►Plan on attending a Flower Show this year.

►Do not forget to water your plants, esp. your trees. Even though the weather has turned colder, plants still need water. 

►By now, you should have a nice set up with your cold frame and your cold-loving vegetables well protected inside.

►Insulate your cold frame by using layers of sawdust or hay along the perimeters of the cold frame. During very cold nights, cover with an insulating blanket.

►Improvise your own heating system. Get plenty of half-gallon, gallon-sized, or larger metal cans. Paint them inside and out with flat black paint. Fill with water and line the inside perimeter of your cold frame with these painted cans.

►During the day, with sun exposure, these cans with water trap and hold heat. At night, heat is released and radiates out from these cans to warm up your plants. This is one of the laws of physics.

►If you want to move your shrubs or young trees to a different location, this is the time to do it, if the ground is not yet frozen. Be sure to water it, but do not fertilize.

►Grape vine can be pruned back now, but save the vines.

►Prune away diseases canes and stems and discard
in the trash. 

►Mulch all plants to protect the roots from frost.

►Put your gardening tools and lawn mover to sleep for the winter after cleaning and oiling.

►Cut holly with their red berries for your Christmas
decorations.

►Make a Christmas wreath with grape vine grown in your own garden.

►Think natural instead of plastic or synthetic for Christmas. Make holiday decorations using dried and fresh plant materials gathered from your own garden. For inspiration, refer to Christmas traditions, Williamsburg-style.

►Put in your order for plant catalogs and plan on trying something new, different or exotic.

►Finally, sit back and relax and vegetate on what a beautiful and bountiful garden you are going to have next year.

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