Silver Sage, Salvia argentea in the Garden

I’ve been gardening in Atlanta for quite some time, carrying on a love affair with herbs and many folks know me as the herb lady. However my garden and plant interests are wide-ranging. Back around 1985 or -88 or so, I was a card-carrying member of the Royal Horticultural Society in Great Britain and therefore eligible for their seed exchange program. I poured over their list and carefully selected the limited number of seeds I was allowed to import. 

One of them was Silver Sage, Salvia argentea. None of my gardening circle of friends had ever heard of this plant, though it sounded lovely, like a lamb’s ears on steroids with big, wide, ribbed, wavy leaves frosted with long silver hairs and panicles of white Menthaceae-style flowers. Would it grow in Atlanta? It would certainly be exclusive!

Salvia argentea in flower, above. 

Later that winter my seed packets arrived in the mail and the Salvia argentea packet had five seeds in it. It was quite a production; I sowed them carefully, putting them under fluorescent grow-lights in my light garden, and 4 of them germinated! After potting up and hardening off  I shared one precious plant with my closest gardening buddy, and planted the remaining three in my Silver Garden, where they grew and thrived for three or four years. Short-lived like many salvia in Atlanta, they remained a beautiful memory. 

                                                                                                  Silver Sage top left, above

Fast forward twenty years, and perhaps you can imagine my astonishment when I saw a plant table in my local big box store loaded with millions of Silver Sage! And for $1.98 each! Although spring might be a better time to plant them here, it was amazing to see these formerly exclusive ta-ta plants available en masse, and a delight that everyone could plant these beautiful plants and enjoy them in their gardens.  

Garden Debut® speeds up this process, collapsing time as it helps its consortium of growers to get their superior and enhanced new plant hybrids and selections to the gardening public more quickly. The hummingbird on the Garden Debut® logo recently changed from hot pink to chartreuse, and look for black pots with white printing in your local garden centers this fall and next spring.  

gardengeri's photos: of her silver garden 20 years ago and of the table of Silver Sage yesterday. 

How "Green" and Sustainable is our Green Industry?

The Topic of the Day at the Mobley Plant Farm Open House Sept. 28 was that Green Industry practitioners really ought to show leadership in adopting sustainable practices, and they invited some great speakers and had terrific demos and workshops to examine this point. As a working definition for sustainability, “Meeting the current needs without eliminating the potential for the future to meet theirs” was used.

Dr. Allan Armitage emphasized “the right plant in the right place” concept, naming plant favorites from his UGA Test Gardens that withstand the local climate without pampering. Sustainability is not a fad but is here to stay, he noted, citing trends including color, containers, low maintenance and recycling. He is a big proponent of Mobley Greensleeves, a paper sleeve surrounding a ball of growing mix that eliminates the need for plastic pots, is faster to plant, saves labor costs and biodegrades in the soil. He called them “sausages” of potting mix (they are bottomless) and said he’s used them successfully in the test gardens for five years. Mobley people go the extra mile to pick up and reuse/recycle the trays they use to deliver Greensleeves plants to their customers.

Another company demonstrating CSR is Garden Debut(R)'s parent company, Greenleaf Nursery Company in Oklahoma, an industry leader with a long history of good environmental stewardship. Their voluntary water recycling program and comprehensive eco-friendly fertilization and insect-management systems received third-party validation and awards from the U.S. EPA: Environmental Excellence and Pollution Prevention Award, the Sierra Club: Earth Care Award and the Environmental Leadership Award from the Southern Nursery Association, all for forward-thinking and voluntary action.


At the open house Dr. Richard Ludwig quoted a study from about 18 months ago showing 46% of landscape customers have zero interest in sustainability; 26% are green washed (green in theory but will not change any behaviors) and 6% will use green practices if they are cheaper or easier than current behavior. This leaves only 20% who actually make an effort to be green and only 2% advocates who have changed their lives based on principles of sustainability.

As an industry, Ludwig continued, we create artificial environments. Despite that hurdle, the new goal is to make them functional; environmentally friendly; cost effective; visually pleasing; and profitable. He urged landscapers/retailers/designers to provide a better customer experience by educating clients to invest in their landscapes, to lower energy costs by smart plant placement, to save water through irrigation technology, and so forth, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and trust. Only then will customers be open to redirection on the matter of sustainable procedures and organic products, which may be a tad more expensive but are better for the community overall.

At the recent 2010 Garden Writers Association annual symposium in Dallas, Keynote Speaker Kierstin De West had discovered a different and more hopeful perspective. De West’s SHIFT Report was based on 5,000 responses from across North America, and she found that people are starting to make lifestyle and purchasing decisions based on integrity and social responsibility. When people feel connected to the community their sustainable behavior increases. I know we are all hopeful that this research predicts the future.

I won a homemade pumpkin pie at Mobley's Open House, so I feel pretty connected. Let me hear what you are doing to connect with your community! 

New Plant Introductions and the First Day of Autumn

The golden Harvest Moon last night was an excellent introduction to the first day of Fall. Although it’s now officially a new season, our weather has not broken and temperatures continue in the mid-nineties, still with no rain. Faced with this sort of challenge, it’s time to revert to catalogs in air conditioning and the new plant introductions appearing in the garden magazines. Garden Debut® will be offering some beautiful new woody ornamentals in Spring 2011, and we’ll hear more about them soon.

As a preview, there is Merlot Redbud, with dark, wine-red merlot-colored leaves and a delightful parentage that enables it to beat this continuing heat and drought. Merlot is the offspring of Forest Pansy Redbud crossed with Cercis canadensis ‘Texensis’! The first parent contributes the dark leaf color, intensified in Merlot, while the second adds a thickness and drought resistance to smaller leaves, enabling this plant to withstand hot dry conditions without a ripple.

Then there is Admiration Barberry, a showstopper with a blaze of orange-red foliage with yellow margins adding plentiful color to the garden pallet. Garden Debut® says this dwarf has a broad, upright growth habit reaching only 12-15 inches tall in 4 years. And though it is a Japanese Barberry, it is non-flowering and therefore there are no worries on spreading by seed.

A host of new plants are in the lineup, all of them thoroughly tested; be sure to visit the website and the Garden Debut® Facebook page for daily news and previews.  

Container Plantings Designed for Fall

Summer annuals have had it, and it’s time to revv up my containers for a fall show. This year I’m adding a bright yellow cushion mum, yellow-chartreuse creeping jenny and a few little ornamental gourds to a container that already holds Nanina for height, a dwarf juniper and some trailing Asiatic jasmine.

After pulling out and composting the annuals, I add fresh potting mix where the root balls formerly grew. For continued growt h of the woodies already growing, I space three plant food spikes evenly around the container and push them down the sides. This adds nutrients to pot bound plants. To keep mold and bacteria from attacking the ornamental gourds I’m setting them on some cork I had left from lining my kitchen cupboards.

I plan to set this container next to a big pumpkin on the front porch, and hope my entranceway will be the cutest on the block through Thanksgiving, when I'll prepare another arrangement to go through winter.

  

Meet & Greet Gardeners, Landscapers, Writers, Designers & Architects

This week I’m headed to an annual conference in Dallas, Tx. Sept. 10-14; to the Garden Writers Association Annual Symposium. Each year GWA travels to a different city, and I expect Dallas will be pretty warm! I’ve been attending on and off for years, so I’m looking forward to seeing about 500 of my closest writer and photographer friends again. The meeting is filled with networking, several tracks of lectures and classes from which to choose, photography sessions, garden tours and public gardens. The Trade Show is always a great treat, and exhibitors bring their newest tools, seeds, books, plants and inventions to share with those that communicate them to the public.

Exhibiting at GWA for the first time, Garden Debut® will be representing a consortium of plant breeders, nurserymen and growers dedicated to the introduction and marketing of new and improved plant varieties for the landscape. They’ll be bringing new plants for 2010 and some not yet released that are slated to appear in 2011. A knowledgeable Rep will be on hand to answer questions. See you at booth #219.

At the very same time, Garden Debut® will be represented at the American Society of Landscape Architects Meeting & Expo held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. and filled with 6,000+ Landscape Architects from around the world. Workshops, classes, tours and field sessions fill the program.  Tell Jim Thompson from Garden Debut® “Hi” if you go.

September is an extremely busy month for Garden Debut® because the Association of Professional Landscape Designers will hold their 2010 International Design Conference in Dallas Sept. 27-Oct 1 and once again Garden Debut® will exhibit new plants and landscape solutions at that meeting.

Garden Debut® will have information about and examples of new plants already in the 2010 marketplace, as well as plants scheduled for release next year. This is an exciting time in history for the nursery business; with genetics, tissue culture and advances in propagation there are many new and exciting cultivars being evaluated. These plants offer longer blooming seasons, brighter and richer colors, better cold hardiness, variegated leaves, improved fall color or even reduced maintenance. 

Come and see what Garden Debut® has planned for the market with Predictable Quality and superior new plant introductions. 

Photos:

Kokomo Sunset Daylily 2010

Snow Flurries Black Gum 2011

Unusual Variegated-Leaf Shade Tree: Snow Flurries™ Black Gum

 An easy-grow native shade tree in the Dogwood Family, Snow Flurries™ Black Gum is a real attention-getter and selected for its unbeatable summer color, rare in the world of shade trees. Snow Flurries™ has attractive white-edged variegated leaves! The generous white margins surround green centers. Overall, the variegated leaves are narrower and smaller than the species, turning a ruddy color early in fall.

This Garden Debut® introduction is easy-care and trouble-free. Snow Flurries™ is adaptable to an extremely wide variety of soil moisture conditions, from poorly drained soils and low spots subject to periodic flooding, wet, acid bottomlands, through garden soils, to dry sites, aided by its deep tap root. One of its common names, swamp tupelo, is derived from the Native American Creek ito opilwa, meaning swamp tree. Its growth habit is vigorous reaching 30 - 40 feet with gracefully draped lower limbs creating an oval form.  It’s Cold Hardy to – 20 to -30° F. (Zone 4 - 9), and full sun exposure is recommended, but it will grow in part shade.

The genus Nyssa is highly sought after by bee keepers because the multitudes of small flowers of Snow Flurries™ are a great nectar source and attract honey bees, providing excellent bee and butterfly forage and resulting in prized Black Gum or “Tupelo” honey. The honey has a special taste and is non-crystallizing.

Small, dark bluish black, football-shaped fruits are a favorite of birds and wildlife in August - October, and do not stain decks or paving. Black Gum is an important species for non-suburban wildlife of North America: wood ducks, wild turkeys, robins, foxes, and black bears depend on the dark blue fruit as a source of food in the fall.

Black gum has tough wood suitable for tool handles, flooring and railroad cross-ties, while veneer is made from larger trees. Another common name is ‘Pioneer’s Toothbrush’ because broken twigs produce a fibrous bundle of woody strands and were used as tooth brushes.

In landscapes Snow Flurries™ Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica 'Grechrist') is an attention-getting specimen, excellent native shade tree, adaptable to wet soils. Its clean, variegated leaves are untroubled by pests and disease problems. It is native to wet soils and adaptable to periodic flooding, but grows readily in a wide variety of soils with pH levels of 5-8.

Contact Garden Debut to get a license to propagate and /or sell patented plant parts. 

Sweet Potato Vine; I discovered it flowers!

I’ve had a long love affair with sweet potatoes. As a child, I stuck a regular sweet potato with toothpicks and submerged it halfway in water in a clean pickle jar, then set it on my windowsill and enjoyed watching the green vines grow to frame the window during a long Ohio winter. Later, restaurants served delectable sweet potato chips, and after that our children’s Montessori teacher served raw sweet potatoes as an in-school snack.

About 10 or 12 years ago I came late to visit the UGA Summer Flower Trials in Athens, Georgia. I found everyone gone, but there was still a truck piled with free samples, including a brand new but totally wilted yellow ornamental sweet potato vine. Never dreaming that such wilted cuttings would survive, nevertheless I took a couple and stuck the cut ends in my water bottle for the drive back to Atlanta. By the time I was home, the vines were perky and the leaves all stood erect. They went on to root and grow into a wide mat in the garden that year.

Marguerite sweet potato vine is the chartreuse variety that turns almost yellow in full sun, and takes the hottest sun and abuse, dry, south-facing window boxes, hell strips, or containers set on hot concrete paving, and yet grows luxuriantly. Though wilted in the hot afternoon sun the 6 foot container (left) will be refreshed in the morning, or sooner if it gets some water. 

Marguerite’s original partner, Blacky, (right) had dark, purple-black leaves and has been joined by a new cut-leaf black version called Midnight Lace that was sent to Garden Writers and widely marketed in 2009.

Then this year, imagine my surprise to find some Ipomoea morning glory-type flowers on my Blacky vines! Though small and pale pink, they are the same, familiar, trumpet-style, Convolvulus family flowers. 

Have I been unobservant? I never noticed any flowers before this. What about you? 

Tansy, a Controversial Herb

On my trip to the Rockies I was attracted to a beautiful yellow flower growing alongside a dumpster, and recognized Tansy from herb gardens in Atlanta. My Colorado friend cautioned me that, yes, although it was Tansy, it is considered an invasive exotic weed and not welcomed in the West.

Common Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare is a European herb documented in medieval herbals as a medicinal and culinary plant used as a cure for intestinal worms, aid to rheumatism, digestive problems, fevers, used to heal sores. Meat was frequently rubbed with common Tansy to repel insects and prevent decay. More recently, common Tansy has been cultivated for its insect repellent, disinfectant and preservative effects.

Known for its flat-topped clusters of bright yellow buttons, the disk flowers of Tansy have no ray florets so it looks like the center of a common daisy. Thriving in full sun and well-drained soil, the leaves of common Tansy (or the even more beautiful leaves of fern-leaf tansy) are lovely and can take the place of a fern in a sunny garden.

About 20 years ago I got a recommendation to plant Tansy to repel ants, so I did plant it in an Atlanta herb garden, and confusingly had a large anthill grow up around it. Furthermore, Tansy is toxic in large quantities and is not used medicinally nor for culinary purposes today.

Like Purple Loosestrife, in northern and western regions of the US, common Tansy has escaped from gardens and is considered an invasive exotic weed, even listed as 'noxious' in some states because its many tufted seeds are dispersed by wind and water, while new plants form from even the smallest root fragments, making it hard to eliminate.

I guess it just goes to show that one man's ceiling is another man's floor.

.

Top 7 Benefits of Garden-Related Travel

This week I'm writing live from an anniversary trip to Colorado, and I've been struck by the many impressions of travel. 

New plant hardiness zones  Upon arrival, Colorado’s huge population of blue spruce jumped out as the most outstanding plant feature of the landscape. Sweet peas and columbine are still blooming in the gardens; long since past in Atlanta.

New ecosystems  High plains grassland vegetation is so different from the familiar mixed conifer forest of my home in Atlanta. The Denver Botanic Garden has devoted a section to the native grassland, in bloom in mid August, mixed with bright daisies and coneflowers. Was that tumbleweed rolling amidst the solar farm at the Denver International Airport?


New permutations of old weeds It struck me that both the Shepherd’s Purse and Ragweed were small and stubby compared to luxuriant examples of these weeds at home, and there were slightly different species of bitterweed and yellow composites from the familiar ones in the SE US.

Breathtaking New Sights Off to the west the mountains appear extraordinary. A trip to Red Rocks and Dinosaur Ridge outside Denver produced a totally unfamiliar natural scenery. Traveling expands the mind and creates new memories.


Different culture Check out the intriguing native motif of tile mosaic on the floor of the Denver International Airport, the paintings and prints of wild mustangs hanging throughout and continued influence of the wild west filtered through several generations. 


Activity So much to do, so little time. The demands of a 20 hour day, from an early rising at 3:45 am Atlanta time to dinner with friends ending around 10 pm Denver time, is more than I typically put in at home. Traveling really gets the blood flowing.

Stress relief benefits of traveling The luxury of a departure from the ordinary; of renewing friendships with old friends; of sleeping in; of seeing things you have only read about; are all quite a thrill. 

Vining Hummingbird Magnet for the Garden and Landscape

Garden  Debut® offers a Trumpetcreeper that is a hybrid between the rampant-growing, native Campsis radicans and the showy-flowered Chinese Campsis grandiflora. Madame Rosy® exhibits the best features of both. (Campsis x 'HOMR' PP18394 Madame Rosy®) is a beautiful hybrid that begins blooming in late May and continues through September. Flowers are rosy colored and exhibit a somewhat flattened trumpet shape, 2"-3" across, much larger than the native version. The trumpet-shaped flowers are big and beautiful and attract hordes of hummingbirds from miles around, since it produces quantities of nectar-rich blossoms all summer long. 

The vine grows best in full sun, but light shade and cool temperatures enhance the rosy color. These abundant flowers are produced in terminal racemes 12"-24" long on new growth all summer, and continuous flowering is guaranteed because the vine produces no seedpods. This well-mannered trumpet vine is adaptable to a wide range of soil and climatic conditions. Madame Rosy® is hardy in USDA Zones 6-9.

Because the aerial roots use a powerful adhesive substance to cement themselves to supports, Trumpetcreeper is not recommended for planting near structures but makes a great addition to fences, trellises or arbors. These attractive flowering vines are strong, reaching 10'-15' in 4 to 5 years.

Trusty Garden Knife Divides Plants

Well-used serrated knife 

Today I am writing in tribute to the indispensible knife I use in my garden. It started life as a serrated bread knife originally purchased 20+ years ago at a discount store for $3.65, and it has served me well for all these years.

Division is economical and quickly yields a modest increase of plants for the garden. One caveat: hundreds of beautiful plants can be legally propagated, but when propagating by division, be careful to respect the plant patent rights and trademark rights of others.  If a plant is patented or trademarked it cannot legally be asexually propagated. Check the nursery label. 

large clump of daylilies

The primary use for my garden knife is the form of plant propagation known as division. Division is the dividing or breaking up of a large plant clump into multiple smaller segments, each with a shoot and some roots. These segments (known as divisions) are then replanted and each one grows into a new plant identical to the original one.

The photos illustrate plant propagation by division using an old clump of tall, maroon daylilies I'm planning to share with a friend. 

Determine where to cut

For example, if I need more Hosta for a new location, I choose an overlarge clump, carefully dig the plant, loosening the roots and lifting the plant from the soil.  I shake off extra soil so I can see the separate shoots, but I do not advise washing off the soil in water, as that turns into a muddy mess. (The hardest plant I ever divided was yellow flag Iris pseudacoris growing in the water at the edge of a pond; it was huge, heavily rooted, wet and muddy.)

slicing through the crown & roots

While some Hostas separate readily into divisions and can be teased or broken apart with my hands, others have a solid crown. With these I use my trusty garden knife to saw through the crown of the plant, creating three or four smaller sections to plant in the new spot.

Crown (white spot in soil) cut in half

Another reason to lift and divide perennials is if they become overgrown, lose vigor or produce fewer flowers. Vigorous growth typically occurs on the outer edge of the clump which has grown into new soil, while the center of the plant languishes. If I notice my daylilies are performing less well because they have gotten too crowded, I carefully fork them out of the ground, remove the soil and separate them into new divisions imagining myself to be a master surgeon. 

Trim away half of leaf surface

None of those old directions: “split apart the main clumps with a hatched, or with two spades inserted in opposite directions” for me. I -refer to investigate where the shoots arise from the crown and consider the optimum placement for each cut. Old growth from the center of the clump is generally discarded. Leaves are trimmed off to reduce water lost to transpiration.

4 vigorous divisions from original clump

Sometimes outside segments of a plant like summer garden Phlox paniculata can be removed and replanted without disturbing the rest of the plant. 

Potted up for future planting

A good rule of thumb is to divide fall-flowering perennials in spring and spring- and summer-flowering perennials in fall, after bloom. And ornamental grasses are best divided in spring because they prefer a long hot period to re-group.

Success! Now I have four strong plants in a large nursery pot to share with a friend who just bought her first house. 

What’s on with the American Community Gardening Association?

In addition to woody ornamentals and flower gardening, I’ve been interested in garden vegetables (and eating them!) since I can remember—planting lettuce seeds and seeing the tiny chartreuse cotyledons against dark brown Ohio soils at ~age 4 ½. I grew up with gardening, but many haven't. This weekend the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) held its 31st annual conference in ATL, so I applied for a scholarship, was granted a partial one, and off I went. The conference was filled with folks dedicated to being a force for good. What’s not to like?


The program was densely packed with tours of community gardens across Atlanta and with a great variety of educational sessions. Programs ranged from childhood obesity, rainfall retention, biointensive gardening, school programs to raising chickens and goats in community gardens, and from healing gardens to how to preserve the harvest by canning. Several classes addressed the problem of losing garden land, while fundraising and grant writing were not neglected.         
             
First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the group via video message as did the Secretary of Agriculture, Ferry-Morse attended and gave away wheelbarrows of free seeds to community gardeners representing 37 states and 6 countries. There were plenty of both networking and fresh vegetables on the menu. All in all it was a great conference. Thanks to ACGA for my scholarship and thanks to the local planning committee for their hard work.
 
Author's photos of Sugar Creek & Oakhurst Community Gardens.  

Atlanta August Gardening Calendar for City Cafe' on WABE-FM

I had a real treat this morning. I was invited to chat with John Lemley about gardening at the NPR affiliate in Atlanta. The WABE-90.1 FM studio is only one half mile from my garden. Another bonus is that it was taped in advance (today) and producer Kate Sweeney promised to make us sound g-r-e-a-t! So I'm posting the notes I made prior to the interview on gardening during the month of August.

For warm climate gardeners the month of August brings a second chance at growing a garden especially if you can garden in the relative cool of the morning. There are plenty of gardening tasks for August that will keep your flower and vegetable gardens going longer. Midmonth is the time to think of cool weather crops.

Grow-Your-Own-Veggies / Locavores

Reasons to grow food in the garden: Save money, enjoy gardening, cut carbon footprint, veggie gardens are beautiful, don’t want salmonella or pesticides on the tomatoes

Summer crops like tomatoes, squash, cukes that were planted when it was still raining regularly should be coming in now. Pick squash, cucumbers and okra regularly. One over-ripe vegetable (with mature seeds inside), left on the vine will stop bloom production.
Therefore, make arrangements for neighbors to harvest and water your garden while you are on vacation.

Too many zucchini? Cook the blossoms before they turn into squash! Dunk Vidalia onion rings, squash-, daylily- or elderberry blossoms in tempura batter to make delicious fritters.

August 1st is not too late to plant more hot weather summer veggies that will allow time to mature before frost: Tomato starts, cucumbers, squash and snap bean seeds. Choose quick-ripening ones.

Still plenty of time to plant container-grown veggies- compact varieties but still need lots of water. Check on GA Governor Perdue's watering restrictions- no watering between 10 am and 4 pm.

tomato Problems we are seeing in August:
Buds but no tomatoes = too hot at night must be lower that 68-70 degrees F for fruit set
Yellowing, rotting or cracking tomatoes = too much rain
Blossom end rot = drought

Fragrant & Culinary Herbs
Cut back herbs like basil, mint and oregano by a third or a half, to prevent them from producing seed and keep them producing more fragrant leaves. 2 stems will grow after each pruning cut so the plants get bushier.

Plant small container-grown herb plants from the nursery any time: Add lime, plant in containers, in flower beds, in pine islands. Keep watered while establishing, and harvest leaves frequently

Native Rabbit-Eye Blueberries are nearing the end of their run. Pick-your-own, or make a note to plant some shrubs in your garden this fall for fruit next summer.

Prune Figs lightly now, removing the tall shoots in the middle of the bush. Fruit on horizontal limbs will dwvelop best. Water plants for plumpest figs.
Next month (September) plan and plant your cool season veggie garden with crops like lettuce, arugula, radish, carrots, kale, parsley, cilantro. (still too early for peas, sweetpeas, garlic)

Ornamentals/Flowers / Woody Shrubs

Hydrangeas, cut off faded pink and blue flowers and cut back stems by 1/3. The new growth that occurs between now and winter will produce next summer's blooms. (Everblooming varieties like PennyMac or Endless Summer can bloom on new wood from same season)

Crape myrtles are lighting up Atlanta in full bloom now! There are many sizes from low-growing 15-inch tall Rosey Carpet Crape Myrtles from Garden Debut(R) to 40-foot tall Natchez varieties.
Plumleaf azalea = red azaleas! now beginning to bloom (logo of Callaway Gardens) Rebloomers too.

Check the houseplants you've stationed outdoors for insect pests. Use soapy water to wash off insects if you find any. Fertilize houseplants. They are getting much more light now and can use the food to grow bigger, but hold the fertilizer as the days grow shorter.

Dead-Head faded flowers from salvia, zinnia, coneflower, annuals and especially petunias to encourage bushiness and the production of more flowers.

Still time to plant seed of marigold, cosmos, cleome, zinnia and dwarf sunflower. They'll make a spectacular flower show in six weeks: mid-September.

Receiving Bulb Catalogs now, writing my “Wish List”. Order spring-flowering bulbs in soon: narcissus, tulips, hyacinths, small bulbs, but plant in Oct/Nov (except for daffodils and true lilies which shouldn’t stay out of the ground longer than necessary) Trumpet Lilies crossed with Oriental Lilies = Triumphator

Pruning: Last Call to severely cut back overgrown shrubs – new growth will ripen before cold weather

Cut back mums, ironweed, swamp sunflowers, dahlias to half their height. Fertilize and water the plants now to produce a crop of late fall flowers.
Bring bouquets of garden flowers in from the garden!

Lawns

Sharpen blades of lawnmowers- so they slice the leaves of grass and clover rather than tearing them.

Zoysia / Bermuda lawns—warm season lawns; dormant throughout winter. Add lime in August, and it's still the optimum time to lay sod for a new lawn because grass grows quickly in the heat.

Fescue lawns-- cool season lawn; stays green and grows throughout winter; best in early spring- wait another month and reseed Sept 1, fertilize Oct 1.

I wonder which of our topics will make the cut, down from an hour interview to 3 or 4 minutes on air? It is due to run on City Cafe 90.1 FM on Tuesday, August 10 around noon.

photo credit open source for zucchini blossom fritters