The deer are back in full force. Their little ones are adventurous enough to taste EVERYTHING. So if I want any chance of keeping a few blooms to enjoy, I’ll have to get busy spraying.
Seed Saving
After the flowers finish up, the plant sets seed. Before the pods open, I pick & distribute them into areas where I’d like to see more next year.
eg: foxglove, snapdragon, lupin, delphinium…
Helebore seed pods dangle below their leaves. They’ll spread slowly, so I let them self seed where I want more, but otherwise I trim them up for a tidier look. (Do I have control issues perhaps?)
Seed Avoiding
Cut back the euphorbia after their big show. Believe me, letting them self seed in the garden is sheer folly. These garden thugs spread easily enough through underground runners.
Similarly, Dead-heading is also useful in another way: shearing off the spent blooms can spur plants into another flush of flowers. eg. hardy geraniums, lady’s mantle…
photo by SVSeekins
Pruning
Rhododendrons are the last of the spring-flowering shrubs. When they need shaping or size control, I do it now so they’ll recover over the summer
Now that the show is over, prune back the long wispy vines of wisteria to about 5 buds
Fertilizing
photo by SVSeekins
Add compost or sea soil to areas of heavy feeding
Planting
It’s tempting to buy lots of new plants at this time of year. I try to keep in mind that all new plants, even drought tolerant ones, need watering during the first couple seasons. Their roots haven’t reached deep into the soil where the moisture stays, so they need surface water every couple of days. Do I really need that new shrub? Or do I want to go camping?
photo by SVSeekins
Irrigation
Despite the spring rains, the ground dries out quickly this month. Water slowly and deeply so that the moisture soaks in rather than rolling off the top of the soil.
Baskets & pots dry out quickly. They can benefit from a drink every day.
A good top-dressing of mulch sure helps keep the moisture in the soil where roots can get it, rather than having all that water evaporate in the sunshine.
Weeding
photo by SVSeekins
Wander through the beds pulling the weeds. Try not to stir up the soil too much, as that just brings seeds closer to the surface where they germinate & make more weeds….
As it gets warmer the leaves of the colchicum (aka fall crocus) die back, so I clear them away. By late august their blooms come as a pleasant reminder of what lurks below…
As summer begins, spring is over– and so are the last of the spring bulbs. It works well that day lilies & hardy geranium have grown up thick enough to hide the dried up leaves. The bulbs are happily fed, shaded and hibernating until next winter. Sounds backward, doesn’t it?
Perennials
photo by SVSeekins
Begonias, geraniums, canna lilies & other tender plants that have been over-wintered inside can still be set in the garden early in June. Even tropical house plants can go out to a dappled spot on the deck. It’s amazing how much faster they grow outside in the summer.
Now that the bearded iris are finished blooming, I split them & replant with the top length of the rhizome showing (to promote blooming next year).
So much growth now that the sun has come. Dahlias, gladioli & delphiniums may need staking
photo by SVSeekins
Lawns
Keeping the mower blade above 2 inches will provide a lush lawn, but give the grass’ roots a little shade so they don’t dry out so quickly
If you water the lawn 1 inch of water every two weeks, it’ll still will turn the color of straw in the heat of summer but will bounce back super quickly after temperatures cool in fall.
Veg & Berry Patch
photo by SVSeekins
Woo hoo !! All of our indoor starts are outside & growing like mad!
Enjoy all the activity & pay off! It’s harvest time for rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries … peas… salad greens… baby beets….
Beans, squash and corn take off quickly in the warm soil & longer hours of sunshine.
If there’s a partially shady spot in your garden, a new round of peas might supply some spring perk in the heat of summer. Consider new rounds of greens & beets, too …
Strawberries – pinch off runners so the plant concentrates on fruit instead of expansion
Garlic will send out scapes in june. Let them bloom if it’s a flower you want, or use the scape in salads or stir fries. The garlic bulb will grow larger if there is no bloom. It’s on it’s growth spurt now before it dies back in July.
starts – yup, it’s time to sow winter veg. They do their growing now & survive through the cloudy, cold & wet wintry months.
eg. kale… parsnips… broccoli…
Music on the Lawn –enjoy the Government House gardens while listening to an evening of live music (Usually thursday evenings in July) http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/
My morning coffee entertainment is watching the birds relay food to their voracious young back in the nest. If I’m lucky, one of these mornings I’ll get to watch the little ones fledge.
Planting
If you’re gung-ho about watering hanging baskets all summer, basket-stuffers galore are at all the plant sales this month. When choosing plants, keep in mind whether the basket lives in a sunny or shady location. Another handy design strategy is providing some “thrill, spill & fill” in each container.
Plant summer flowering bulbs (dahlias, gladioli, canna lilies & such), Many folks grew them inside over the past month or two, and move them into the ground now. At the same time as planting the dahlias, put in the stakes. They’re not needed right now, but they will be later, and then there’s a greater risk of damaging the roots.
Perennials
Begonias, geraniums, & other tender plants that have also been over-wintered inside can be set in the garden now. Even tropical house plants can go out to a dappled spot on the deck. It’s amazing how much faster they grow outside in the summer.
