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Saturday, November 14, 2015 An Advertising Feature of The Topeka Capital-Journal

Jamie (Hancock) Kidd Garden Column – 3 The CASA Home for the Holidays – 5 Open House Directory – 8 Service Directory – 10

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Winterizing your yard Jamie (Hancock) Kidd

jamiehan@ksu.edu I love a warm fire in the fireplace on a cool autumn day. It’s time to make chili and cornbread, and plan who’s cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving (that would be me). It’s also time to consider clearing out the plants that will bite the dust

with the hard freezes we will be getting.

The average first frost date for this area of Kansas is around October 10. The freezes came a lot later this year. So all the work we would have had completed by now still needs to be done. So, get out your wheelbarrow and let’s get cracking.

Bulbs Hopefully, your spring bulbs are planted, if not, it’s not too late to get them in the ground.

Summer bulb plants like canna lily, gladiolus, caladium, dahlia, tuberous begonia, and calla lily will not survive our winters. They need to be dug and prepped for storage. This is done by allowing them

to dry for about a week in a shady, wellventilated garage or tool shed. Remove excess soil and pack them in peat moss, vermiculite or perlite. K-State horticulturist, Ward Upham, says to make sure the bulbs don’t touch so that if one decays, the rot doesn’t spread to its neighbors. Dusting them with fungicide before storage will help prevent them from rotting.

Perennials  Cut back wilted perennials to the ground. Consider leaving other perennials for winter interest.  Do not cut hibiscus down until spring.

Their stems are hollow and will collect rainwater which can freeze in the crown

and kill the plant.

Annual and vegetables  Remove annuals and seasonal vegetables. Pull them up roots and all. Chop them up with pruners or with the lawn mower and throw them into the compost pile. NOTE: If they are diseased, bag them and throw them in the trash.  Cut the tops of asparagus plants and add aged manure. Asparagus is the first to sprout in the spring and is one of the few things that can be fertilized in the fall.  Add straw over strawberry beds after the ground freezes, around Thanksgiving.

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The CASA Home for the Holidays

By Shanna Sloyer Special to The Capital-Journal

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) will host its Annual CASA Homes for the Holidays Tour November 21 and 22.

In its 28th year, the event pairs local designers with Topeka homeowners to create holiday decorating magic. The public is invited to tour the decorated homes, and the proceeds benefit abused and neglected children in the court and foster care systems in Shawnee County.

“It’s a great cause and a great organization that is trying to help,” said Dan Brungardt, owner of Home at Last, located inside of Fairlawn Plaza. “As a member of the business and residential communities, we need to be involved.”

Brungardt will be decorating the interior of Cameron and Kim Rees’ home for the tour. He describes his decorating style as a blend of old and new, with an appreciation for a sense of history and age. His designs lean toward a collected look that appears to have formed itself over years of work, rather than having been purchased all at once.

Rex Wolf/special to The Capital-Journal

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Red Door Home Store, one of the designers for the CASA Home for the Holidays tour.

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Homes: Embrace and use color in decorating Continued from 5C Inspiration for the Rees’ home this holiday season came from their beautiful, blue-green natural slate floor. Using the floor as his cue, Brungardt incorporated a soft color palette into everything from the ornaments on the tree to the flowers and silks on the mantel and dining table. The result is a peaceful, calm design that uses natural tones and materials.

“Color can be a stumbling block for some people. Embrace it and use it,” said Brungardt.

For a traditional take on holiday decor, visit the home of Brett and Liz Klausman.

Jesse Borjon, along with his wife Stacie, owners of Red Door Home Store, are

decorating the Klausman home in classic red and green. The public can expect to see designs using birch, sugar pinecones and other woodsy touches as well as traditional Christmas elements such as stockings and Santas.

“The house lends itself to a rustic feel.

It’s very traditional,” said Borjon. “In visiting with the home owners, we wanted them to have something they liked and enjoyed.”

Christmas is about children, and the Klausmans have two boys, so Borjon designed two themed trees with them in mind. The transportation tree features planes, trains, and automobiles, while the other themed tree displays snowmen.

