Sweet Williams

To Attract Butterflies:  Plant these in your garden – Asters, Buddleja, Sweet William, Mexican Sunflower ((Tithonia rotundifolia), Milkweed, & Pipevine.

Tomato Tip: Help tomatoes pollinate by flicking each bloom with a fingernail during the driest part of the day, two or three times per week.  Shake big plants to spread their sticky pollen.

SALVIA guaranitica

Deer Problems: Are critters causing trouble in your garden?  Try deer-and rabbit-resistant perennial flowers including, agastache, artemisia, lavender, monarda, ornamental oregano, Russian sage, salvia, & yarrow.

 Iris Care: In the spring when tulips are blooming in your    neighborhood apply a light application of low-nitrogen fertilizers (6-10-10). Apply a second light application about a month after bloom; this will reward you with good growth and bloom. Avoid using anything high in nitrogen. After tall-bearded irises stop blooming, cut off spent flower stalks to promote new rhizome growth.

Rhododendrons: Immediately after bloom, prune rhododendrons to control size and shape.  Cut each stem back to just above a rosette of leaves.  Most varieties of garden-scale rhododendrons aren’t harmed by hard pruning.

Forget-me-not

Annual Flowers: If you like color & can embrace a little chaos, sow reseeding flowers including:  Blue Honeywort, Forget-me-not, Golden Feverfew, Love-in-a-mist, Sunflower & Sweet Alyssum.  These unfussy, drought-tolerant annuals will cheerily pop up for years to come.

Mulch: Maintaining a 3” layer of organic mulch throughout the garden prevents crusting & cracking of the soil surface, holds in moisture, encourages earthworms, moderates ground temperature, & prevents weeds from germinating.

Potted Plants: Feed potted specimens at least monthly with liquid fertilizer; They need it because increased summer watering washes nutrients out before plants can use them.