My new favorite book is Cool Flowers by Lisa Mason Ziegler (St. Lynn's Press). The subtitle of Ziegler's book is How to Grow and Enjoy Long-Blooming Hardy Annual Flowers Using Cool Weather Techniques. That's a long description, but with autumn upon us and winter around the corner, this little book explains how to get a head start on next spring's flowers with minimal effort.

Cool Flowers focuses on hardy annuals. Their seeds can handle a light frost or freeze and will germinate at the earliest opportune time. In warm areas, some will self-sow at the end of the season and some act like perennials.  

Clove-scented sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) in spiraled florets, cat-faced pansies, deep blue and yellow violas, bells of Ireland (Moluccella laevis)with their chartreuse bracts and colorful snapdragons are all considered hardy annuals. Often planted in spring as early as the ground can be worked, hardy annuals can also be sown in the fall. In that case, they will grow through winter and develop root systems ready for fast growth and early bloom in spring.  

Ziegler highlights 30 hardy annuals that can all be sown now. What caught my attention about many of these flowers is that I have never been successful growing them from seed before.  

Each page highlights a different flower, describing sun needs, height, spacing and even deer resistance. Ziegler also explains how to cut the first flower to keep blossoms coming all season long. This is helpful information for those of us who resist cutting first blossoms. Understanding which flowers benefit from frequent cutting, like snapdragons and yarrow, and which are one- blossom wonders, makes cutting and enjoying abundant flowers easy and almost a duty.  

The author also discusses how to prepare beds and keep soil healthy, how to use row covers for temperature and bug control, and how to prepare and preserve cut flowers for maximum vase life.

Cool Flowers was the incentive I needed to finish cleaning out my summer beds. I amended the beds generously with oak leaves and compost to prepare them for successful fall sowing and spring reaping.

After clearing, weeding and amending your spent beds, mark the areas you will be planting. I laughed when I read that one of the author's most important lessons was how essential signage is. Those of us who have struggled to label plants, only to find the names eventually faded or deteriorated beyond usefulness, can relate.  More signage is better than less. As certain as you are that you will remember what you planted, it is a rare gardener who actually can.

A professional flower grower, Ziegler also realized that straight rows are easier to identify and maintain when seedlings are tiny and competing with weeds than more artistically arranged plantings. That said, you don't need to observe straight lines if you are seeding an entire bed with a single flower type. When germination starts, get to know your seedlings so weeding is not counterproductive.

Cool Flowers separates hardy annuals into four categories requiring different treatment at seeding time. Flowers sown outdoors and covered with soil and compost include bachelor buttons (Centaurea cyanus); delicate but hardy corn cockle (Agrostemma githago), love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) and sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus).  Others, like false Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota), ornamental kale (Brassica oleracea), pansies and violas, are better sown indoors and lightly covered with soil.

Sweet William and Canterbury bells (Campanula medium) should be sown indoors, the seed pressed gently into the soil but left uncovered. Transplant seedlings into the garden in a month or two. Bells of Ireland, feverfew, foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Iceland poppies, strawflowers and yarrow can all be sown directly into prepared beds outdoors. Do not cover the seed. That type sounds easiest to me.

This year I will also be sowing poppies of all kinds, including Iceland poppies, our California native poppies and the whimsical nodding breadseed poppies (Papaver somniferum). Colorful strawflowers for cutting throughout summer, white lace flower (Orlaya grandiflora)and even godetia (Clarkea amoena), also called farewell to spring, can be sown in prepared beds and left uncovered through the cool months, first to bloom with the warmth of spring.

Ziegler reminds us that gardening is an experiment, so keep notes of what flowers and planting dates work for you. Try different flowers in different places and let winter work its magic on your spring flower garden.

 Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.

Suddenly it feels like winter. Well, not really, but the mornings are definitely brisk now and the days have cooled off. We've had a smidgen of rain. Plants have stopped blooming. What are the butterflies and bees to do?

Any poor bees and butterflies still in my garden will have to look elsewhere for nectar. But I want to fix this problem so that, next fall, I will still have some blooms for my pollen-loving friends.

I fear the drought is not behind us, so I have been looking at seeds for drought-tolerant native plants that continue blooming into fall. Native plants and our native bees, butterflies and other fauna evolved together and have adapted to our winter rains and dry summers. My water comes from a well, and because I can't see what is going on down there, I am very frugal with it.

