Spring ploughing, summer weeding, autumn harvest, and winter storage are the seasonal tasks of gardeners every year. Spring and summer have passed, and no matter what the results are, there is no chance to start over. Autumn harvest and winter storage refers to the harvest of crops in autumn and storing them in winter as food for the next year. Amateur gardeners who grow flowers and grass at home also need to harvest in autumn and store in winter. They can dig out some perennial grass flowers and bulbs, store them, and plant them again next year. Different types of crops have different digging times, storage environments and methods.

Most bulbs and perennial grass flowers planted in spring are not cold-resistant and cannot spend the winter outdoors. They must be dug out and stored for the winter and replanted next year, so there is no need to buy them every year. Crops are usually classified according to the storage temperature and stored in different locations.

For flowers cultivated from bulbs, storing the bulbs for replanting not only saves money but also breeds more flowers. Most bulbous flowers will wither and enter a dormant state 1-2 months after blooming. Most bulbous flowers that bloom in summer cannot withstand the cold and cannot spend the winter in the ground. When the flowers wither, the bulbs must be dug out and stored in a cool and ventilated place. About 6 weeks before the soil freezes, the bulbs can be replanted in the yard or flower pots. Don't plant too early, otherwise the germination will be premature, affecting the flowering of the following spring, but don't plant too late, so that the root ball does not have enough time to develop a root system.

Different varieties of bulbous flowers require different times to dig. For bulbs that need to be dug in autumn, they should be dug when the leaf tips turn yellow and the leaves are still somewhat green. If they are dug too late, they are prone to rot during storage. However, dahlias and cannas can grow and bloom from spring to summer, so digging them out can be delayed until late autumn. When digging any bulb, you should choose to do it when it is sunny for 2-3 consecutive days. When you do it, you need to dig it out with the stems and leaves. Do not damage the bulbs during the digging process.

There are generally two methods for storing bulbs:

1. Dry storage: After digging out the bulbs, dry them in the shade for 1 week, remove the withered stems , leaves and roots, and separate them according to the size of the bulblets. Dry the separated bulblets for 7-10 days, put them in a net bag, and hang the net bag in a ventilated and cool place. If the quantity is small, you can put them in a paper bag. If the quantity is large, you can put the bulbs flat in a paper box and put the paper box in a ventilated place. Do not put them in plastic bags, because plastic bags are not breathable. If you use plastic bags, you should also cut a few holes in the plastic bags so that the bulbs can ventilate.  

2. Wet storage: Keep the bulbs slightly moist during storage, because when the bulbs dry up, the inside of the bulbs will wither and even die due to water loss. But they cannot be too wet, as they will rot. To maintain a certain humidity, it is best to pack them in plastic bags, fold the openings, put them in cartons, and place the cartons in a place where the temperature is not lower than 20 ° C . You can also bury the bulbs in a wooden box filled with moist wood chips.  

The storage temperature should be above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. For crops in dry places such as caladium, dahlia, and water lily, dig out the bulbs, dry them in the shade, and store them in the basement or garage. For crops that need to be kept moist, such as beauty and Qianghua, cover them with wet cloth or wet newspaper, and occasionally spray them with water to keep them moist.

For crops that need a lower temperature, they can be placed in the refrigerator. Flowers like sword orchids, lilies, tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils are quite cold-resistant and do not need to be dug out. After the ground is cleaned, cover it with mulch about four inches thick to prevent the soil from freezing and getting damaged. However, the mother bulbs of these bulbs will grow larger and many small bulbs will grow next to them. The small bulbs will not bloom in the second year and will just take up space. Some people will dig them out, separate the big and small bulbs, and then plant them back. If they are planted next year, they will have to be stored in the refrigerator.

Generally, it is not necessary to dig out the bulbs that are still buried in the soil. After being frozen in winter, they will grow strong roots in the soil and bloom large and colorful flowers in the early spring of the following year. If you want to make the garden full of red flowers for a long time, it is best to choose bulbs with different flowering periods. For example, there are many varieties of tulips , and the flowering periods of different varieties are different: those that bloom in March include snowdrops ( white flowers), crocus ( flowers are purple, blue, yellow, and white), and tulips ( early flowering varieties are purple, red, yellow, white, and pink). Those that bloom in April include daffodils ( flowers are yellow and white), hyacinths ( flowers are purple, white, red, and yellow), etc. Those that bloom in May include Dutch Iris ( blue flowers) and tulips ( late flowering varieties of Tulip ), etc.  

