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.