I felt halfway over my cold today, when the weather was supposed to be the highest in a while, 42 F, and even kind of sunny. After a few non-postponable family commitments, I put on a scarf, hat, and down coat and headed out at 2 pm to make tracks before the sun went down at four. Dashing back and forth between the garage and the back yard assembling tools and my huge tray of bulbs, I chortled, "It doesnÂt even FEEL cold!" I decided to start with the little bulbs like chionodoxa that needed shallow 3 inch holes, thinking once I got those done I would feel a great sense of accomplishment. Then I started digging my first little hole. I thought, "WhatÂs that yucky white mold under the mulch?" and plunged my trowel in. Or not. (Did I hit a rock? Move trowel over, try againÂ) Nothing happened. The trowel did not go in even an inch. ThatÂs when I realized the funny looking white stuff was not mold, but ICE CRYSTALS. The ground was already frozen! In mid-November! IÂve planted later than this before! How can this be??? I got a pickaxe and managed to plant maybe 50 before the sun was too far down to continue. That is, if you can call it "planting" when you put a chunk of frozen dirt on top of a bulb and canÂt press it down knowing that if you do, you will crush the bulb. 3 inch deep hole, hah. Those chionodoxa are an inch down if anything. 50 down, 650 to goÂ.ItÂs supposed to snow tomorrow.

"To get sweet pea flowers for Christmas, plant the seeds on Labor Day". That's the old saying. And it works. Also, sweet peas can be planted anytime bewteen end of October (I like to wait until the Santa Anas pass) and into January. Freesias (and other South African and most "Mediterranean" bulbs) are best planted in fall. If you're talking about bearded iris (rather than bulbous iris such as Dutch iris), it's best to move them or plant them 8-12 weeks after they finish blooming. Or, if you're faced with the reality that dormantlike bulbs are available in the fall only, you plant them in the fall. Joe

I helped a neighbor plant some perennials on Saturday that I had overwintered for her. They should be fine if planted now. And I'm in a slightly cooler zone (6b)than you.

You have the right idea in using the hot summer months for cleaning and preparing, I do the same and limit my time outdoors. Flowers are a good way to start, at this time you would do great with cuttings if you can get some. Some of the easy flowers from seed are marigolds, zinnias, and they keep coming back in the same spots, when colder you can try nasturtiums. Strawberries are not that easy because they can get buggy, I always pick them in the organic farm near my house, if you are close to Plant City you can do the same. I visited a house in Tampa from a gardening friend and he had some very tasty wild strawberries, he said they were from seed and gave me some, I would consider growing those because you cannot buy them. If you are planning to grow winter squash, your best bet would be an acorn variety like Table Dainty, they do well and are tasty. Silvia