Bees and butterflies like flowers with flat heads that make it easy to gather nectar. Sunflowers are a good example. My plan is to scatter their seeds in different areas of my garden after a rain and stomp them into the ground. Then, I hope, they will not blow away and the birds will not find them before they have a chance to sprout. However, I have noticed that those cute little quail that I have invited to live in my yard are eating the tops off of some tender plants, so I will have to use floating row cover to protect the seedlings.  

After reading about the nectar plants that bees and butterflies favor, I have gathered seeds for tansy, wild senna, meadow rue, yarrow, bee balm, prairie blazing star and sea holly. Some of these are annuals and may reseed if I just let the seeds drop.

I also plan to increase the amount and varieties of milkweed (Asclepias)I have in the garden. Their flower heads are the shape that most small bees and all butterflies appreciate. And the different types bloom at different times during spring and summer. The native Asclepias speciosa grows tall and blooms in early summer. As its flowers fade and its leaves get tougher, the butterflies move to later-blooming varieties for nectar and egg laying. Asclepias fascicularis (narrow-leaf milkweed) blooms in late July and August. The bees love those flowers, too.  

Hot Lips sage (Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips') is a favorite of bumblebees. I started with a single one-gallon plant when this variety first debuted and now I have four huge plants in my garden. It needs little water and blooms almost all summer. When I visited the arboretum in Dublin, Ireland, last June, I was surprised to see it growing there. I have other salvias, too, but they do not bloom as long as ‘Hot Lips'.  

Others have told me that Asclepias curvassiva, a tropical milkweed, has naturalized in some Napa Valley gardens. It has also played host to many Monarch butterflies. The plants die down in winter and renew in the spring from self-seeding. Most bees and butterflies like its nectar. Another popular milkweed isAsclepias fruticosa, sometimes called swan milkweed because of the shape of the seed pods.  

Free Tree Walk: Join U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County on Saturday, October 22, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., for a guided tree walk through the lovely Alameda of Trees at the Yountville Veterans Home. Established in 1884, the Veterans Home has a unique and diverse tree collection. These majestic mature specimen trees are a focal point in the lives of the men and women who live there. Come learn more about these wonderful trees. Meet at the parking lot of the Napa Valley Museum on the Veterans Home grounds, 260 California Drive, Yountville.

Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.

By Denise Levine, U. C. Master Gardener of Napa County    

October is a colorful month filled with ripe but dwindling summer produce. Tomatoes are at their reddest, hoarded and appreciated; peppers are hot crimson and sweetly gold. Cucumbers are finally big, but the vines are slowing down. Squash and melon plants have sprawled and are looking spent and ready to come out.  

But the first peas are big enough to pick, figs both black and white are ripe for the picking, and days are cool enough that lettuce and radishes are beginning to thrive again.  

Pull out your bare-root fruit tree catalogs or call local nurseries for lists of the trees they will be offering this winter. Take advantage of October's mild days to prepare holes for the apple, peach, plum and pear trees you want to purchase bare-root in January, when the soil may be too waterlogged. You will thank yourself in January if you do this work now. Then your rainy-season planting will be easy and successful.

October is also a good month to order compost and have it delivered. Heavy trucks will compact softened, rain-soaked soils and leave you with deep ruts to remember them by.

Are we getting at least an inch of rain a week this month? If not, continue watering shrubs and plants. Feed citrus and other shrubs such as azalea and camellia. They are all prone to chlorosis (yellowing) from iron deficiency. A trip to your favorite nursery or garden center for chelated iron may be in order.  

Yellowing in other leafy plants is often a sign of nitrogen deficiency. Diluted fish emulsion, applied with a watering can, will typically “green up” leafy plants and give them a new flush of growth. But as winter approaches, the Master Gardener Month-to-Month Guide recommends feeding the vegetable garden one more time with an ammonium form of nitrogen to reduce leaching when the rains come. Your garden center can show you the options.

Are you lucky enough to have a big garden or good-sized beds? Are you replenishing this soil with cover crops yet? If you now have bare beds that produced melons, corn or other crops all summer, consider planting a cover crop to grow through winter.

Cover crops, also called green manures, protect your soil from erosion caused by winter rains. They pull up minerals deep in the soil, making them accessible to future crops. And they serve as a living mulch, smothering weeds, creating habitat for worms and other soil-forming organisms and providing pleasing visual texture through cold gray months.

For your green manure, consider fava beans, golden mustard with its sunny yellow blooms, or oats or barley planted with clover. University of California Cooperative Extension has helpful information on cover cropping for the home gardener (http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/5842/25997.pdf). Plant cover crops now so they can grow through winter. In spring, till them into the soil. Three weeks later, the green biomass will have decomposed and the beds will be ready to plant.

