avoid overhead irrigation if frost is expected.

Historic frost dates

• Zone 8: November 15 through March 15
• Zone 9: December 15 through February 15