Cool-season pansies add color to the landscape. There are still plenty of things for gardeners to do during the winter months.

We’re into late fall now and with the mornings nice and cool, it’s a pleasure, once again, to work in the garden. Our average first frost occurs on November 15 and there are still some things we need to do before the truly colder weather arrives.

Here are some things to do to prepare for winter:

Apply mulch to protect your plants from cold weather. Make sure you have 3-4 inches of mulch on your beds and pay special attention to tender plants where you are trying to “cheat your zone.”

Keep mowing your lawn until we have a freeze. Use a mulching mower to chop up fallen leaves and use them on your flower beds as mulch.

Pay close attention to weather forecasts and thoroughly water plants and your lawn before a hard freeze to reduce risk of cold injury.

Cut back/remove yellowed or dead foliage from perennials and bulbs. Mark locations and label them before they completely die back.

After the first hard freeze, cut back tender perennials like Hamelia Patens and gingers to the ground and mulch them well to protect them over the winter.

November is a great month to plant shrubs and trees as their roots have a chance to become established over the winter months. Consider planting some colorful hollies like Yaupon, Burford or Nellie R. Stevens. Also berry-bearing shrubs like Nandina, Indian Hawthorne and Mahonias will add winter color to your landscape.

Plant cool season annuals like pansies, snapdragons, and flowering kale and cabbage.

Plant seeds of California poppies and larkspur now in the ground so they will appear in the spring.

Finish planting your spring bulbs this month. If you are pre-chilling tulips and hyacinths to plant later, they should be in a refrigerator. Using a small dorm refrigerator for this purpose is best, but if you’re using your home refrigerator, make sure you keep them away from apples. Apples release ethylene gas as they ripen and that will rot your bulbs.

Plant paperwhites and amaryllis in pots indoors now for holiday blooms.

Stock up your bird feeders and keep them full as the weather gets colder.