At this time of year, when the temperatures are cooling, and we're adding fall color to our gardens, the children are gearing up for Halloween and the ubiquitous jack-o'-lanterns. It's easy to make jack-o'-lanterns, and it's fun for the whole family.

First consider where your pumpkins will be placed. If they are to grace the stairs leading up to your front door, select smaller pumpkins for carving. For a focal point on your porch, or a centerpiece for your table, go for a larger one. Just be sure that you choose pumpkins that are uniformly orange with no bruises or discoloration, and are either tall and narrow, or more rounded, depending on the design of your carving.

Next, your tools. A long thin-bladed knife is best for cutting the top hole and large pieces out of the face of the gourd, with a paring knife used for detail work. All of your tools should be sharpened before and after carving, so make this a family affair--with parents in control of all carving tools! The little ones can draw the desired face on the pumpkin with a simple crayon.

Begin by cutting a 5- or 6-sided hole in the top of the pumpkin, about two-thirds the diameter of the pumpkin. Angle the knife so that the lid and hole will be somewhat cone shaped; this will help prevent the lid from falling into the hole.

Scrape the seeds and stringy membrane out with a large spoon, making certain to scrape the bottom flat so that the candle sits squarely. Then carefully carve with your paring knife the face you've drawn on the best side of the pumpkin. Finish up with a white votive candle in a clear glass holder. Or be safety-first with a battery-powered LED flickering tea candle. You may need a couple of these to light your jack-o'-lanterns sufficiently.

Fire safety should be paramount. Never leave a lit candle unattended, and never leave children alone with a lit pumpkin or any candles. Follow these rules and your pumpkins will be your scary pals throughout the holiday!

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Alfalfa. Isn't that the stuff that gets made into hay and is fed to livestock?

Turns out that's only part of the story. Alfalfa can also be a big boon to gardeners--by making their roses happier and healthier.

It's a crop with a long history. Because of acid soils and high humidity along the Atlantic seaboard, early colonists couldn't grow alfalfa well and nearly abandoned it. But it came west with the Gold Rush and flourished, and today the crop has become so popular that it is known in many agricultural circles as the "Queen of the Forages."

Besides being praised in agriculture, alfalfa has become a hit in horticulture, too, particularly in rosedom. As a mulch for garden roses, it does far more than retard weeds.

As it disintegrates, alfalfa yields an alcohol, triacontanol, to which roses take a particular shine. When it reaches their roots, roses act as though they've been aching for a stiff drink and manifest their appreciation with basal breaks, rosarian lingo for new growth emanating from the bud union (the landmark created by budding hybrid roses onto rootstock).

Rosarians live for basal breaks; they're the ticket for increased vigor and better production. An annual mulching with alfalfa nearly guarantees such spirited developments. Cover your roses with alfalfa and then cover the alfalfa with compost--not only will the covering protect the roots and crown over winter, but in the spring your roses will thanks you with shiny new buds!

In the rush to celebrate Halloween, and do the early shopping for Christmas, often Thanksgiving becomes merely about football and feasting. In the colder climates, we need to think ahead to be prepared not only with fine food and football snacks, but with an ambience that truly reflects the meaning of this holiday.

Most garden centers that remain open in the north stock pre-made decorations, as well as all of the ingredients you need to out-do Martha Stewart herself. In fact, holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas provide the primary income off-season for such centers, and you will find that they are often so creative that your own imagination is inspired.

Take a walk around your home. Start collecting colorful leaves that have just drifted to the ground. They should be sturdy leaves with thick stems. When you've collected 30-40 of them, staple them to an orange or red ribbon and hang them across the front of your mantle. A walk in the woods will yield lots of pine cones, which can be used in your table's centerpiece; buy an inexpensive cornucopia made of woven reeds and fill it literally to overflowing with pine cones, gourds, mini-pumpkins, even pears, apples and citrus. The goal is color and plenty. The original cornucopias were made of a curved goat's horn filled with fruit and ears of grain, a decorative motif emblematic of abundance.

Don't wait until December to put your mini-lights to use; drape them across the center of your table, or along the top of your mantle. Curve the wires and in each "alcove" place a pine cone that you've spray painted white. Adorn with red berries that you've either found in your outdoor wanderings, or purchased in the craft department of your local garden center. An alternative idea is to collect small branches, spray paint them white, and create a forest of "snowy" branches that can be tied with a bright ribbon and hung on the front door.

Place cards may be fancy or a family affair. Print out personalized place cards that you can find on many websites. Or to give your guests a sparkly and homemade welcome, several days before feast day, write each guest's name in glue onto cardboard place cards. Then sprinkle the glue with glitter in colors of gold, bronze, or red. Tip to get rid of the excess glitter, and allow the cards to dry for at least 24 hours. Then sit the kids down with seasonal magazines and have them cut out the images that most remind them of Thanksgiving. Pasting the overlapping pictures around the edges of the guest's name card will give it the look of collage.

Using the good napkins? Roll up each one and wrap it with some raffia rather than a traditional napkin ring.

And here's a fun and fabulous family tradition to begin this year. At the beginning of November, buy a large piece of white poster paper and some brightly colored construction paper. Draw a tree with as many different branches as you can manage. Cut the construction paper into leaf shapes (the children can draw an outline of their hands for the perfect leaf). Every day, one member of the family selects a leaf, writes something he or she is grateful for, and pastes the leaf onto the tree. On Thanksgiving Day, the entire family may offer thanks for the items listed on the tree.

