Don't torture your tropicals, get them out of chilly blasts

After several mild winters, we've already had a brush with ice and chill, sending the garden tropicals into eclipse. Time outdoors during this busiest of months can be calming. And naturally there's a "to do" list if you find yourself outdoors.

Start by looking at those drooping dahlias and battered bananas. Very tender tropicals such as cannas, caladium and elephant ears shiver into winter when temperatures drop below 50 degrees. Though it's been cold, the brevity of low temperatures means you can still protect or recover the tropicals.

Lift and store tubers and bulbs, or if you feel adventurous and want to experiment with survival, mulch heavily using at least 4-6 inches. Tropicals in the ground may survive better than those in containers. Move container bananas and others like angel's trumpet (Brugmansia species) into cool, dark storage if you haven't already done so. The Japanese banana (Musa basjoo) gets the hardiness prize, coming back well after a deep protective mulch. The stem will collapse, but regrows in spring.

Bananas are the largest herbaceous perennials; dying to the ground is normal for them.

Dahlias can stay in the ground through winter, under a thick 4-inch layer of mulch. Trim back the dead stems before mulching. Dahlias left in the garden risk being frozen, but this hasn't happened in the last decade. Some growers dig them in order to separate the tubers, to keep the dahlia planting from becoming a bushy mass of stems when spring growth starts.

If you want to dig your dahlias, this is the best time to do it. Use a garden fork rather than a shovel, and lift carefully. You'll find that the dahlia has added bulk to the tuber, and what was a single tuber during May planting will have 4 or 5 tubers now.

Lay them on newspaper in a cool, protected spot (a garage is perfect), allowing them to dry for three or four days. Leave them attached to the central stem; dahlias form new growth only on tubers that had stem attachments. Tie on a label identifying the variety, tuck them into a box of mulch, sawdust, or peat moss kept in a cool, dark place. Check them again in January and moisten the packing material slightly if the tubers begin to shrivel.

While you're lifting the summer bloomers, finish planting the hardy bulbs that bloom in early spring. Crocuses, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and scilla should go in now. The longer you wait to plant them, the more delayed their spring bloom. If planted too late, (February), the hardy bulbs often fail to bloom at all.

Tend to rose bushes by removing leaves (if the plant is small enough). This helps encourage necessary dormancy. Whether you do this, or not, be sure to pile about four inches of mulch around the base of the stem. Remove this after spring pruning.

Yes, roses will continue to bloom in December, but their weather-beaten flowers cease to be decorative.

Plant, plant, plant and transplant throughout December, whenever the ground isn't frozen and temperatures are above freezing. All landscape trees and shrubs transplant well now. New plants brought from nurseries in containers also settle in just fine now.

All "unplanted treasures" should be planted or protected from cold with a mulch.

Garden expert Mary Robson, retired area horticulture agent for Washington State University/King County Cooperative Extension, shares gardening tips every Wednesday. Her e-mail is marysophia@olympus.net.