It is getting that time of year again to think about your garden.  My flower catalogs have arrived and I am planning this year's garden.  While trying to decide what to plant, I came across several gardening tips I want to share with my viewers.

Borders: Consider this rule of thumb when planning a new border....The width of the garden should be about twice that of the height of the tallest plant growing in it.

Butterfly Bush: Pruning helps stimulate new growth!  Prune in late winter by cutting the bush to 1/3 of its original height.  You will be rewarded with a bounty of flowers on the new growth.  Do this even if your winter is mild.

Full Sun Gardens: Help your plants thrive during the summer heat by adding compost to your garden soli at planting time and then covering the area with organic mulch.

Flower Colors: Which ones where?  Generally, cool colors (blues, violets) are good for close-up viewing & warm colors (red, orange, yellow) are better for dramatic displays.  Remember, it's your eye that needs to be pleased so go ahead and be creative with color!

Dividing Perennials: For best performance perennials need dividing every few years.  1)  Insert garden forks back-to-back in center of clump.  2)  Pry plant apart.  3)  Continue dividing plant until you have the desired number of divisions.  4)  Discard old woody center part of clump.  5)  Replant divisions.

When to plant perennials: Plant your perennials outdoors as soon as the danger of frost has passed.

Selecting the site for your perennials: Perennials should be positioned based on sun and shade requirements, height, spacing, color and blooming season.

Preparing the soil for your perennials: The planting site should have good drainage and be free of weeds.  Till or spade the area to be planted 12-16 inches deep adding organic matter, such as peat moss, compost, sawdust, and/or ground bark.  This is also a good time to mix in fertilizer.  A high phosphorus fertilizer is recommended to encourage good root and stem development.  The fertilizer should be mixed thoroughly with the top 12 inches of soil.

Pinching to get more branching: Pinching is the removal of tips or growing shoots to make your plant branch.  Plants that respond well to this are asters, phlox, chrysanthemums, salvia, obedient plant, beard tongue, butterfly bush, starwort, twinspur, ageratum, bee balm and catmint.

Cut Flowers: If you are a person who enjoys bringing the beauty of your garden indoors here are a few tips that will help your cut flowers last longer.  1)  Cut flowers in the morning or evening  2)  Use sharp scissors or a knife to make the cut cleanest as possible.  3)  Place freshly cut stems immediately in a pail of warm water.  4)  When arranging flowers remove foilage from the base of the stem.  5)  For longest life, cut stems underwater, at an angle.

Perennials in a Container: Mixing perennials with bulbs and annuals in containers can provide a much longer season of color as well as more choices concerning foilage, texture and flowers.  Container gardening also offer the advantage of being able to move plants around to add color and patterns where they are needed most.  Because of the limited amount of soil in containers, daily watering is needed during hot summer months.  Fertilizer will need to be applied at half strength every two weeks.

Fall Planting vs. Spring Planting: If you live in an area where the temperature does not drop below 0°, fall is the preferred time to plant.  The soil is warm from summer, gives the roots several weeks to begin growing until the soil freezes.  If you live in a mild winter area the roots will grow all winter - unhindered by the heat of summer.  Come spring, these plants will benefit from larger root systems and reward you with exceptional blooming.  If you choose to plant in spring - make certain that your plants have an adequate amount of time for the roots to become established before hot weather arrives.  Usually 6-8 weeks.

PROTECTING NEWLY SEEDED WILDFLOWERS Have you ever seeded a spot with wildflower seeds, only to watch helplessly as birds descended, Hitchcock-like, and devoured most of the seeds? Here's a trick that was suggested on the HGTV gardening show, "Grow It!" It's a little, um, earthy, but perhaps preferable to turning your wildflower bed into a giant birdfeeder.  First, mix some water, composted manure, and clay soil in a bucket. You're going for a modeling clay consistency. Next, blend in the wildflower seeds--enough for the area you're planning to cover. Be sure they're well mixed. Then, scrub this mixture through a screen to grate it into pellet-size bits. Let these pellets dry, then simply  scatter them instead of the naked, enticing seeds in your wildflower area.

ALL ABOUT IRIS Interested in learning how to add a variety of spectacular irises to your landscape? They're easy to grow, perennial, and stunning--but like anything else, it helps to have some background information before you dive in. A good source of iris info is the American Iris Society's home page: http://www.irises.org Here, you'll find growing instructions, links to various resources, and lots of information on different Iris varieties, societies, and activities. Plus, the pictures are magnificent!

BUTTERFLY GARDENS You can encourage many beautiful butterfly species to hang out in your yard and garden by growing flowers that supply the food and nectar they need. If you have a wildflower garden, alfalfa, clovers, Queen Anne's Lace, and teasel will be particularly attractive to butterflies. Planting parsley will attract swallowtails (their larvae will eat the plants; so plant extra for your kitchen needs!). Other butterfly favorites include   -  ageratum  -  hollyhock  -  asters -  buddleia  -  daisies  -  coreopsis  -  zinnias  -  daylilies  -  bee balms  -  phlox  -  lavender  If you want to be selective, you can purchase a butterfly identification book that tells you the specific types of plants each species favors. You'll also boost the butterfly population overall by providing sheltered spots, low-growing groundcovers for them to sun themselves, and shallow sources of moisture for drinking.

