Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Calibrachoa, or Million Bells, look like miniature petunias and come in many unusual shades and blends. Plant them in full sun for a profusion of flowers from spring to frost.

• Mulch blueberry plants with aged sawdust and feed with cottonseed meal or an acid fertilizer.

• When you plant your vegetable garden, why not grow a little extra to donate to the Willits Food Bank this summer.

• Set out zinnias, cosmos, impatiens and begonias for lots of colorful flowers all summer long.

• Star jasmine is an evergreen vine that prefers some shade. The fragrant blossoms fill the June air with their sweet scent.

Bring butterflies to your garden with Buddleias

Buddleias, commonly known as butterfly bushes, are fine shrubs for the garden. They have large, fragrant, colorful flowers that attract a flutter of butterflies into your summer garden. Their long summer bloom gives them their other common name, summer lilac.

These eye-catching plants are loved by butterflies. When the blossoms are open, you can be sure that butterflies will be abundant. Monarchs, swallowtails, fritillaries and many other nectar drinkers are attracted to the fragrant flower clusters. Hummingbirds also visit Buddleias, so plant them where you can enjoy them up close.

Buddleias can be used in many different ways. Compact types are nice in the perennial or mixed border, for small gardens or for large containers. Larger types, which grow 8-12 feet tall, do best in the background or as part of a tall shrub border.

These are very forgiving plants. They take almost any well-drained soil, and can stand considerable drought. Although they flower best in full sun, they will also bloom in light or filtered shade.

Standard Buddleias grow as wide-spreading, open shrubs. They work best as background plants. The flowers come in 6-8 inch long clusters at the ends of the branches beginning in July and continue until frost.

Colors range from the true pink of ‘Pink Delight’ to wine-purple of ‘Royal Red’ and dark purple of ‘Black Knight.’ The unusual variety ‘Harlequin’ has bright, variegated leaves and reddish-purple flower spikes. It grows 6-7 feet tall.

Butterfly bushes are a little unruly-looking so they may not have a place in a formal garden. But given sunshine and room to grow, they are a wonderful addition to the yard. They can be used in the flower border or as the focal point for a large open area. They are hardy and easy to grow.

Since standard Buddleias are too big for many gardens, a number of new dwarf varieties are now available. Buddleias davidii ‘Nanho’ grows to only 6 feet tall with smaller leaves and flower clusters.

A new series called Buddleia Buzz™ grows only 3-4 feet tall. They are excellent in containers and bloom over a long season, bringing butterflies and hummingbirds to your patio or deck. They come in all shades of purple. Buddleia ‘Dwarf Snappy Blue’ is another dwarf variety that grows 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

In addition, Buddleias make good cut flowers, are mostly allergy free, and are drought tolerant once established. And deer generally leave them alone.

Buddleias bloom on new growth so they can be pruned to control size and shape without affecting the flowering. Deadheading through the summer will produce maximum bloom.

Incidentally, Buddleia is sometimes spelled Buddleja, but both are pronounced “BUD-lee-ah.” Also, they can be invasive and reseed freely in some climates, but they are not known to be invasive in California. Buddleias will also attract bees that will pollinate other plants in your garden.

Don’t confuse butterfly bush plants with butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). Butterfly weed is a type of milkweed and serves as a host for the caterpillars of monarch butterflies as well as a nectar source. It is a perennial that dies down to the ground in winter.

Plant colorful Buddleias in your garden and enjoy the beautiful butterflies that visit them.

• Ivy geraniums make wonderful hanging baskets for partially shaded spots where they will bloom all summer in their bright colors.

• Cage or stake tomatoes while still small so that you can train them as they grow.

• Roses bloom all summer with their abundant flowers in so many different colors. Choose some now when you can see their lovely flowers.

• Impatiens come in a wide variety of colors. Mix them or make mass plantings of different colors for bold statements in shady borders.

• Ladybugs are a big help with aphids in your greenhouse or garden. Release at dusk in problem areas.

Cool as a Cucumber

For a heat-loving summer vegetable, cucumbers are about as “cool” as they come. Originally from the hot, dry regions of Asia and Africa, the crisp, white flesh of cucumbers have always seemed refreshing. Now a staple of summer salads in this country, this is one vegetable that should be in every garden.

Cucumbers are climbing vines that are easy to grow. There are many different varieties from the ever popular, round, yellow lemon cucumbers to long and thin slicers. Cucumbers are usually divided into two groups: the smaller, faster growing varieties used for pickling and the longer varieties used for slicing.

There are also “burpless” varieties and “yard-long” Armenians, both with non-bitter skin that you can eat. In addition to fresh eating, cucumbers can be preserved by pickling them, an art that is centuries old. You can pickle any small cucumber, and enjoy them that way all winter long.

Cucumbers will grow well in most good garden soils. They like warm weather and at least 8 hours of sun a day. Since cucumbers are 95 percent water, they need long, deep drinks of water to grow fruit that is not bitter. Temperatures above 100°F can cause bitterness or stop fruit production.