Clean up your vegetable and flower garden this month and eliminate hiding places for pests and diseases. Rake up and discard fallen fruits and vegetables and spent annuals like zinnias and sunflowers. Start a new compost pile. Making these efforts now will mean fewer hiding places for snails and slugs and new soil for your garden when you need it next spring.

Now is a good time to dig up and divide crowded perennials like Shasta daisies, agapanthus, nepeta, daylilies or echinacea. Give extra plants to friends for their gardens, or expand your own beds.

If your dahlias look unhappy, let them die back and then gently dig them up and store them where they will not freeze. Keep them dry; do not wash them off or they could rot or become diseased before replanting in spring.

Chrysanthemums are still in their full autumn glory. Whether you cut them by the armfuls for indoor bouquets or enjoy them outside, examine them closely for aphids. If you spot these pests, wash them off with a good blast of water from your hose or spray bottle. Repeat diligently until you no longer spy them.

Continue planting your vegetable garden. Sow seeds of fava beans, carrots, spinach, lettuce and arugula, and plant seedlings of cabbages, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. All of these brassicas appreciate a floating row cover to thwart moths, aphids, birds and critters.  

Native Plant Sale: U.C. Master Gardeners of Napa County will have an information table at the California Native Plant Society Napa Chapter's plant sale on Saturday, October 15, and Sunday, October 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Martha Walker Native Garden in Skyline Park in Napa. Volunteers from both organizations will help you choose the right native plants for any spot in your garden. The preview party for CNPS members and guests is Friday, October 14, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Skyline Park.

Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.

I have a shovel obtained from a friend who inherited it from his grandfather. Since the 1800's this shovel has been used in many gardens, and it still sees regular action around my house. It is proof of the longevity of a high-quality, well-cared-for tool.

I've not always been the best at keeping my tools in optimal shape. But in recent years, I've begun to understand that taking a little time to care for your tools actually saves work time in the garden. Dulled, dirty tools add time to tasks. Besides, good tools are not inexpensive. So I'm taking action these days to treat my tools as the friends they are.

Late fall and winter are quieter in the garden, allowing time to look over your garden tools and giving them a little TLC. Here are four steps to follow:

First, clean that dirt off your tools. Use a putty knife or steel wool to clean off clumps of dirt and mud. Then wash with a hose. Turpentine works well to remove sap. Light rust can be removed with a wire brush or steel wool. If the rust is extensive, try soaking the blades or tines in white vinegar for up to 24 hours. Rubbing with crumbled aluminum foil or a rough cloth should remove the rusted crust.

Next, oil any metal parts to protect them from moisture. Pivots on shears, loppers and scissors should be given a light spray of WD-40. Fill a large container, such as a five-gallon bucket, with sand. Soak the sand with oil. Many gardeners have used motor oil, but I prefer using vegetable oil so I won't pollute my soil.

Push the blade in and out of the sand a few times. If your bucket is large enough, you can leave the tool in the oiled sand until the next time you use it. Wipe the blade with a rough cloth, such as burlap, when you remove it.

Now inspect your tools' handles. Replace any that have become loose or cracked. There is not much you can do to repair a cracked handle. Smooth a rough wood handle with medium-grade sandpaper if needed. Then rub the handle with linseed oil. Let the oil soak in for an hour and them wipe off before storing the tool.

Finally, sharpen any blades that have become dull or nicked. Be sure to don safety glasses to protect your eyes. One metal filing in your eye can cause irreversible damage. Wear heavy leather or cloth gloves to protect your hands. Using a vise is not necessary but can make the task much easier.

From a hardware store, purchase a high-quality mill file that is about one inch wide by about ten inches long. A handle is not essential but a nice feature.

When restoring the bevel on a shovel or trowel, stroke away from your body at the same angle that the tool had originally. A sharper angle is not helpful because it will usually dull quickly and is more prone to nicks.

Clamp your shovel in a downward position and push the file away from your body on the scoop side moving from the center across to the side. Once the bevel has been restored on the scoop, flip the shovel in the vise and remove any burrs created on the other side of the blade by lightly filing towards the handle or using fine sandpaper. For a hoe, use the same technique but create your bevel moving from the outside edge.

Finally, store those tool friends properly. Keeping them dry is critical. Hang them on a pegboard wall or insert them in a bucket of oiled sand. A horse trough filled with oiled sand could be an attractive addition to a rain-protected storage area and would hold a large number of tools.

Now sit back, relax and look at all those tools ready for your next garden adventure. Pat yourself on the back and enjoy the warm glow of another gardening task well done.

Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.