Kimmie, The link below (How to dig & store gladiolus corms) tells a wealth of information about lifting & storing glads. To summarize, the article recommends that you lift the corms 6-8 weeks after the blooms have faded, or after the first frost (but before the ground freezes). Once you've lifted the bulbs, don't forget to rinse the dirt off & let them air dry in order to get rid of any pests. If you're worried about pests (thrip or mold), you should know that you can soak your bulbs in a weak bleach:water solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water). At least with tulip bulbs, the healthy bulbs (or corms in this case), will float to the top since they have a higher water content than those that are dead or rotted. Once your corms are clean, the article also recommends that you store them in paper or mesh bags (don't use anything that won't breathe - as your bulbs will mold over & rot... I learned that the hard way with some tulip bulbs!), in a cool (35-55 degrees fahrenheit) dark place (don't put them in a fridge with fruit, since the gases emitted will kill the flower bud in the corms). FYI - I've also heard of people storing their bulbs in a box with wood shavings (like those you use for a pet hamster), and http://hortchat.com/info/gladiolus recommends that you put a mothball in the bag/box you use to store your corms in order to deter thrip or mice from eating your bulbs. More about wintering over frost-tender bulbs can also be found at: http://americangardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/wintering_over_frost_tender_bulbs Good luck with your glads! Here is a link that might be useful: How to dig & store gladiolus corms

All bulbous/tuberous plants benefit from allowing the foliage to yellow before severing the roots. Green foliage still manufactures food. Early interrruption of this process may sacrifice next year's bloom.

Hi all. I have two species of banana, Basjoo and Musa. I also have a red-leaf variety, but I'm not sure on it's species. I give away dozens of plants every Christmas to friends and family. I seem to be the only one that has any luck propgating them. The basjoos are supposedly the only ones that can really survive our winter in the ground (without having to do much to them), but I had one die on me this year due to a late frost. For most of them, I put em to bed right around now (I'll be in the garden on Sunday all day, I'm sure!). We're getting down to low 40s this week in Atlanta, and we just got some rain, so it's perfect. For the ones in the ground, I dig them up carefully and tip them over. I cut off all the leaves except for the one in the very center. I use buckets of water to knock off most of the clay off the root ball and cut off any long roots. If there are babies that are more than 2' tall, I'll use a spade to cut them off the bigger plants. If they're tiny, I leave them attached to the mother plant. I stack all the plants in the garage on a piece of cardboard. Every year, I usually keep around 10 plants, varying from 4' to over 15'. If they're right around 2' tall, I'll cut them off and pot them up and bring them inside the house, leaving all the leaves. These are usually the ones I give to friends and family. They don't require much water (you risk root rot), and it's preferable to put them in a lower light area when storing them inside for the winter. For the really, really huge basjoos, I cut them down to about a foot from the ground. A couple years ago, I put plastic bags over the top of them, but I think I lost a couple due to suffocation. The idea was to keep moisture out of the centers. This past year, I just mounded free mulch (wood chips), the previous year's mulch, grass clippings, and the compost that didn't quite finish about 2' over the stumps. I had pretty good success with this and only lost the biggest one this past year. I only leave the ones that are really too large for me to dig up and store by myself. We're talking the ones that are 8-10" diameter. Here's a picture of what the corner of my house looked like last year in September. I have two more areas of banana plants, as well... they're a lot of work in the fall, but beautiful and very low maintenance for the rest of the year! http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg282/bzbatl/DSC_1355.jpg

Buying pots for all of them would be too expensive.I would say roughly 150 conifers and maples are coming with me.I ==>> i did NOT buy a single pot.. of the 1650 ... EVERY nursery has a recycle bin ... and some that were friends... have secret stocks of large ones... that they let me use.. if i returned them later ... and it was months later ... you must have been stringing along a few nurseries.. [making their boat payments lol..] .....that should consider you a good friend.. ???? you need to focus on hunting them down.. NOT BUYING THEM ... the ptos. not the nurserymen .. lol ... and you arent quite with me.. when you suggest all 150 need to come with you ... there should be nearly half [???] .. that may have been your first.. and your beloveds.. but you should come to some realization... its time to part with them ... or that you could have new ones mailed to the new house... WHEN YOU HAVE TIME TO GARDEN... [you are leaving the actual house move out of your equation ... see PS] ... for 20 bucks a pop for older plants ... and some.. that are so foo foo.. you probably will kill them if you move them ... etc.. etc.. etc ... can you not.. at least cull it down to 100 ... or 75??? also ... any family in the general area... where you can 'store' some ... perhaps a kid with a veg garden.. that you can heal them in for winter.. 10 at a time.. so you only need ten pots??? .... any garden club friends who might have some pots.. or will help dig them up for/with you ... for one prime specimen .. your plants have a value ... when i was planting the 1650 hosta pots.. peeps were allowed to pull off a division.. presuming the plant was large enough ... etc ... you seem to have a preconceived notion of how it will all go down ... and i am trying to have you think outside of the box you are already sitting in .. this is big time labor.. it doesnt need to be biog time cost ... and if you can deflect some of the labor.. so what if it costs you some plants ... PLEASE!!! ... just start thinking outside the box.... isnt that why you are asking here???? .. you also might not want to list the house.. until you have dug everything out ... refilled holes.. and remulched the beds ... trying to put agreements to dig afterwards.. into house sale documents.. can get rather hairy ... talk with an attorney in that regard ... most likely.. you will not accept a CONDITIONAL OFFER on a sale... we will do the sale when the new buyer sells his house.. hell .. you could be waiting years ... and selling.. on a condition.. that you can come back and destroy the garden AFTER CLOSING ... is not something a smart buyer would do either ... regardless of whether they want the plants ... and many wont care ... good luck .... ken ps: i moved in january ... the pots were actually here by early december ... the old owner didnt mind.. though they thought i was insane.. lol .. it worked this way.. because i didnt get an offer until late october.. which meant late dec closing ... the beauty of it all.. was that i had upwards of 4 months to deal with moving in.. painting.. carpeting.. etc ... before spring broke ... and i could go garden ... i simply dont know what i would have done.. had i had the garden to mess with.. while putting the house together ...