With the cold weather arriving a little early this year, here are a couple of tips to help you save those tender plants.
Bob Bubbers, Manager of Wallace's Garden Center in Bettendorf, says annuals are at risk and can be protected by covering them with a sheet.
However, he says perennial plants don't need that kind of care and can survive the colder months all by themselves.
"For the most part, like any of your trees and shrubs, they're still good for planting at this point right now, because they'll just go dormant," says Bubbers. "The leaves will fall off and the roots will keep growing into the ground until the ground freezes and then when they come up in the springtime, they'll have a quicker start than if they were planted in the springtime."
Bubbers adds that tea roses don't need to be protected until the ground freezes, but until then you can surround them with fences and chicken wire, then cover with mulch.