Over wintering flower bed

I live in a relatively mild zone but how do you cold-zoners prepare your flower beds for winter? My son is a baby-gardener in a cold zone and needs advice. He has already had a freeze or 2 @ night. Thanks.

Mulch mulch mulch. Especially in areas where snow cover may be absent so the ground is subjected to warming in the sun and refreezing, which is hard on the plants. The snow insulates the ground which prevents that problem. Mulch helps in the absence of snow.

Ditto and remind your son to keep watering until the ground freezes solid. Alot of new gardeners lose plants in our winters because they stop watering too soon and if there's no snow the plants die from lack of moisture.

Good point, Dahlia, even with mulch I sometimes water my beds that have bulbs and perennials if I think they are too dry in the winter.

Good point, mulch. Here in New Mexico we sometimes get warm, dry weather for a week or so, then go back to winter. During those times it is important to make sure everything remains moist. Much of our winterkill is due to those early spring dry periods then cold weather after the snow has melted and evaporated.

And what is your fav. mulch? Straw?

Manure -- or for less fragile stuff or acid loving stuff -- pine needles.

He has a pile of compost left over that would cover his flower bed 3 " at least. Will that work? Or is it too heavy? Can he put that on and then top w/ pine needles?

I use manure, compost and leaves. Anatatia you need to be careful not to cover some plants with compost or manure or they will succumb to crown rot. There needs to be some air cirulation.

got it! thanks.

And you can kill rhubarb by mulching it at all, rhubarb hates mulch. Don't ask me how I found that out...

Irises don't like to be mulched either, but most plants love it -- any time of the year.

He has russian sage, coneflowers,yarrows, mums and orn.grasses.

Thanks for the tip about rhubarb, Mulch. You probably just saved mine.

I guess my first one did not die in vain then...

Those are all hardy. No mulch needed on any of those but maybe the ornamental grass. I have all of them and don't mulch them. Do you know what grass he has?

They were purchased from High Country Gardens. I can get the names.