Root vegetables grow well in winter

So you think your garden season is just about over? Wrong! There are still some good vegetables you can plant now to get a winter harvest, particularly in protected spots. The ideal area would be out of harsh winds and near a south- or west-facing wall.

Carrots will still germinate now. They will require a soil that is pretty free from stones or rocks. Sandy soils are best if you want your carrots to be straight and free of deformities. If your soil is heavier, plant some of the shorter varieties like Nantes, Chantenay or Minis. Stay away from the Imperators.

Planting from seed is easy but the soil should be dug deeply and heavily modified with compost to a depth of about 12 inches for good drainage. Make sure you put in a starter fertilizer high in phosphorus and sidedress or dribble with nitrogen fertilizer, once a month, 4-6 inches to the side of the row.

Seed should be 2 inches apart and lightly covered with soil. If it turns cold, cover the rows with plastic until they germinate. Harvest them young when you start to see the tops.

Beets can be planted as well, but harvest them early when they are a couple of inches in diameter. They are much sweeter when they are smaller anyway.

Follow the same instructions as the carrots for planting but the distance between seed should be about 4 inches as long as you harvest early. Detroit Dark Red is still a favorite and the seed is cheap and everywhere, but you might try the Chioggia types for a different look.

Radishes are ready in just 30 days, germinate in very cold soils and are easy to grow. Follow the same directions but plant them 2 inches apart in rows or in blocks. Daikon, the really big ones, should be 8 to 10 inches apart. Some favorites include Icebox, French Breakfast, Pink Beauty, Early Scarlet Globe, Chinese Red Meat, Philadelphia White Box and Purple Plum. They really are fun to grow with all those different colors.

Don't forget to fertilize your lawn on Thanksgiving for dark green winter color.

Q: I tried to find list of roses which will do well in Southern Nevada and was unable to do so. Also, what would be the life span of a rose bush (hybrid tea or floribunda) in Southern Nevada. We have some which are 30-plus years old. Thanks for your help.

A: I just published some information on my blog this week on this subject and gave you a link to get the most recent recommendations from Weeks Roses. Follow the link, http://www.weeksroses.com/resources.htm, to Weeks Roses and its publications. Download its Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file on Recommended Varieties for Hot Dry Climates. This is an excellent publication.

The life of a rose depends on who is growing it. Rosarians (gardeners who belong to the American Rose Society or its affiliates such as the Las Vegas Valley Rose Society or the South Valley Rose Society) may keep roses for a couple of years and pull them if they don't like them or may hold onto a favorite for decades.

On the other hand, homeowners may keep roses as long as they are vigorous, which might be 8 to 10 years, and replace them. I am not a Rosarian so I generally tell people that 10 years is long enough. They will get fairly woody and start developing problems with age just as we all do.

Besides, unless you have a real favorite, it is nice to see a change after a few years. Usually, homeowners keep them far longer than they should.

Q: Last winter, we had a cold spell that turned the fronds on most of my Canary palms brown and one of them is still recovering and hasn't reached its full width as of yet. My question is how can I protect them from the cold that is coming in the next weeks and probably the rest of the winter? I've seen a few neighbors have wrapped the base of theirs where the fronds meet the trunk with burlap. Will this help? Any suggestions you can give me would be greatly appreciated as these are my favorites in our yard (we're from the Midwest originally so owning palm trees is a kick).

A: There really is no magic way to do it. Many palm trees generate their new growth in the coming and future years from the terminal buds located at the tips of the trunks. Some will generate new trunks from the base of the trunk, but not Canary Island palm. This palm also may be called the "pineapple palm" by some due to its shape, often pruned into the pineapple form by gardeners.

This palm is usually good to about 10 F for short periods of time. If cold kills the terminal bud, the tree will eventually die because it cannot continue its upward growth without that terminal bud. Damage also can occur to the trunk from freezing temperatures slightly above this, so wrapping the trunk or wrapping some lights around the trunk might help in cases when the winter low drops to this mark.

Remember that cold damage is measured by how low the temperature gets, the amount of time it stays at these temperatures, any wind that might be present and the time of year it occurs.

Extreme cold is more damaging in late fall and early spring than in midwinter. Winter damage to palms may not show up right after the cold temperatures but weeks later. In some cases, the extent of cold damage may linger for years.

Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas; he is on special assignment in the Balkh Province, Afghanistan, for the University of California, Davis. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.