“We know the Klausmans personally, so

Rex Wolf/special to The Capital-Journal

Left to right: Store displays for Home At Last, Red Door Home Store and Porterfield’s, three of the designers for the CASA Home for the Holidays tour. we are delighted to bring design services to their home, especially at Christmas, our favorite time of the year,” said Borjon.

“It’s a way we can be supportive of what [CASA] is doing for the community and share our talents.”

In each room of the house, items from the Borjons’ designs will be listed, along with prices for purchase. The Klausman home is also the location of this year’s CASA Boutique, which will carry merchandise from all four designers’ retail stores, available for purchase during the tour. A percentage of the proceeds of the boutique sales benefit CASA.

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Homes: Tour information Continued from 6C

Rex Wolf/special to The Capital-Journal

Left to right: Store displays for Home At Last, Red Door Home Store and Porterfield’s, three of the designers for the CASA Home for the Holidays tour.

WHEN: Sat. and Sun., Nov. 21-22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

TOUR HOMES: 5739 SW 44th Court Owners: Arin and Francis Katzer Designer: Porterfield’s Flowers and Gifts 4407 SW Pinebrook Lane- Location of the CASA Boutique Owners: Brett and Liz Klausman Designer: Red Door Home Store 3309 SE Tomahawk Court Owner: Jolene Miller Designer: Pinkadilly 4718 SW West Hills Drive Owners: Cameron and Kim Rees Designers: Home at Last (interior) and Skinner Garden Store (exterior)

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door and can be purchased at Hy-Vee, Topeka Walgreens, Porterfield’s Flowers & Gifts, Red Door Home Store, Glory Days Pizza, Skinner Garden Store, Prairie Glass Studio, online at http://www.casaofshawneecounty.com, or by calling (785) 215-8282.

Those interested can also purchase tickets for the Patron Party Friday evening, November 20 at the Topeka Country Club from 8-10 p.m. Prior to the party, patrons enjoy private tours of the homes and can shop the boutique located at the Klausman home before it’s open to the public. Tickets for this event are $65, available online or by calling (785) 215-8282.

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Kidd: Preplan your garden improvements Continued from 3C Weeds, soil, and mulching  Remove weeds and debris. Insects and diseases can over-winter in garden debris.  Get a soil test. This is a great time to determine what the soil may need. It can be easier to adjust the pH and add amendments when the garden is empty.  Amend the soil. Adding compost is an excellent thing to do. It improves the water and nutrient holding capacity of both clay and sandy soils. It also makes it much easier to work with in the spring. No need to till compost in. The freeze and thaw of winter will do that for you.

 Apply mulch after the ground freezes.

Mulch keeps the soil temperature more even thus helping to prevent frost heave from pushing roots out of the soil.

Trees and shrubs  Add trees and shrubs. Fall is a good time to add to your landscape. Hopefully, you have a master plan for your yard. Purchase those items that fit your budget and are a part of the plan. If you keep putting it off it will never happen. Shrubs with late season flowers such as Scotch Heather (Calluna vulgaris) and Blue Mist shrub (Caryopeteris) or those with berries that persist through the winter such as, Nandina, Pyracantha and American Cranberry (viburnun trilobum) can add a lot of win-

ter interest.

Tools  Drain hoses and store them in a garage or basement.  After the last mowing drain old gas from the tank. An old turkey baster works well if you can’t tip the mower over.  Clean all soil off garden tools to prevent rust. This can be done by running the tool up and down in a bucket of sand and then lightly coating the tool with motor oil.

Did your garden lack fall color? Next spring you may want to plant some late flowering plants such as Rudbeckia, Aster Novi-Belgii, Anemone Japonica, Sedum spectabile or hydrangea paniculata. (Cut

this out and tape it your 2016 calendar.)

The steps you take now will save you a lot of time in the spring allowing you to get down to business right away. Watch for all those seed catalogs. They will be arriving shortly.

Jamie Kidd is a horticulturist with Kansas State Research and Extension in Shawnee County.

NOTE: The Kansas Garden Show is Feb. 12-14. If you are an educational or non-profit organization (not commercial) with subject matter related to horticulture and would like a booth at the show contact Jamie Kidd at (785) 232-0062 ext. 104.

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Service Directory

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