Category: Accidental Cottage Garden

To Do in the Garden: November 2026

On By durhammastergardenersIn Accidental Cottage Garden, pruning, sustainable fall pruning for insects and wildlife, sustainable fall pruning for wildlife, Uncategorized

By Gary Crispell, NC State Extension Master Gardener SM volunteer of Durham County (aka the Accidental Cottage Gardener)

November.  The ninth month of the year, right?  Well, it was until a couple of Roman egos got in the way.  I reckon they wanted to be remembered as balmy and pleasant and that’s why they didn’t just tack July and August on to the end of the year.  Egos—bleh.

So, it is the eleventh month and should probably be Elvember.  Named after the elves who live under all the mushrooms we would see if it should rain.  You remember rain, right?  No?  It’s that wet stuff that used to fall out of the sky.  (Not snow!  That’s COLD and wet and much less desirable.)

November is also a month of holidays.  We start with election day, then Veteran’s Day (thank you for your service, fellow vets), after which we have Thanksgiving for four days in the middle of which is Black Friday.  Oh, yes, it is a holiday.  You ask my Aunt Helen.

A vibrant flower garden featuring an array of colorful blooms, including zinnias and yellow flowers, surrounded by greenery and rocks, under a clear blue sky.

Accidental Cottage Garden border going strong as the end of the year approaches. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

The Accidental Cottage Garden (ACG) looks pretty darn good considering we’re in month 14 (less July) of a drought and it’s November.  Perennial gardens aren’t supposed to look bright and perky in November.  Many of the perennials in the ACG have succumbed to the change in day length (the diurnal effect) and will reappear in the Spring.  There are a few stout souls who refuse to be defined by day length or drought, for that matter.

A garden area featuring a mix of flowering plants with yellow and pink blooms, adjacent to a blue house.

More Accidental Cottage Garden borders still flowering even as they start to senesce. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

The hardy ageratum or mist flower (Conoclinum coelestinum) has been spectacular this year.  It has managed to fill the right-of-way ditch in front of the house.  African marigolds (Tagetes erecta) have competed with the ageratums to see which one can cover the most square feet.  Ageratum is ahead by a quarter of a ditch.  Both plants will have to be reined in next year.  My most dependable friend in the garden is the gallardia (Gallardia pulchella).  It starts blooming in mid-June and it is still hard at it.  They will continue until a killer frost bursts all their cell walls.

A cluster of yellow wildflowers growing near a rocky area surrounded by trees.

Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolia) in the Accidental Cottage Garden. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

The other long-blooming plant still kicking is black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta).  We love the variety of yellow/brown/black combinations they display.  If you are really into yellow, have I got a plant for you.  Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolia).  She is YELLOW!!  And she is tall (6-8’).  There’s a stalk or six rough goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) still showing color, but the stars of the circus have been the annual (prolific re-seeders!) zinnias (Zinnia elegans) and cosmos (Cosmos bipinnata) that I sowed seeds for in May.  They have been the proverbial riot of color since August.  We have had continuous cut flower arrangements all Summer and Fall.

A vibrant garden filled with colorful flowers, including zinnias in shades of pink and orange, against a backdrop of trees and a clear blue sky.

Many colors of zinnias (Zinnia elegans) providing blooms into November. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

I guess I have prattled on about long enough.  I suppose you are reading this to find out what can/should/might be done in the garden in poor misnamed month (in the middle of four misnamed months).  Here ‘tis.

LAWN CARE

Leaf removal is job #1.  If your lawn consists of warm season grass (Bermuda, zoysia, centipede), that’s about all you need to know.  These grasses will soon be going dormant not to be heard from until spring.

Should you have cool season grass (tall fescue, bluegrass, perennial rye) you are still mowing (3”-4”) and either bagging or mulching clippings and leaves (preferably the latter).  Bagged debris should be composted.  The landfill doesn’t need them.

If you overseeded or started a new lawn, be sure it gets ½” of water twice a week at a minimum.

FERTILIZING

Pretty much zilch here.  You can add lime to correct a low pH (<6.0) at a rate indicated on the SOIL TEST results you received from NCDOA.  (Come on!  They’re still free until the end of the month, y’all.)  Lime is best incorporated into the soil as it doesn’t move through the soil to the root zone very well.

