As you prepare your gardens for winter, consider marking the location of late emerging perennials to avoid accidentally weeding them out next spring. Use bulbs, commercial or DIY plant labels, stones or simply leave their stems intact to help guide your cleanup efforts next spring.

Lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, fight heart disease, boost your immune system, and add a bit of flavor to your meals by growing your own garlic. This vegetable has been used as both food and medicine for thousands of years.

This fall, plant an array of spring flowering bulbs to brighten your garden and bouquets. There are plenty of daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and alliums that will delight with an assortment of flower colors and sizes that will bloom throughout the spring.

Keep your houseplants looking their best with a bit of pinching, trimming and cleanup. A few well-placed snips can improve a plant’s appearance and create cuttings to start new plants.

Boost the bee and pollinator appeal of your lawn by incorporating microclover, self-heal, creeping thyme, crocus, grape hyacinths and other bee-friendly flowering plants in your lawn. You’ll create and enjoy a carpet of green with splashes of color and one that requires less ongoing maintenance. The pollinators will benefit from the nutritious sources of nectar and pollen your bee lawn provides.

As summer is winding down and fall approaches, your thoughts may turn to mums, asters and pansies. Consider changing things up this year by adding deer-resistant strawflowers to your late summer and fall containers and gardens.