When planting large bulbs, dig a hole 8 inches deep. For small bulbs, dig a hole about 3 inches deep. When planting for the first time, do not fertilize. Just put some humus in the hole. After planting, clean the soil surface thoroughly. Do not leave any bulb residues, so as not to attract squirrels and other small animals to dig and eat the bulbs buried in the soil. If you are planting tulip bulbs, you should strengthen protection because mice are particularly fond of eating these bulbs. Some bulbs are poisonous or even taste bad, so mice have no interest in them. The most famous of these is daffodils. There are special times and methods for planting bulb flowers in places where the soil will not freeze. You can find relevant information on the website of the famous Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center ( www. ). 

Winter in New York is similar to winter in Beijing. The bulbs that need to be dug out in the fall are:

1. Caladium , also known as colorful taro and two-color taro, is a perennial evergreen herb. After summer, when the colorful leaves begin to turn yellow, stop watering. When its leaves die, before the frost, you can dig out the bulbs of the whole plant and dry them, cut off the upper part, sprinkle a little pesticide, and then bury them in the sand and store them in a cool and dry place at 20 ° -25 ° C . If it is a potted plant, stop watering, put the flowerpot in a dry but not too cold place, and dig it out again in the spring of the following year and transplant it into a large clay pot. When cultivating, you can select 1-2 high-quality tubers and plant them in the soil and water them immediately to keep the soil moist. Caladium likes a semi-shaded environment and plenty of sunlight, but is afraid of direct exposure to strong sunlight and long-term exposure. When fertilizing it, never let the fertilizer liquid contaminate the leaves, otherwise the leaves will dry up. Water the plant immediately after fertilizing to prevent the fertilizer from damaging the plant's root system. If you see yellow or drooping leaves, remove them immediately to keep the plant neat, clean and beautiful.

2. Tuberous Begonia , also known as Camellia Begonia, Husband and Wife Flower, Bulbous Begonia, etc., is a perennial bulbous flower. Its tubers are irregularly flattened spherical, and its leaves are irregularly heart-shaped, with sharp tips and oblique bases. They are green, and have coarse teeth and cilia on the leaf margins. The flowers are large and beautiful in axillary cymes. There are many varieties, including single petals, semi-double petals, double petals, and petals with wrinkled edges. The flower colors are red, white, pink, and complex colors. If you need to propagate, you can dig out the tubers from the ground in autumn after its stems and leaves turn yellow, remove the soil, and dry the whole plant for several days. Cut the bulbs 1 inch apart, and continue to dry for several days. Take a paper box, arrange the bulbs in rows, cover them with sand, and store them at 20- ° 25 ° C . When planting the next year, if the bulbs are large, they can be cut into two halves, but each bulb must have buds before it can be cultivated. 

3. Gladiolus ; English name is gladiolus. It is known as one of the four major cut flowers in the world along with rose, chrysanthemum and carnation, and gladiolus has won the title of "the best cut flower". It has dozens of varieties, belongs to the bulbous plant with shallow roots, and is also a perennial herbaceous flower. Its bulbs are easily available in gardening stores. If you are willing to use bulbs from your own garden for propagation, you can dig the gladiolus bulbs out of the soil before frost and store them in a cool place. In the spring of the following year, place the bulbs in a high temperature of 35 ° C for 15-20 days, and then place the bulbs in a low temperature of 2 ° C-3 ° C for 20 days. Then remove the skin of the bulbs, soak them in clean water for 15 minutes, take them out and soak them in disinfected water for 30 minutes before burying them in the soil. You can also cut the dormant bulbs into 2-4 parts longitudinally, with more than one bud and part of the stem disc per part . Apply plant ash to each cut, and plant them after they are dry. Most people will dig up the whole gladiolus when its leaves turn yellow, hang it in a dry and warm place, wait until the whole plant is dry, leave 1 inch high at the bulb, cut off the rest and store it. If the old bulbs are dry, pick the new small bulbs, put them in paper bags, and store them in a dark, dry, cool, frost-free place. 

4. Dahlia : Dahlia  is a two- year-old bulb. It dies in the autumn of the second year and will regenerate new bulbs. People usually dig out the whole plant and remove the soil before frost, hang it in a cool place to dry, then cut off the upper part more than 1 inch away from the bulb, continue to dry, and check for rotten roots, whether the bulbs are full, and whether there are diseases and insect pests. Those with bad conditions will not be kept.

  The bulbs of dahlias should not be too dry or too wet when stored. Too wet will cause rot. It should be just right. You can use a cardboard box to arrange the whole bulbs in one layer. Do not separate the individual bulbs until the next year's planting. You can cover the bulbs with sand and cover the cardboard box. Place it in a dry place. The temperature should not exceed 45 ° C. To prevent germination, it is necessary to check it frequently. If the environment is too dry, the bulbs lose water, and you should sprinkle some water on the covering. If the environment is too wet, the bulbs will rot. Rotten bulbs should be cut off and thrown away immediately.