In between the madness of removing and storing the Halloween decorations, and choosing and decorating the Christmas tree, take time this year to rediscover Thanksgiving, and celebrate it with the beauty of both handcrafted and store-bought decorations. Our garden center experts will be able to guide you towards the creation of what will become your favorite day of the year!

Anaerobic composting is, aside from digging a pit or filling a bag, practically labor-free. It's also a good method for those who don't have room for a big compost heap or compost bin, or live in a community where such things are banned. After a time, the pit or bag can be emptied and will yield a fairly well-matured compost.

Burying waste in a pit is an easy way to recycle. It also permits the material to stay warmer in the winter and damper in the summer. Underground rotting lets bacteria, anaerobic fungi and worms change stinky waste into (eventually) sweet-smelling soil. Just dig pits about 12"-14" deep, dump the waste in, and cover with about 8"of soil. Don't plant food crops over the pit for a year or so.

If you have a small garden that is worked by hand, try burying the waste in long trenches. Food crops can eventually be made directly on top of the covered trench, but it is not wise to do this too soon (non-food plants can be planted almost immediately). Allow plenty of time for decomposition before planting food crops. Growing food in too-raw garbage can spread diseases to us. Root crops, especially, may pick up parasites which have not yet been destroyed by the anaerobic processes--and give them to us.

One of the best trenching methods involves rotating your trenches. Lay out your garden in wide rows, dividing each row into three narrow strips; one strip serves as a path (fallow soil), one as a mulching trench, and one for planting. Rotate every year for three years--in order: mulching trench to planting strip to fallow path. This gives you a safe time for the mulch to decompose and become safe to use for food crops.

Quick and Easy Garbage Bag Method

Next year, in the heat of summer, you can also use a black garbage bag to compost. Fill it with about with one-third soil, and fill the rest with (vegetable) kitchen scraps and garden/lawn scraps. Add enough water to make the mixture damp, but not soggy. Dampen the contents and mix thoroughly. Place in a warm, full-sun location (but protect it from animals--a repellent spray will be effective). Leave for about six weeks before opening. Warning: when you open the bag, hold your nose--anaerobic composting is a stinky process. Empty the contents of the bag in a corner of your backyard or leave the bag open, dig in some more soil and let the pile continue to work for a few days. Once the compost is exposed to oxygen, the odor soon goes away. You can then use it as a mulching compost or soil amendment (see above for cautions on food plants).

Composting is a great way to recycle, as well as feed your soil. Try it!

Many of us like to push the limits a bit on plants we grow, hoping one that is not quite suited for our area will survive the winter. So we've usually got a few that aren't as cold-hardy as they should be. As the winter nights get colder, these plants may be damaged or even killed. Even plants that are hardy can be damaged in a severe cold snap.

Plants suffer cold damage when they lose moisture from their leaves but can't replace the moisture because the soil is dry or the water in the ground is frozen. Knowing and following a few basic principles will go a long way towards protecting your plants from winter damage and helping them leaf out again next spring.

Moist soils in colder regions will stay moist after the first fall (and subsequent) rains. The key is to make sure that the ground doesn't freeze down to the root zone of sensitive plants. Moist soil holds and releases more heat than dry soil, creating a more humid environment around the plant when the cold pulls moisture from the foliage.

The best way to insulate the soil is with a 2-3" layer of mulch. Place the mulch around the plant to at least a little past the drip line of each plant (the drip line is the outer edge of where water will fall when it drips from foliage). The mulch will allow moisture in but help prevent the ground from freezing down to the root zone. Snow on the ground (or on top of the mulch) will also provide some insulation--if you have snow on the ground, leave it right where it is!

Another way to protect plants is to stack or place pine needles or leaves around each plant. Pine needles, straw, or hay are best, because they allow the plant to breathe--but in a temporary pinch, leaves will work. Simply start from the ground up and create a pile that covers the main branching structure to at least two feet above the ground.

Covering plants with frost cloth, burlap, or plastic will also protect plants an extra 2-6 degrees. The material should be secured over frames or stakes so that it does not touch the plant; otherwise, it will just transfer the cold. Make sure to remove these coverings during the daytime on any day when temperatures stay above freezing; this will allow the plants to absorb the warming sunlight.

When it snows, don't rush out to brush all that snow off your plants. Believe it or not, a light layer of snow is actually good for perennials. Heavy wet snows can weigh down and break branches--but try not to remove all the snow, as it is an excellent insulator against the frigid temperatures that may injure plants.

Do not prune cold-sensitive plants until spring has arrived. In a sense, let the cold do the pruning for you. If your plant is injured, leave the damaged burnt leaves on the plant to protect the foliage underneath. Premature trimming may stimulate tender new growth that could be damaged by a late cold snap. You may also end up cutting out more than is necessary, mistaking still-alive growth for dead. Prune only after new growth has started to appear.

If you have any questions as to which plants to protect, just ask one of our nursery professionals. We'll help you make sure you're ready to help your plants stand up to the cold of winter.

Should I use bone meal or bulb food when I plant my bulbs?

Answer:
We recommend bone meal at the time of planting, then applying a balanced bulb food once the foliage appears above the soil line in late winter/early spring.

There are a couple of reasons for this. Nitrogen can burn the actual bulb, which only needs the phosphorus and potash from bone meal in order to stimulate rooting. But once the bulb is sending out a stem, it needs nitrogen to become strong so it won't bend over from the weight of the flowers that it sets. This is especially important for bulbs with large heavy flowers, such as tulips, ranunculus, and hyacinth.

It's also important to dig your holes or trenches a little deeper than the bulb needs to be, applying some bone meal, then a little more soil so the bulb doesn't sit directly on the food but has access to the food as it sends out roots (got to give those roots some incentive to stretch).