When planting, add compost to your garden soil and use a complete organic fertilizer to help get your cucumbers off to a good start and provide nutrition throughout their growing season. When the vines are about a foot long, side dress with compost or fertilizer which should take effect just as the plants blossom. Stand back and wait for an abundant crop of cool cucumbers.

Most varieties of cucumbers are vines, and they love to climb! Try growing them on a trellis. Cucumbers grown on trellises tend to produce healthier fruits, which are uniform in size and shape, and 2-3 times more cucumbers. They are also cleaner at harvest time and the air circulation provided by the trellis helps prevent diseases.

Trellising cucumbers frees up space in the garden, and you can plant lettuces or other greens under the trellis in the shade provided by the growing vines. Plant the vines 18 inches apart. Cucumbers grown on the ground need more space, so plant them 36 inches apart and space the rows at least two feet apart.

Cucumbers need plenty of water to be juicy and crisp. Plants that do not get enough water produce small, bitter, deformed fruits. Soak the soil deeply when you water.

Pick cucumbers frequently when they are young and tender. The goal of a cucumber vine is to set seeds and if even one fruit is allowed to mature, the whole vine will quickly stop producing. Gently twist or clip off the fruits being careful not to break the vines.

Cucumber vines are not heavy producers, except for lemon cucumbers, which share their abundance all at one time! Expect 1 to 3 pounds per plant, so you may want 6 plants per person, if you are going to make pickles, and 2 plants per person for fresh fruit only.

Plant cucumbers now for delicious, cool fruit this summer.

• The “Wave” petunias make wonderful hanging baskets for full sun. They come in purple, bright pink, reddish-purple and pale “misty lilac.” They can also be used for a colorful summer ground cover.

• Asparagus plants should be fed with good, rich compost when you have finished cutting spears. Keep the bed mulched and weed-free all summer, and the soil moist.

• Colorful Gerberas with their large, daisy flowers are a standout in containers. Water them infrequently and give them plenty of sun for flowers all summer.

• Earwigs are out and about and hungry. Control them with the new “Sluggo Plus”, or diatomaceous earth sprinkled around the plants, or go out after dark with a flashlight and a spray bottle of Safer’s Insecticidal Soap. One squirt will put an end to the spoiler.

• Tomatoes are the most popular summer vegetable. Choose from the many varieties, both Heirlooms and hybrids, available now, so you can enjoy delicious home-grown flavor.

Enjoying the Color and Fragrance of Roses

Roses have long been revered for both their stunning colors and their memorable fragrances. It is usually the color of a rose that first catches one’s attention but as soon as you get close to one, you want to smell it.

The palette of roses now includes an amazing array of colors. Flowers may be solid-colored, striped, bi-colored (different colors on the insides and the outsides of the petals), or blends (two or more colors intermingled on each petal).

To create a warm color scheme, choose a combination of red, orange, gold and yellow roses. These will draw the eye into the garden and make it look smaller than it is. A cooler color scheme, composed of violet, mauve, purple, pink and white, is soothing and refreshing. It is the best choice for a quiet garden meant for relaxing. It also makes a small garden look larger.

When it comes to fragrance, there are many fragrant modern roses as well as old garden roses. Color and fragrance are related and have to do with a rose’s heritage. The classic “rose” fragrance comes from the damask rose and is found mainly in the red and pink roses. It is a heavy fragrance that needs heat before the rich odor is released. White and yellow roses have a lighter fragrance that is best sniffed on a warm summer morning.

Many red roses have a strong fragrance. ‘Mister Lincoln’ has long been the yardstick that all new introductions are measured against. Its richly perfumed deep crimson blooms make it one of the all-time favorite roses. The lovely dusky red rose named ‘Lasting Love’® has a rich pure rose fragrance. It has shown itself to be a strong, healthy rose in our climate.

‘Perfume Delight’ has rich pink flowers with a strong rose fragrance and the super-sweet fragrance of the classic ‘Tiffany’ rose has made it an award winner. The pink petals suffused with yellow on long stems are excellent for cutting.

The large flowers of the new rose ‘Crescendo’™ are white, blushing to light pink at the edges with a strong honeysuckle and rose fragrance. It is sure to please.

Purple roses tend to be very fragrant. The dark velvety purple flowers of ‘Midnight Blue’™ have an old fashioned form and a strong, spicy clove fragrance.

‘Gold Medal’ has it all. The deep golden yellow flowers rich with fruity fragrance are borne on long stems with disease-resistant foliage. And ‘Strike It Rich®’ is a soft gold rose with a spicy perfume. The long elegant buds of gold are polished with rosy pink. It is an excellent rose in the garden or on the table.

The new, bright coral rose ‘Sedona’ ™ brings the bright colors of the desert into our gardens. Its unique, fruity, pear scent is strong and exciting.

Remember that one fragrant rose in a mixed bouquet will perfume the room and give you the colors you want at the same time.

For a climbing rose, ‘Autumn Sunset’® with its apricot gold clusters of shapely flowers has a rich, fruity fragrance that is hard to beat. It is also very resistant to blackspot, and blooms well the first season.

Few flowers bloom for as long and abundantly in this climate as do roses. Choose beauty and fragrance to decorate your garden and home.