By Tamara Galbraith

Ok, that title is deceiving. It's not time to kill your amaryllis, but to force it into taking a nap.

I received two beautiful amaryllis bulbs as gifts last Christmas. Once they were done blooming, I allowed the bulbs to dry out and rest for a few weeks, then planted them in a semi-shady spot in my garden. They quickly put out several huge strap-like leaves that lasted all summer (although no blooms, probably because I had them in shade).

But whether you've had your amaryllis inside or out, mid-October is the time to start the whole process over again if you're wanting these spectacular flowers to bloom for the holidays.

First, carefully remove the bulbs from either the garden or pot, wash the soil from the roots and place the bulbs in a cool, dry place on some newspaper. The leaves will eventually shrivel up and die.

Around the first week of December, remove the dead leaves and any brown, dead-looking roots. Pot the bulbs up in fresh potting mix, such as Kellogg Potting Soil, in a clean pot that's one to two inches larger in diameter than the base of the bulb (remember to keep the top third of the bulb exposed), and give it a good drink of water.

Place the newly-potted amaryllis in a warm, sunny window...then sit back and witness the magic.

By Tamara Galbraith

Calendula, widely recognized as the Flower of the Month for October, comes from the Latin word calendae, meaning "throughout the months." Gardeners who plant this long-blooming herbaceous annual will find it certainly lives up to its name.

Although members of the marigold family, calendulas' needs are quite different. They actually prefer cooler temperatures and evenly moist soil, and at 1-2 ft. tall, calendulas can get quite a bit bigger than your average marigold, too. If you're putting in transplants, use a slow-release fertilizer at planting time. One that we recommend is Dr. Earth Fish Bone Meal. Calendulas also do great in containers.

As your calendulas grow and flower, prune back spent blossoms to prolong blooming; some will continue to bloom into late fall, a nice treat since calendula's predominantly orange and yellow flowers fit in with autumn's color scheme. In hot climates, calendula will continue to grow throughout the winter.

Calendulas can continue to perform even after they're cut. Add the dried flowers to vinegar and use as a fish marinade or salad dressing. (In fact, the leaves themselves can be harvested for salads.) Tea made from calendulas flowers is said to make a soothing eye wash, a mild treatment for skin irritations or a remedy for upset stomachs.

Give this hard-working beauty a try, and you'll be enjoying calendula -- as its name says -- "throughout the months"!

Naturalizing bulbs is a good way to enjoy a trouble-free display each spring, and one that should improve each year. You will need an area of grass that you don’t mind leaving unmown until early summer, to allow bulb foliage to die back naturally.

If you have a lot of small bulbs, such as crocuses and eranthis, to plant in a limited area, try lifting an area of turf. Use a spade or half-moon edger to make an H-shaped cut.

Slice beneath the grass with a spade until you can fold the turf back for planting. Loosen the ground first, as it will be very compacted. If you want to apply a slow-acting fertilizer, such as Dr. Earth Organic 1 Bulb Food, work it into the soil at the same time.

Avoid planting in rows or patterns. You want a natural and informal look, so scatter the bulbs and plant where they fall. If you plant large bulbs this way, you will have to make deeper holes with a trowel. Plant them so that they are covered with about twice their own depth of soil. Firm the soil,  then return the grass. Firm again if necessary to make sure it is flat, and water if the weather is dry to ensure that the grass grows again quickly.

Large bulbs such as daffodils are easier to plant using a bulb planter that takes out a core of soil. Scatter the bulbs randomly so that the display will look natural. Push the bulb planter into the soil, twisting it a little if the ground is hard, then pull it out with the core of soil. Release the core of soil and place the bulb at the bottom of the hole. Pull off a little soil from the base of the core (to allow for the depth of the bulb), then replace the core in the hole. Firm down gently.

Although ponds need little routine maintenance, there are a few end-of-season tasks that are essential if you want to keep your plants and fish in good condition.

Protect the pond from the worst of the leaf fall with a fine mesh net. Anchor it just above the surface of the pond. This is not practical for a large pond, but it is useful for a small one. Remove the leaves regularly, and eventually take the netting off. If you are not able to cover your pond with a net, or don’t like the appearance of one, use a fish net or rake to remove leaves regularly - not only from surface, but also from below the surface as well. Too many leaves in the water can pollute the pond.

Submerged oxygenating plants, such as elodea and rampant growers like myriophyllum, will eventually clog the pond unless you net or rake them out periodically. This is a good time to thin them simply by raking out the excess. Trim back dead or dying plants from around the edge of the pond, especially where the vegetation is likely to fall into the water.

To divide overgrown waterplants, first remove the plants from their containers. It may be necessary to cut some roots to do so. Some plants can simply be pulled apart by hand, but others will have such a tight mass of entangled roots that you need to chop them into smaller pieces with a spade.

Discard any pieces you don’t want for replanting, then pot up the others in planting baskets. Cover the top of the baskets with gravel to prevent soil disturbance.