These offers aregood through 10/25/07 or while supplies last. Not to be combined with any other offers or discounts.

30% OFF All Mulch (Bulk & Bags)

30% OFF Shade Trees (Excluding Aspens)

30% OFF Vines

50% OFF Fruit Trees

50% OFF Select Trees & Shrubs

25-50% OFF CLEARANCE October 19-24!
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Lots of colorful fall perennials, also, a new shipment of evergreens, ornamental grasses and ‘fall color’ shrubs.

High Country Gardens retail store in Albuquerque is located in the portal of Jackalope at 6400 San Mateo NE. Retail hours are 9am to 6pm seven days a week. Call: 505-856-7641.

Fall Clean-up: Is For the Bulbs
By Cindy Bellinger

Why is garden clean-up is such a fall thing? Other seasons havetheir moments, too, but fall always seems to top the list. After thepast few days, though, I finally learned why. It's to plant bulbs.

My learning curve went something like this

1. I set out to pull some weeds
2. Found three old 4x4s tangled in vines
3. Ripped the lumber out
4. Tried pulling the weeds out
5. Dug up rocks around the weeds, to loosen the soil

…and hauled the rocks closer to the site of a future project. Whileunloading them, I noticed some lovely grass leaves. On closerinspection they turned out to be lilies. I was thrilled. They gotburied two years ago during some heavy construction here.

Immediately I dropped everything else and began fussing over thelilies. They'll never bloom this late into fall, but they immediatelygrabbed my admiration. They emerged from under several feet of packedclay. But they are in a spot where I want to pour more concrete.

Suddenly my fall clean-up geared up a notch. I pulled weeds andfound trash near the back step. I retrieved some old bricks from outfront and began digging a narrow border bed next to the back step. Andthat's where I'll transplant the lilies, and plant some bulbs.

I now have my eye on the annual bed out front to make room forbulbs. I've also been picking off dead stalks on the irises in thefront garden. This lets me see how much room there is for sticking inmore bulbs.

So this is what I've learned lately: All this tidying up during thefall--clearing dead brush, hauling off old lumber--is really aboutfinding more spots to plant bulbs.

Since it's been so warm lately (and isn't it a lovely autumn?), thisfall clean-up won't mean draining the hoses quite yet. Nope. I need tokeep them on to water the bulbs.

Read My Little Garden Patch - gardening column by Cindy Bellinger.