Tomatoes growing inside a cold frame in my Indiana garden on November 11, 2011.

See the vegetables that are still growing and being harvested under cover in Indiana in November.

It is possible to have color in the garden in November, even if you live in a cold climate like Indiana, which depending on which edition of the USDA map you look at, we are either a zone 5 (older map) or a zone 6. Due to global warming, the part of Indiana we live in became a USDA hardiness zone 6 several years ago.

The goal with my outdoor garden is to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers all year-round. Check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening by Delilah Smittle and Sheri Ann Richerson (that’s me!) for details on how you can accomplish this task too!

This is an autumn crocus.

If you look inside the bird house, you will see even though this was a decorative house, a bird took up residence. The plant is bittersweet, which will keep its colorful berries all winter until the birds eat them up.

A close-up of the bittersweet berries.

Here are some of the helleborus that grow in the shade garden. They will remain green all winter and bloom before winter comes to an end. Some varieties bloom as early as November.

Sedum is a colorful fall blooming plant whose faded flowers remain on the plant for most of the winter.

The fuzzy Magnolia buds create texture in the fall and winter garden.

The colorful foliage of ninebark is still on the shrubs.

The colorful foliage of the euonymus.

I simply love the foliage of the Korean Viburnum.

This is a different variety of Viburnum. The flower bud will open to reveal highly fragrant flowers in the spring.

Who can resist lamb’s ears? They are a great border plant that provides texture and a unique foliage color in the garden, not to mention hummingbirds love the purple flowers!

If you grow ornamental grass, leave it stand until spring. The foliage creates an intersting sound during the winter, helps block snow and the feathery flower plumes look good too. Winter birds love landing on large clumps of ornamental grass in the winter.

Some varieties of mums keep blooming even after several light frosts. The trick is to deadhead, or remove the flowers as they fade.

Here is another variety of mum that is still in bloom.

Rose hips are a tasty snack that is high in vitamin C. Pick them right after the first frost hits them and make rose petal jelly, rose petal syrup or a variety of other tasty treats with them. Dry some to add to homemade potpourri and leave some to create winter interest in the garden and give the birds something to eat. The seeds inside the ones you pick will germinate, so plant some to increase the roses you have and share some with friends! This particular rose has apple scented leaves.

A close-up of a cluster of rose hips.

Sometimes herbs or flowers that dry on the plant, such as these hops, create winter interest.

Bark often creates interest too. Here is a photo of Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick.

Another plant with interesting bark is the hardy orange, Flying Dragon, and yes, it is hardy here in Indiana.

Don’t forget to plant a red twig dogwood. The red bark looks fantastic against the snow. The birds love the white berries. Keep the bark red by removing the older twigs as they turn brown.

Don’t forget to grow some winter lettuce and radish in a cold frame!

Once the leaves have fallen, check shrubs and trees for bird nests. This will help you locate where the birds are nesting come spring and prevent any possible problems. Check out this bird nest in a pear tree! I guess I will need to use bird netting on this tree next year.

Finally, don’t forget to plant a few holly bushes, out in the landscape. The evergreen plants with red berries look fantastic against the pure white snow and you can take cuttings to use in your holiday decorating!

Many perennials and cool season vegetables can be started from seed sown in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, then be transplanted in the open garden once weather permits. An advantage to this is you will get a head start on the planting season and have flowering plants earlier than if you were to start them outside, the exception being if you use the winter sowing method.

It is nice to walk into a greenhouse, even if it is unheated in the middle of winter on a sunny day. The temperatures are sure to be warm enough that you may not need a jacket or coat. You can sit in the greenhouse and prepare the flats, seed them and water them in comfort.

If the greenhouse is a bit chilly for you, using a small ceramic heater should warm it up enough to be comfortable while you are working in it. Rain barrels or other food safe plastic containers can be filled with water and depending on where you live, how warm your greenhouse stays, etc. they may only develop a small sheet of ice on the top of the container which can easily be broken up. If ice is a real problem, look into an animal water trough heater which could be used to keep the water from freezing.

Unheated greenhouses can be a source of real pleasure during the winter months. Don’t forget to add in a few cool weather vegetable crops such as lettuce or kale for your family to eat during the winter.

Cotton is a fun crop to grow and if started indoors can be grown in the northern states. If you start your cotton plants indoors, use peat pots so the cotton is easier to transplant. Cotton does transplant well as long as the roots are not disturbed. Cotton can be grown in large containers which will allow you to plant it earlier and bring it indoors or put it in a greenhouse come fall.

Cotton can be spun into thread that can be used for sewing or weaving. It can also be used as batting for pillows, quilts or pet beds.

Cotton will begin to set bolls – or seed heads – in the fall. These seed heads should be left alone until they begin to split open. The fibers will be fully developed when they split. At that point you can remove the bolls and harvest the cotton. The seeds and other vegetable matter will need to be removed from the cotton. Be sure to save the seed to plant the following season. Add the vegetable matter to the compost pile.

To spin it into thread or yarn you can work directly from then boll. There is no need to card it unless you prefer working from carded cotton. To use as batting you would need to clean it, also known as ginning, then find a way to create a batting from it.

White cotton has longer staples than colored cotton because colored cotton has not had much breeding work done with it. In some states it is illegal to grow colored cotton. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange offers a variety of colored cotton seeds.

Here in the Mid-West seed starting is already underway for many of us. Here are some dates and ideas of what you seeds you can start in January.

January 1 – direct sow carrot seed in cold frames

January 4 – pansy, dianthus, snapdragon in flats

January 6 – direct sow peas in cold frames – weather permitting – pea seed will rot if it gets too wet and cold

January 10 – statice in flats

January 11 – parsley, cabbage, celery and onion in flats

January 15 – direct sow carrots and spinach in cold frames

January 18 – begonia and geraniums in flats

January 25 – well established seedlings that were started in flats can be moved into cold frames, weather permitting – remember to do this gradually so seedlings are not shocked unless you have a heated cold frame

Janaury 29 – direct sow carrots in cold frame

The multiple dates for sowing various seeds such as carrots are there for people who succession sow or who did not get the seed sown on the first date.

Do you feel lost when it comes to making plans for your spring garden? If so, you are not alone. Many people simply do not know where to begin.

If this is a new garden, the first step is soil preparation. After all, you cannot grow a garden in grass or weeds. Make sure the area is tilled or hand dug, weed free and necessary amendments are added and worked into the ground. If possible, lay down big sheets of cardboard to help kill the weeds and grass the fall before you intend to plant.

The next part involves the seeds or plants. Do you want to grow flowers, herbs, vegetables or a combination? Think about what your family would use the most of. If you choose flowers, do you want ones that are fragrant, a specific color, ones that dry well or ones that attract butterflies? These are just a few of the possibilities. Once you have decided this, look at numerous garden catalogs and websites to determine what plants do the best in your area.

Consider the space you have to plant in once you know what you will plant. This will help you determine how many plants you can grow in a given area. If you are planting close for weed control, choose annuals. Perennials will need frequent dividing if they are planted too closely together to begin with. Intermixing annuals and perennials is fine. Some flowers such as marigold, nasturtium and zinnia do well in a vegetable garden. Experiment and remember gardens are ever changing.

Growing mushrooms from a mushroom kit is not hard, in fact, mushrooms are one of the easiest crops I have grown. Anyone, even a child, can grow their own mushrooms. Eat them fresh or preserve them by canning them, dehydrating them or freezing them – whatever you do with your home grown mushrooms it is sure to be a hit!

When your mushroom patch arrives you will notice it is covered in plastic. This is the incubation bag. The patch will look like a bunch of white popcorn that has been melted together with some brown patches on it. The brown patches are future mushrooms.

The first step in the process is to find a saucer large enough for your mushroom patch to sit in. Once you have done that, remove the mushroom patch from the incubation bag.