Even though they’re small now, pinch back snapdragons by 1/2… they’ll respond by growing bushier & produce more blooms.
Cut back the euphorbias after their big show. Letting them go to seed in the garden is sheer folly. These garden thugs spread easily enough through underground runners.
photo by SVSeekins
Dead-heading spent blooms can spur some plants into another flush of flowers
Weeding
Wander through the beds digging the weeds… This is also an opportunity to downsize populations of snails, slugs & tent caterpillars as you discover them
Unless you’re totally cool with widespread volunteers next year, cut back or pull out the centurea, forget me nots, cerinthe and other heavy seeders after their blooms are done.
photo by SVSeekins
Irrigation
Whether it’s garden hoses, or a fully automated system, it’s time to prep irrigation before it’s really needed. Replacing rubber gaskets & rings reduces that nasty dribble at the hose connection.
When you water, water slowly and deeply in the early morning or evening when the air is cool and calm.
photo by SVSeekins
Lawns
If there are bare patches that you’d like to seed over, go for it. Keep that area moist to give the seeds some support until established.
Keeping the mower blade above 2 inches will provide a lush lawn, and also enough leaf cover to give the grass’ roots a little shade (so they don’t dry out so quickly).
The meadow grasses on our rocky outcropping are ready to go to seed, so C heads out there with the whipper-snipper. That way the seed doesn’t spread into the beds
If the lawn gets 1 inch of water every two weeks, it’ll still will turn the color of straw in the heat of summer but will bounce back super quickly after temperatures cool in fall.
photo by SVSeekins
Veg & Berry Patch
As it’s warming up, give the ‘starts’ some outside time during the day to harden off… they’ll be ready to plant outside by the Victoria Day long weekend
herbs: Plant heat-loving seedlings of annual herbs like basil, cilantro, & parsley. Perennial herbs, like chives (blooming now), oregano, rosemary, and thyme find permanent homes in my borders. Take care with mints – they should go into containers to keep them from invading the world.
As the potatoes start to grow, ‘hilling up’ (adding extra soil around the stems) will help the plants produce more.
Enjoy the fresh rhubarb, but leave a few stems to help the plant feed the roots & produce a bigger crop next year.
It’s best to clean pruners between bushes. Spray with a solution of 10% bleach + water mix. This helps to prevent the spread of diseases through the garden.
Pruning
Forsythia & Other flowering shrubs should be pruned right after flowering so they have the full growing season to prepare for next year’s bloom
photo by SVSeekins
Fertilizing
add compost or sea soil to areas of heavy feeding
fertilize spring bulbs after bloom so they can soak up nutrient & rebuild the bulbs for next year. Note: Let the leaves (solar panels) continue to grow, helping out with the bulb’s rebuild.
photo by SVSeekins
Seasonal Color trees: apples… dogwood… magnolia… chestnuts… laburnum… hawthorn… shrubs: camelia… heathers… pieris (lily of the valley shrub)… rhododendron & azalea… lilacs… weigelia… california lilac (ceanothus)… wisteria… perennials: wild violets… trillium… bleeding hearts… erysimum (wall flower)… euphorbia… myosotis (forget me nots)… pulmonaria… vinca (periwinkle)… calla lily… oregon sunshine… evergreen clematis & clematis montana… solomon’s seal… ferns: sword… giant chain… deer… the full gamut… bulbs: camas… blue bells… alium…
photo by SVSeekins
Planning & Events Plant sale’s & garden tours abound. Whether I need anything or not, I’m sure to trip over a few.
It’s not the usual introduction of two flowers. An apple flower needs to hook up with a flower from another tree.
That means a single apple tree in an otherwise empty orchard is doomed. The tree is not ‘self fertile’. It needs a pollination partner. Isn’t that romantic?
photo by SVSeekins
But wait — there’s more. An apple flower needs to hook up with a flower from another apple of a different variety.
That means 2 McIntosh trees in an otherwise empty orchard are doomed, too. (No kissing cousins.)
Luckily the 2 apple trees in our yard are different varieties.
photo by SVSeekins
Unfortunately their bloom times don’t always overlap. The Gravenstein (on the right side of photo) is an early bloomer. The flowers are often so battered by april showers, few are left when the McIntosh (on the left side of photo) blossoms in May.
What chance do they have for setting fruit?
photo by SVSeekins
And here’s another twist. Gravensteins are duds when it comes to pollinating other apple trees.
So our McIntosh helps set fruit on the Gravenstein, but it doesn’t get any love in return. It needs an additional partner.
Seriously? Do we really need a threesome in our yard ??
Here’s the good news. It turns out that apples are sometimes open-minded. When looking for love, they’ve been known to hook up with crabapple.
photo by SVSeekins
The scandal! Am I prepared for all this complication? Not sure.
In reviewing the research & looking deeper, I discover there are a few (very few) exceptions to all this hanky panky. A Newton Apple is self-fruitful. Pity there isn’t one in our garden.
Garden Variety Life 