The Zone 4 and 5 Gardener’s To Do List for August/September

As you are about to see, late August/September is all about cutting back.

1. Remove Dead Flower Stalks from Perennials As Daylilies and Irises begin to die back, you can yank out the brown flower stalks, just give them a tug and they should pop right out.

2. Daylilies and Irises: Remove dead and dying leaves with brown tips. With both, you can just grab the leaves at the base of the plant and give a downward and outward tug, and they will come right off. If it’s the end of August, and you can’t stand the way they look anymore, you can remove all or most of the leaves, as these plants are beginning their dormancy anyway. I just removed all the leaves from some of my day lilies 2 weeks ago, Aug 18, and they are…