Are you worried that those bulbs you're planting for spring color will be consumed by pests before they have a chance at glory? Pests don't bother some bulbs, so you can plant with those with high expectations intact.
Narcissus, or daffodil, is a renowned member of the "no-pest" bulb community. Other resistant bulbs are Scilla or squill, Oxalis (some varieties are shamrocks), Ornithogalum or pregnant onion or star of Bethlehem, Muscari or grape hyacinth, Leucojum or snowflake, Ipheion or star flower, Hyacinth Spanish bluebell or Hyacinthoides hispanica, Galanthus nivalis or snowdrop, Fritillaria or crown imperial, Eranthis or winter aconite, Crocus tommasinianus, Colchicum or autumn crocus, Chionodoxa or glory of the snow, ornamental onions, and Camassia.
Apparently other varieties of crocus are fair game for burrowing rodents unless you plant them in hardware cages. Idaho wouldn't have fields of sky-blue camas if pests went after Camassia.
START SOME HARDY PERENNIALS FROM SEED
Our local nurseries have vigorous, thriving perennials available in spring, but if you're attempting to start a large, new perennial garden, it may be too costly to buy all of the plants you'll need.
You can start many hardy perennials from seed, and here's an easy way to do it: put good potting soil in a four- or five-inch diameter plastic pot, plant the seeds at recommended depth, then dig a hole in your garden bed deep enough to bury the pot to its rim.
Identify what you've planted in the pot, then let Mother Nature do the work during winter.
When you have seedlings with four true leaves in spring, you can break them out of the pot and transplant to permanent locations.
Keep a note of what you've planted where. Squirrels and large birds have been seen pulling out plant tags.
PLANT LETTUCE AND SPINACH NOW
Don't forget, now is a great time to plant lettuce outdoors. Don't bother watering it, but if it rains, that's OK. If you haven't already planted spinach, you can plant it now, too.
INSTEAD OF A TREE, GET A ROSEMARY PLANT
Some nurseries and garden centers offer Christmas tree-shaped rosemary plants at this time of year. They're beautiful, useful and wonderfully aromatic, but people find them difficult to keep alive over winter. Keep it in a cold, bright area of your house, above freezing, and keep the soil fairly moist.
Some garden books advise letting the soil dry between waterings, but that's too dry for rosemary, and it will die. When it's dry, it's invaded by spider mites, tiny critters that weave such tiny webs they're almost invisible. They'll suck out the rest of the life of the rosemary.
Rosemary is a very useful plant, yielding flavorful needles and sprigs that can be tucked under the skin of a chicken or turkey before it roasts.
"Salem" variety of rosemary is said to be less sensitive to reduced light in winter, when it goes semi-dormant. The variety called "Arp" is the hardiest rosemary, and if you have a site protected from cold, desiccating winds, you might be able to keep it growing during winter.
TIE BLOOMING ASTERS FOR MORE SEEDS
If you have asters you'd like more of, tie those blooming now with a ribbon so you'll know where to harvest seeds.
Once you gather those seeds, sprinkle them where you want more asters. There's no need to water them in or cover them with soil.
