Well, you don't even wanna leave glads out in a pot over the winter, they won't make it. You may wanna try up on a shelf in one of your closets. Usually they are cooler areas. Just to see, you could take a thermometer today stick it in the closet on the shelf, and check it every 6 hrs or so..write down the temps every time you check. If it doesnt go over 65, it'll work out well. Check the temps now, while its still cold so you can get a general idea for next winter. What you will wanna do in the fall, after the first frost kills the leaves, cut the stalks down to about 6". Gently dig up the bulbs, now you have that 6" handle to gently pull the bulb out. If you want you can label the bulbs with a Sharpie/permanent marker, write right on them so you know what's what. Now you can cut off excess stem. You can divide them now if need be, or wait till spring. Go to the Dahlia forum for instructions on how to divide, it's a PIA. Dip your bulbs in bleach water. only 1 part bleach. Lay your bulbs out to dry for a couple days, make sure the squirrels dont get them, do not leave them in the hot afternoon sun either, as this will really dry them out. I feel the best thing to store them in a a mesh bag, like a laundry/lingerie bag. Put some pine shavings in there. What I do is a layer of shavings, throw in some bulbs, another layer shaving, another bulbs, etc. Keep them in that dark, cool place till spring. You may wanna check on them a few times over winter to see if any have gotten mushy or moldy..if any have, then throw them out, make sure no others are affected. You dont have to really divide glads, they just pull apart with your fingers basically. I never divide them, the babies don't usually bloom their first year so I leave them attached to the mother. But I also have mine inground, no need to dig them up in the fall if they are in the ground here. You may be better off just treating them as annuals if you can't find a cool enough spot. Just buy new bulbs every spring. They aren't expensive. Daniella

Thank you Dahr-ling! I do love that Lilac rose. Awwww...that was so thoughtful of you to think of me! Your garden is full of color and vitality. Mine is just sitting there...on hold. Everything in your garden looks healthy and so pretty! I bet with all those beautiful roses and irises blooming, your garden smells delicious. I only wish irises could have a longer blooming period. I can sit out in the garden and sniff and sniff and sniff their yummy scent for hours. I love red roses, too, and I must say. WS 2000 is AWESOME! (swooning..) I actually like red and purple together, especially with yellow gold. Very regal colors. I like deep red with bold, bright yellows, white, purples, blues, turquoise, oranges and some shades of pink, HOT Tropical colours, with Caribbean blues, but never with demure Pastels. It just depends upon the shades and the hues of red.. I do NOT like pinky-washed-out-reds. If it is going to be red, I want my roses to bloody well be a true red, a Christmas red, a juicy apple red, or a cherry red, or a deep crimson red...or it's Off with their heads! Off with their Heads!

Cut the spent flower heads off so the plant doesn't waste energy making seeds. Leave all of the foliage (which will stay good-looking the whole season and is a nice addition to the garden, I think) so it can do its thing and make the plant bigger and stronger. Once the foliage dies naturally in the fall, cut it off pretty close to the ground. - Steve

I've been growing icebox size watermelon (sugar baby and its hybrid cousin tiger baby) in a 25-gallon half whiskey barrel for the past five years, and it works well in my situation. I plant my seeds indoors and transplant them very gently when they have just formed their first true leaves and daytime temperatures are reliably above 70. I've grown four or five plants in the barrel and gotten an average of two watermelons for each plant. I did try trellissing them, but as soon as I see the melons begin to form, I gently rearrange the vines so the fruit is resting on the ground or some sturdy platform. The vines still range over the trellis, which is very pretty, but eventually they climb out of the pot and extend a few feet out from it on the ground. My melons are usually around five pounds, which may be a little smaller than ones grown in the ground, but they are so sweet and clean. The planting mix I've been using is the 5-1-1 they talk about in the Container forum. It's five parts pine bark fines to one part each perlite and peat moss. My situation may not be ideal, but I can't grow melons in the ground, and this works well for my small family. Here's a photo from last July. And here's one from June, a year earlier: