Anchorage Daily News

I spent two hours last weekend and planted 160 bulbs -- tulips and daffodils -- around the property.

That was my excuse.

The weather was spectacular Sunday, and the ground was soft from the week's rain: perfect conditions for planting spring-flowering bulbs.

I was, however, puttering around under the guise of bulb planting. One place I like to plant bulbs is in and around lilies. The tulips and daffodils come up and perform before the lilies, and everyone is happy.

Anyhow, in addition to the stone-hardy Asiatic lilies, I was struck by how many of the less-hardy "L-A" hybrids -- a cross between Longiflorum and Asiatic lilies -- we have. They're not nearly as hardy as the trumpet and Oriental lilies. Knowing their source, I suspect about half the gardeners in Southcentral are in a similar situation.

If you want, you can dig up any of these tender lilies and store them over the winter. This is what those who grow them in containers do, and so can you. Just keep them in a crawl space, an old refrigerator dedicated to keeping bulbs cool or a garage kept between 40 and 50 degrees. If you dig them up instead of keeping them in containers, put them in damp wood shavings, one bulb per sealed baggie, and store them in the same cool location. The idea is to give them winter chill but not let them dry out.

I also picked gooseberries and currants that have been hanging from the vine and are as ripe as they are going to get. What are you waiting for? If you have good compost, put it under these bushes to help increase the microbial diversity that might reduce the defoliating sawfly larva wintering under them.

Another thing that occupied a bit of my time was dividing a couple of our rocket-style ligularias. Lots of us have these plants because they're fantastic, stone-hardy, gigantic, we-can-grow-them-better-here-than-anywhere plants. But they can also be a pain. In a matter of a few years, some ligularia varieties will take over a perennial garden. Fall is a great time to divide them. I wouldn't wait much past this weekend, however.

There's no sense digging up all the established roots, though. Just dig up what you want and put it into a hole big enough to spread the roots out a bit. Mulch with good compost and brown leaves and then water well. You can cut back the leaves and flower stalks. Leave one or two as a marker.

Finally, if you do nothing else this weekend -- and it's a great one to plant bulbs and perennials, dig up lilies and put in trees and shrubs -- do the one thing I do every time I'm out in the yard: reduce the risk of being overrun by self-seeding perennials and annuals. Some of the worst include foxglove, forget-me-nots and any number of veronica, verbascum and campanula as well as meadow rue and butter-and-eggs.

It's not necessary to pull up entire plants. There are instances -- foxglove being one -- in which you might want to keep the plant but prevent it from going to seed. Just cut back the portions of the plants that hold the seed pods and toss the seeds in the garbage. Obviously, if you leave them in the garden, you're defeating the purpose of cutting them.

Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at www.gardenerjeff.com or by joining the "Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR 700 AM.

Alaska garden calendar

• CLEANUP: You know the routine.

• ALASKA BOTANICAL GARDEN: Volunteers are needed next week to help organize the nursery area and tool shed, count plants, trim perennials and mulch flower beds. (770-3692; garden@alaskabg.org)

• ANCHORAGE MASTER GARDENER COURSE: Registration begins Friday for classes starting Oct. 17. The 14-session series runs noon to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays through Dec. 4. Volunteers commit to 40 hours of work once they complete the course. To receive registration materials in September, contact the UAF Cooperative Extension Service in Anchorage at 786-6300.

• HOLIDAY FLOWER SHOW: Anyone can enter the Anchorage Garden Club's 47th annual event Nov. 13-14. There are horticulture and design categories. A schedule and category list should be available this month. Check the hot line for show hours at 566-0539