PLANTING

Have I ever mentioned “FALL IS FOR PLANTING” before?

Trees and shrubs can be transplanted this month.

It is not too late to plant spring-flowering bulbs (daffodils, tulips, crocuses, etc.) but try to complete this task before the end of the month.

One-year-old asparagus crowns can be transplanted now.

PRUNING

Ahh, the perennial garden.  Any day now, if it hasn’t happened already, Jack Frost or his insidious sibling Harriet Hardfreeze will drop in for a visit and finish any destruction not previously inflicted by Minerva Moisturestress.  After that you need to ignore what your grandmother told you about cutting back the dead stems.  There may well be native solitary bees or other beneficial insect eggs in or on those stems.  Leave them, please.  Try to overcome your OCD (I did.  Well, not yours.  My own.) and think of them as winter interest.

A close-up image of a shiny black bee perched on a wooden stump, surrounded by blurred green foliage.

Small carpenter bee nesting in sumac stem. (Image credit: Heather Holm)

Dead or diseased wood can be trimmed from trees and shrubs.  When removing entire branches make the pruning cuts at the outer edge of the branch collar (the flair at the base of the branch) to promote quicker healing.

It is a good time to clean up the rest of the garden and landscape in general.  You can yank weeds and other undesirable plants (the definition of a weed) and toss ‘em in the compost pile.

SPRAYING

If you’ve been doing battle with lace bugs all summer hit ‘em with a good dose of horticultural oil and put the sprayer away…well, clean it first, of course.  (Might I suggest moving the offending azaleas to a less sunny location in the yard.  They are an understory plant and are stressed when in full sun thereby inviting the lace bugs which prefer stressed plants.  That’s your cause-and-effect lesson for this month.)

OTHER ENTERTAINING, ENLIGHTENING AND ENCHANTING ENDEAVORS TO ENJOY IN PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA IN AUTUMN

Take a leaf hike in your neighborhood or local park.

Make a leaf pile for your kids or grandkids to play in.

Invite the neighbors over for an evening around the firepit.  Hot cider and donuts are not optional.

Enjoy the last few user-friendly days of 2026.  They are numbered at this point.

May you have a wondrous Thanksgiving shared with people you love.

Resources and Additional Information

Edited by Astrid Cook Dail, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

To Do in the Garden: September 2026

On By durhammastergardenersIn Accidental Cottage Garden, Uncategorized

By Gary Crispell, NC State Extension Master Gardener SM volunteer of Durham County (aka the Accidental Cottage Gardener)

Welcome to September. The month North Carolina natives and long-time residents have looked forward to since late May (and maybe even longer this year).  It is the month we hope will bring us cooler temperatures or at least less humidity.  This year we shall see.  After ten months of parching drought we had one month of three months’ rain.  August was back to being a little dry.  September…who knows?  Climate change has scrambled things a bit.  At least we are not literally burning up nor are we drowning.  See, it’s all good (well, mostly) in this the “goodliest state.”

The Accidental Cottage Garden is just full of itself, what with all the rain and sunshine.  Once again there are twenty-one species in bloom.  The goal of zinnias (Zinnia elegans) and cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus & C. bipinnata) for cut flower arrangements has been attained (and attained and attained).  Apparently ¼ pound of zinnia seeds and 2 ounces of cosmos for 150 sq. ft. is overkill.  Who knew?  They are right pretty, though.  The list of all the others will be at the end of the post. 

Zinnias and Cosmos continue to thrive in the ACG, even with the heat and drought. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

Lawn Care

Time to rejuvenate cool season lawns (tall fescue, bluegrass, perennial rye).  Unless you irrigated this summer, they probably look rather sad.  We assume that you did avail yourself of the FREE SOIL TEST service from NCDOA this year and know how much lime and N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) fertilizer you need to add to your soil.  So, there are basically three approaches to rejuvenation.

