Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Dig and divide crowded spring-flowering bulbs and tubers including daffodils, scillas, muscari, and bearded iris.

• Take care of your roses: feed, water, weed, mulch and remove faded blooms regularly. Spray if necessary at first sign of insect or disease problems.

• After the June crop of raspberries is finished, remove canes that produced fruit leaving new green canes, which can then be trained on trellises.

• Keep flowers and vegetables in peak condition by giving them a midsummer feeding with a fertilizer that is higher in phosphorus than in nitrogen.

• Dig gently to harvest potatoes, a few plants at a time, after foliage yellows and dries up.

Hostas for Shade

Hostas are carefree plants that provide beauty and colorful leaves for the shade garden. Their lush foliage creates a restful and inviting scene when planted under a canopy of trees. Add a bench for sitting and you will have a tranquil place to relax at the end of the day.

Hostas have dramatic leaves and attractive flowers. Their broad blue, green, gold or variegated leaves are typically heart shaped, shiny and distinctly veined. Variegation can be white, cream, or yellow and can occur on the edges of the leaves, in the centers, or streaked throughout the leaf. They will grow in bright or dappled shade, but must be protected from hot summer sun.

The yellow or gold-leaved hostas need some sun to develop their brightest coloring, because in full shade they become chartreuse. This includes varieties like ‘Guacamole,’ which has huge, apple green leaves with darker green margins. Blue varieties develop their best color in full shade. ‘Bressingham Blue’ is one of the best blue-green hostas.

‘Patriot’ has deep green leaves with white variegation on the edge. It grows very quickly and easily in partial shade and has good sun tolerance. ‘Sum and Substance’ has very large, deeply veined, rounded leaves, varying in color from light green, chartreuse, to gold. It grows 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

Clusters of lily-like flowers, which are often fragrant, are borne on flower stalks that rise above the foliage from July to October. These give them the common name, plantain lily. Most flowers are white or light lavender, but some varieties have deeper lilac flowers. Though the flowers last for several weeks and add an delicate highlight, the leaves of hostas are their true appeal.

Hostas are very hardy and prefer a rich, moist soil that is not soggy. They need regular watering throughout the summer and, if growing in the shade of large trees, may need additional waterings to help them compete with the tree roots. When hostas get too much sun or not enough water, the leaf edges become papery and brown.

Slugs and snails love hostas, so you should bait around them once a month. They go dormant in the winter, dying back almost to nothing. Fresh new leaves grow from the roots in early spring. Hostas need little maintenance except to cut out the old flower stalks and perform routine winter clean up.

Hostas can be planted with coral bells, bleeding hearts, astilbe, hardy geraniums and Japanese anemones for a variety of contrasting foliage and flowers. They also do well among ferns and Japanese maples in woodland settings.

Hostas are hardy, long-lived perennials. With their amazing leaf patterns and showy flowers, they add color, interest and a lush, tropical effect to the shade garden.

• Start seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and other cool-season crops now. Transplant them to the garden next month and they will be producing for you this fall.

• Penstemon are bushy, evergreen perennials that attract hummingbirds with their red, pink, lavender or purple trumpet-shaped flowers all summer and fall.

• Roses need water and fertilizer to keep blooming well throughout the summer. atch for pests and treat immediately to prevent infestations.

• Shade-loving begonias will add color and beauty in both planters and hanging baskets.

• Fountains create the sound of moving water that is restful and cooling on the patio or in the garden.

Organic Squash-Bug Control

Squash bugs are the most serious pest of squash and pumpkins in the garden. They also feed on cucumbers and melons, but are not usually a serious problem.

The adults and nymphs damage plants by sucking plant juices from the stems, buds and fruits. Then, they inject a toxin that causes the leaves to wilt, blacken, and die.

The adults overwinter in garden debris, re-emerge as soon as the weather warms, just as soon as you set out your little squash plants, and mate soon thereafter.

Squash bug adults are easy to identify. They are approximately 5/8-inch long, dark brown or grey, and hard-shelled. They give off a disagreeable odor when crushed. The nymphs are light green and look like little spiders running up the stems of the plants. The eggs are brown to brick red, shiny and hard.

You may first notice small yellow specks on the squash leaves that soon turn brown. Then the leaves will turn brown, dry out and become brittle. Waste no time confronting this pest!

The first line of attack is to kill their eggs before they have a chance to hatch. Squash bugs lay eggs on the undersides of leaves, and sometimes on stems, in masses of a dozen or more in neatly ordered rows. You need to kill the eggs to break their cycle and control the bugs. Get in the habit of scouting your squash plants for the shiny, brown eggs and rubbing them off or crushing them.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for the small, light green nymphs, which are often present near squash bug eggs. You can squish them, too.

Adult squash bugs can run fast when it is hot, but it’s easy to hand-pick them in the cool hours of the day. Drop them into a bucket of soapy water.

The best method for control is prevention through sanitation. Remove old squash plants after harvest, and keep the garden free from rubbish and debris that can provide overwintering sites for squash bugs. Till the area to destroy overwintering sites and to bury the adults.

Crop rotation is also important. Plant your squash and pumpkins in a different part of the garden each year. Praying mantids eat the eggs and nymphs and can be a helpful predator.

Squash bugs tend to develop resistance to insecticides and the adults are difficult to kill. Pyrethrums sprayed on the nymphs and adults is effective as a last result. Be sure to spray the undersides of the leaves. Neem oil is also effective on the smallest nymphs. Since hatching occurs continually throughout the season, subsequent treatments will be required to assure sufficient control.

Keep your garden clean and healthy and enjoy your squash and pumpkin harvest this year.