Put thesaucer in the humidty tent which is the plastic bag with holes in it that came in your kit. Sit the empty saucer with the humidity bag in a dark, cool spot.

Put the mushroom patch in the saucer and fill it with cool rainwater. Do not use chlorinated, filtered or distilled water!

Put some skewers, chop-sticks or knitting needles into the top of the mushroom patch. Pull the plastic humidity bag up over the mushroom patch and fold it down. Fasten the top of the bag with clothespins or paperclips.

Several times a day you will need to open the bag to mist the top of the mushroom patch and the sides of the bag. Use rainwater.

Within about two weeks you will have mushrooms. This process can be repeated several times by allowing the patch to dry out, then repeating the entire process. Some mushroom patches can then be incorporated into logs and established in your yard.

Seed starting time is rolling around in the Midwest once again. If you are seeking early blooms this season, now is the time to start seeds of dianthus and snapdragon.

Also if you didn’t get your pansy and viola seeds started back in November, be sure to start those.

These cool weather plants will do fine, once germinated, in a cool greenhouse. As spring approaches and the weather warms, sometime in mid-March to early April, these young plants can be moved into a cold frame and then on into the garden.

Once they have been hardened off, they are sure to survive light frosts. Should a severe frost threaten your area, simply cover them with a make shift cold frame made out of an old milk carton or two liter plastic bottle. Be sure to vent the cold frame so the plants do not cook when the sun comes up the next day.

During the cold, snowy season, I like to share with my readers photos of some of my favorite plants from the previous season. I think it gives everyone a chance to escape from the dreary cold outside their window and helps all of us plan our garden for the upcoming here. So hang on tight to your chair and let’s see what the stars of 2009 were!

Tulips say spring to me in a way no other plant does. I really enjoy seeing them come up and bloom. I wish they were a bit more prolific here like daffodils, but hey, at least a few seem to come back year after year.

I love the dark colored flowers of Akeiba. Some years it blooms, other years it doesn’t. This year one vine bloomed and the second one did not. You need to vines for cross-pollination to get fruit. So far I have not had any fruit set on my vines, but I am sure it is just a matter of time.

The common name for Akeiba is chocolate vine. It is said the vine emits a chocolate scent when in bloom. The flowers do have a slight chocolate scent, however it is not a wafting scent. Of course, as stated above, both vines have not been in bloom nor has either vine ever been in full bloom, so I will keep waiting and hoping. A wafting chocolate scent would be fantastic!

Ah, what would an exotic garden be without exotic plants? Best of all, this one is perfectly hardy here in Indiana. Dracunculus vulgaris is the scientific name of this beauty. The first several years I had it, only the leaves came up, then in the summer of 2009 this beautiful flower formed.

This dark beauty is Zantedeschia ‘Edge of Night,’ a fine introduction from Dan Heims at Terra Nova Nurseries. Dan comes up with the coolest – and I do mean coolest – plants. Don’t take my word for it though, visit his website and take a look at the unusual plants there that just beg for a place in your garden!

While it is true there are not as many photos here as usual, the summer of 2009 caught me inside writing several books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year-Round Gardening. So, that is it for the photos now. I hope you enjoy them and find some new plants for your garden in 2010!

It’s official – Amazon is taking pre-orders on The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year Round Gardening. Order your copy today so they are not sold out by the time the book is released in February 2010.

This book is so cool because it tells you, no matter what hardiness zone you are in, how to garden year round. It doesn’t matter if you have a heated or unheated greenhouse, garden indoors, use frost covers or cold frames, you can defy nature and grow many varieties of fresh produce year round.

Here in Indiana we have been successful with a variety of produce – lettuce, peas, radish, turnip, carrots, to name a few. In 2008, using season extending ideas like you will find in this book, I planted tomato plants on April 1.

Don’t miss your chance to own this fantastic book. Even seasoned gardeners are sure to learn something – and don’t let the name fool you, The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Year Round Gardening should be on every gardeners’ bookshelf!