    In March or April of the following year , take the overwintering dahlia tubers out of the dry sand, select the tubers with budding points, bury them with the bud eyes facing upwards in a planting pit 8-10 inches deep, and cover them with 2 inches of soil. Generally, keep it at 15 ° C and it will germinate in about half a month. When the small buds on the tubers emerge from the soil, cover them with 2 inches of soil. When the seedlings grow to 1 cm, the tubers can be divided into several pieces, each with 1-2 buds . Apply a little wood ash to the cut of the buds for preservation, and then plant them in flower pots or courtyards. Water them immediately after planting to ensure a high survival rate.

 5. Canna ( Canna ); also known as red banana, small banana, blue banana, and Tanhua, it is a perennial herb. After frost, the stems and leaves of canna begin to wither. You can cut off the stems and leaves 6 inches from the ground, dig out the whole plant, remove the soil, dry it in the sun, and store it in a cardboard box. Arrange the entire bulb in a layer, add sand on it, cover the cardboard box, and place it in a cool but not frozen place. During storage, it needs to be checked 2-3 times to prevent moisture or frostbite. It cannot be too dry to prevent its stems from shrinking. The following year, you can cut a section of canna rhizome, and keep 2-3 buds on the rhizome . Insert it into the soil at a depth of 8-10 cm and water it thoroughly after planting. When the leaves of canna extend to 30-40 cm, it needs to be cut once , that is, the stems are completely cut without leaving any branches and leaves. After pruning, apply a thin organic fertilizer solution twice a week to keep the soil moist, and flowers will bloom in about 3 days.  

6. There are two varieties of Prayer Plant . One is a light green leaf with chocolate spots on both sides. The other is a particularly beautiful leopard print Prayer Plant, which has three colors of leaves: light green, red veins, and wine-colored leaves on the back. Before frost, pour out the soil ball, separate the plants, cut off the dead leaves, and bury them in a shallow pot with good drainage and peat soil. New plants will grow the following year.

There are tips for storing seeds

The history of seed storage is as long as that of gardening. In the past, gardening enthusiasts regarded good seeds as treasures and saved them year after year. Nowadays, seeds and seedlings are very affordable, and new varieties are introduced every year. Some people think that there is no need to store seeds anymore. However, can you guarantee that your favorite seeds will always be sold? If you grow a perfect blue bellflower, a delicious tomato, or a pumpkin that wins the championship, don’t you want to keep the seeds?

For plants that are naturally pollinated (open pollinated) and self-pollinated (self-pollinated), only if they are grown from seeds can the "bloodline" be guaranteed. The seeds of such plants are worth storing. Plants grown from seeds of hybrid plants may have some characteristics of one or both species, and most plants sold today are of this type. Seeds of such plants usually do not need to be saved unless you discover a new variety, but even then you can propagate it by cuttings. Are there any tips for saving seeds? See below:

* Storing seeds of self-pollinating plants

Seeds of self-pollinating plants are easiest to save, such as beans, endive, lettuce, peas, and tomatoes. You can also save seeds of many naturally pollinated or wild flowers, such as cleome, foxgloves, hollyhock, nasturtium, and zinnia.

*Storing seeds from cross-pollinated plants

For cross-pollinated plants that are pollinated by insects or wind, seeds from different species must be carefully separated to obtain pure seeds. This can be done by: planting only plants of the same species; planting different species separately, with different spacing between plants, such as 500 feet for bell peppers and half a mile for winter squash; planting species that bloom at different times; using barriers such as bags.

*How and when to harvest seeds

Select the best quality seeds of plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables for storage. The selection criteria are disease resistance, vitality, flavor and productivity. It is best to plant seeds from last year.

The time to harvest seeds is when the seed pods on the plants are dry or when the vegetables are fully mature. When the seed pods turn brown, start to pay attention. Most seed pods will burst by themselves. You can place a small bag on the top of the seeds before they burst completely, or pull them away from the soil and turn them upside down in a paper bag before the plants are completely dry. Vegetables that are beyond their edible period can be used to store seeds.

*How to store seeds

Storing seeds is first and foremost about dryness. Store them in sealed containers as much as possible.

Make sure the seeds are completely dry, otherwise they will rot and mold easily; remove the seed shell as much as possible; store them in a paper envelope, mark the variety and year; place the envelope in a sealed container; place it in a ventilated, dark, dry place; it is best to use the stored seeds the next year.