They all start with spreading the lime and fertilizer over the yard.  The first method is for those of you who only have some relatively small bare patches.  Loosen the soil in the areas to be reseeded, scatter seed on the loose soil and tamp it down (Not stomp…just walk over it firmly.).  Spread a light covering of wheat straw over any patch larger than one square foot.  Keep moist until germination and then water thoroughly as needed to give it about an inch of water per week.

Method two involves a core aerator.  Spread chemicals as above and core aerate the lawn twice in perpendicular directions.  Spread seed over entire lawn and cover large bare areas with wheat straw.  Water as above.

The third method is drastic.  It is used when your lawn looks like my backyard…totally nekkid.  Spread lime and fertilizer then till up the whole yard.  Spread seed and roll yard to achieve optimal seed/soil contact.  Cover yard with wheat straw and water as above.  The book says all this should be done by the second week of October.  The book ain’t wrong.  A little conservative maybe, but not wrong.

 Do not fertilize any warm season grasses (Bermuda, zoysia, centipede) anymore this year.  They are getting ready for a long winter’s nap and unlike bears they do not need to fatten up.

Grub control efforts are still worthwhile until the middle of the month when the grubs, too, are going into hibernation (having already fattened up on your lawn’s roots).

Pruning

Nope.  Nicht.  Non.  Nyet. No!  Sharpen the pruning shears and loppers and oil ‘em up then hang ‘em up until Black Friday or Boxing Day even.

Spraying

The same culprits that you were saying bad things about in August are still out there—all of them and most likely in the same places they were then.  They are tenaciously pernicious.  Get them!  I shall forthwith reveal their identities and their likely hideouts.  Wooly adelgids will be creeping around hemlocks while spider mites are not so discerning.  They will lurk on the underside of any coniferous evergreen’s needlelike leaves and on most other plants that might be under stress.  (They have no mercy.)  Tea scales will be found on euonymus and camellias.  These will either have to sprayed with a horticultural oil to smother them or you can pick them off individually and smush them.  Well, not necessarily with your bare fingers.  That is rather yucky.  Lace bugs will be hanging out on pyracantha and azaleas, especially those growing in sunny locations.  (Azaleas are an understory plant, after all.)

Most tree species are fed upon by spider mites (NC State Extension) including spruce and oak.

As always, continue any rose maintenance program.

Propagation

Here is your chance to get dirt under your fingernails.  I know you want to.

Dig up spring-flowering bulbs and tubers and rhizomes and divide them.  Daffodils really like the attention as do irises and day lilies.  The reward you get in the spring will more than compensate for having to get your nails done again. (Real men aren’t afraid of the manicurist.)

Peonies that need transplanting can receive that attention now.  Dig a big hole and a big root ball.  Just be aware of not planting too deep.  Only as deep as the hole they came out of.  Cut back any old stems and mulch well.

OTHER STUFF TO DO SHOULD SEPTEMBER TURN OUT TO BE ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR

It could happen, you know.  It’d be a shame to get to October before you realized that September had been spectacular.  Stay aware.

It’s not too late to plant a fall garden.

Go camping with the grandkids.  

Get the firepit ready for that first crisp fall evening.

Just go outside and revel in the goodness and wonder of nature.

Remember: FALL IS FOR PLANTING

ACG PLANT LIST:

  • Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
  • Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)
  • Blanket flower (Gallardia pulchella)
  • African marigold (Tagetes erecta)
  • Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus)
  • C. bipinnata
  • Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
  • Zinnia ` (Zinnia elegans)
  • Evening primrose (Oenothera lumarkiana)
  • Chinese forget-me-not (Cynoglossum amabile)
  • Canadian goldenrod (Solidago altissima)
  • Common goldenrod (S. canadensis)
  • Canna lily (Canna x generalis)
  • Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
  • Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)
  • Prairie sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris)
  • Hydrangea Limelight (Hydrangea macrophila ‘Limelight’)
  • Resindot sunflower (Helianthus resinosus)
  • False vervain (Verbena carnea)
  • Common tradescantia (Tradescantia virginiana)
  • Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum)

Additional Reading and Resources

Want a quick tutorial on how to plant spring flowering bulbs?

https://forsyth.ces.ncsu.edu/news/fall-is-the-time-to-add-flowering-bulbs-in-your-garden

Editor: Martha Keehner Engelke

Shortlink: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-826