Many gardeners are saddened when the weather begins cooling, because they believe the colder weather will hail the end of color in their garden. A yard filled with beautiful flowers in summer and fall suddenly seems impossible to duplicate when the weather is cold and the sun is hiding. But there are two plants that are becoming increasingly popular for cheering up winter gardens.

Let us introduce you to "flowering cabbage" and "ornamental kale." These ornamental plants look much the same as their cousins bred for the table, but have been bred specifically for their showy colors and ruffled foliage. They come in a variety of colors, ranging from white to pinks, purples, or reds. (The ornamentals are edible, but not bred for taste.)

More important, these plants can survive winter temperatures as low as 5 degrees (and with some protection, they can survive even lower temperatures). While a sudden severe cold can be deadly to seedlings or new transplants, these plants will do just fine if given time to acclimate. What is more interesting, a light to moderate frost will even help intensify their brilliant colors. They actually prefer the cold and don't do at all well in the summer months.

Both flowering cabbage and ornamental kale prefer to be planted in the full sun but will tolerate some shade (although their colors might not be as intense). As with all other annuals, they do best when planted in rich soil. So, for best results, amend the soil before planting. We also recommend feeding them every two weeks to keep them looking their best. In addition, they do very well in pots, making them great for adding a bit of color on patios and around entrances.

1. Plant all types of permanent landscape plants other than bare-root and tropicals.
2. Plant trees, shrubs and vines.
3. Choose and plant for permanent fall and winter color.
4. Continue to shop for spring-blooming bulbs.
5. Plant lilies as soon as you get them home.
6. Buy daffodils, grape hyacinths, ranunculus, anemones and Dutch irises; keep them in a cool, dry place until planting time.
7. Purchase hyacinth, tulip, and crocus bulbs and prechill them in the refrigerator.
8. Plant cool-season flowers for winter and spring bloom.
9. Plant cineraria for late winter and early spring bloom.
10. Plant wildflowers.
11. Plant cool-season lawns; this is the best time of year for this job.
12. Overseed Bermuda grass with annual winter rye grass if desired.
13. Plant cool-season vegetables, year-round vegetables, including carrots and some perennial vegetables.
14. Thin out sweet peas and pinch them back to force branching.
15. Divide, trim, and mulch plants that tend to grow in a clump and that need to be divided, including Kahili ginger, clivia, iris, daylily, moraea, bird of paradise, gazanias, and perennials like Shasta daisies.
16. Cut back zonal and ivy geraniums; finish pruning Martha Washingtons.
17. Divide hardy water lilies.
18. Divide belladonna lilies.
19. Dig up, divide and replant perennials, or mulch them.
20. Cut off runners from strawberries, gather them in bunches, and prechill them for November planting.
21. Feed fuchsias.
22. Continue to treat blue hydrangeas with aluminum sulfate.
23. Stop fertilizing chrysanthemums and enjoy the blooms.
24. Fertilize poinsettias with a complete fertilizer high in bloom ingredients.
25. Feed roses early in October; don't fertilize in November.
26. Water deciduous fruit trees more sparingly in fall.
27. Water roses with up to 1 1/2 inches of water twice a week, unless it rains.
28. Finish pulling out faded annual flowers and cleaning pots and beds for fall.
29. Make a ball-shaped basket of malacoides primroses.
30. Thoroughly clean up the vegetable garden; pull up the last of the summer crops and compost the remains (if you have had fungus or disease problems, skip the composting and get rid of them instead).

Now is the time to prepare your soil to plant wildflowers. You may plant successfully through early November. Plant at this time and you will have larger plants with many more flowers than if you planted them next spring.

To have a good display of spring flowers, you can just sprinkle out the flower seed and rake it into the top 1/4" to 1/2" of the soil and let mother nature do the rest. But if you want to ensure a great color display next spring, it is best to prepare your ground as you would any other seed bed.

• Start by removing weeds.
• Next add a good compost on top of the ground. A 2 cubic ft. bag will cover approximately 100 square feet.
• Turn over the ground with a shovel or rototiller. You may skip this step if the area is exceptionally large.
• Rake out the area, removing any weeds or dirt clods. Sprinkle the seed evenly and rake lightly so that the seed is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.
• Water well so the ground is moist but not soggy.

Most of the seeds will sprout in 3 to 8 weeks. Help Mother Nature a little by watering during dry spells and feeding with a balanced commercial fertilizer. Then stand back and watch that old neglected area turn into a riotous array of color next spring.

How can I get my flowers to bloom more?

Answer:
Most flowers and flowering plants need three essential ingredients to bloom: sunlight, nutrients, and warm soil. Even shade plants like azaleas and camellias need some sunlight in order to bloom. If your flowers are sun lovers, make sure they get at least five hours of sunlight per day--the more sunlight the better.

Key nutrients for blooming plants are phosphorus and potash. While most plants need some nitrogen to help them grow and stay green, too much can focus the plant on growing instead of blooming. Nitrogen is also more readily available in the soil and more easily taken up by the plant.

Feed flowering plants with a high phosphorus and potash but low nitrogen flower food. If that still doesn't work, starve them of nitrogen by feeding it with a 0-10-10 fertilizer.

Finally, make sure you don't water your plants too often. Allow the soil to dry out some between waterings, thus allowing the soil to warm up. If you water too much, the plants will often produce excessive fleshy growth and no blooms.