TOUGH TIME WITH TINY SEEDS If you struggle with miniscule lettuce seeds, you might consider buying "pelletized" seeds instead. What's a pelletized seed? Pretty simple, really. It's a seed that's encased in a layer of clay. This coating makes the seeds easier to see and handle, but it splits open after absorbing moisture in the ground--so the seed is off and running. One good source of pelletized seeds (and lots of other great stuff) is Johnny's Selected Seeds. You can visit the Web site at: http://www.johnnyseeds.com It offers a big selection of pelletized lettuce seeds, including popular varieties such as Medallion, Red Sails, and Simpson Elite.

ANNUALS FOR SOGGY SPOTS Do you have a low area in your yard that just never seems to dry out? If you've given up on trying to garden in that location, you might want to consider planting some annuals that don't mind having wet feet. Here are some of the best candidates:  -  Forget-me-nots  -  Meadow foam  -  Monkey flower  -  Cleome  -  Coleus  -  Impatiens  -  Castor bean  -  Caladium  -  Pansy

PERENNIALS TO CONSIDER: PEONIES Peony flowers come in several varieties: "Japanese," single,  semidouble, and double--and colors include white (sometimes yellow),  pink, and various shades or red all the way to maroon. Although  peonies don't bloom for long, you can plant several varieties whose  bloom dates overlap, creating a longer-term effect. And even when a  peony has finished blooming, its foliage remains attractive throughout  the summer and into fall. Peonies will benefit from a generous  trowel-full of fertilizer dug into the base of the plant in early  spring and after blooming, and you should cut them back at season's  end and remove the spent foliage.

NATURALIZE!  Have you ever seen daffodils or daylilies advertised as good "for naturalizing" and wondered what exactly the term refers to? Basically, naturalizing is letting nature take its course, allowing flowers to multiply and spread like wildflowers. The effect can be very appealing, as masses of flowers dot your landscape in a less formal  and more--well, natural--way. The best bulbs for naturalizing are those that don't mind a little competition from grasses and other plants. They should also be vigorous growers that do well in your area. Typical candidates are narcissus (daffodils), daylily, anemone, glory-of-the-snow, grape hyacinth, bulbous iris, and snowdrops.

AFTER THOSE SPRING BLOOMS FADE  That first display of spring-blooming bulbs, like daffodils and tulips, is always a welcome--and often dazzling--sight. However, before long, the flowers start to fade and you may be tempted to cut back the leftover foliage. In a word--don't. Not if you want the bulbs to store food for another display next spring. In order to produce the food necessary for the following year's blooms, bulbs need eight weeks of leaf growth. Wait until you see the foliage turn yellow and start to flop over before you cut it. And by the way, some folks have been known to bundle or braid clumps of foliage to keep them tidy while they ripen. Again, this is not a good idea. Doing so cuts down on the air circulation and sunlight that the plant needs.

SLUG-FREE LIVING  Slugs have been the ruin of many a fine garden, and attempts to get the upper hand don't always work. But as is so often the case, the best way to win is often to simply change the playing field. In this case, that means growing things slugs don't like. Among the sun-loving plants that slugs tend to avoid:  -  Balloon flower  -  Candytuft  -  Coralbell  -  Moonbeam coreopsis

MIXIN' IT UP  When I planted my iris bulbs I added some hostas. They help in keeping the long stems of the iris straight without having to use stakes. I tried other annual additions with strong stemming and found I could change my accents to the iris yearly. Worked out nicely!  This is not only a great technique for propping up long-stemmed plants, it's a stroke of design genius--landscaping in its purest form. Many gardeners tend to keep their beds ordered by category, with perennials over here and annuals over there. But quite often, combinations provide a better growing environment and a delightful variety from one season to the next.

ANNUALS TO CONSIDER: SUNFLOWERS  Few annual flowers are as spectacular and showy as the sunflower. And these days, you can choose from dozens of varieties--short, mammoth, gold, red, single, multibranched--you name it. Many seed companies now sell sunflower collections, so you can try out an assortment of flowers. Sunflowers are easy to grow and pest-free, and they look great in your yard as well as in arrangements indoors. Not only that, you can harvest the sunflower seeds for your birdfeeders or for yourself. (Sunflower seeds are high in minerals and essential amino acids, and they offer a whopping 24 percent protein.)  So how do you grow 'em? First, while sunflowers will tolerate any soil, they do best in neutral soil enriched with compost. They also thrive in full sun, although they'll put up with a little shade. You can plant the seeds a couple of weeks before the last frost date in your region, since the young plants can handle a little light frost. Plant the seeds six inches apart, a quarter to a half-inch deep, and cover them with about an eighth of an inch of soil. They should germinate in five to ten days. Once the plants start to get tall and the seed head gets heavy, you may need to stake them to keep the wind from blowing them over.

HELP FOR BROKEN STEMS Have you ever had the stem of a prized flower get bent or broken in the garden? Maybe you stepped into a bunch of blooms, or maybe you can blame a hailstorm or a canine intruder. But regardless of the culprit, you may be able to salvage the stem. If the damage isn't too severe, try creating a splint using a plastic drinking straw. First, cut the straw to the desired length--a bit longer than the damaged part of the  stem. Then, slit the straw lengthwise. Open the straw along the slit and place it around the broken stem. Tape it shut, make sure the plant is sufficiently watered, and hope for the best! In many cases, the straw will provide enough support and protection to allow the stem to heal.

GOOD PINCHING PLANTS  A technique for starting new perennials is by rooting the cuttings you've trimmed or pinched off existing plants to promote bushy growth. If you're looking for some good candidates for this technique, here are several plants that seem to do well:  -  Artemisia  -  Bee balm  -  Chrysanthemum  -  Flax  -  Phlox  -  Sedum  -  Verbena

Back to Main Garden Page