Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• New Guinea impatiens have variegated foliage and giant, impatiens flowers. These striking plants will take more sun than regular impatiens and will bloom all summer.

• Pepper plants should be fertilized when the first blossoms open.

• Feed camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons with an acid plant food now. Remove dead flowers and mulch to keep the soil cool.

• Check roses for black spots on the leaves and treat immediately to prevent defoliation.

• Check young trees and fruit trees for suckers and water sprouts. Rub suckers off as they appear and cut water sprouts off apple and pear trees.

Hanging Gardens

Hanging baskets are an easy way to dress up your home and add character to your landscape. Baskets filled with colorful flowers bring outdoor living areas alive and make them a welcome retreat. Whether you have a sunny porch or a shady patio, you can brighten it up with hanging baskets.

Wave Petunias and Supertunias are two recent, popular varieties of the petunia. Both types of petunias are vigorous growers that produce fragrant blooms from spring until frost in sunny locations.

For all-summer color you can’t beat the Wave petunias. They come in bright pink, purple, magenta, as well as soft lavender and white. They are ideal for hanging baskets as they grow in a horizontal habit, draping down over the edge of the pots, sometimes reaching 4 feet long. Their bright colors are very eye-catching.

New Supertunia® Raspberry Blast has sweet two-toned pink blooms edged in violet. It is a smaller plant than the Waves but can trail up to two feet long. Million Bells® looks like a mini-petunias and come in bright pink, purple, orange and yellow. They love hot sun all day and make a very attractive hanging basket.

Ivy geraniums will grow well in morning sun and afternoon shade. They have an airy charm and come in red, pink, salmon, lavender and red-and-white flowers. Their glossy ivy-like foliage is a handsome background for the bright colored flowers that bloom all summer.

Tapien® Blue-Violet Verbena makes a fine hanging basket. It has delicate, feathery leaves and blue-violet blooms all season that attract butterflies. Heat tolerant and compact, it grows beautifully in full sun.

For very hot exposures, a hanging basket filled with multi-colored moss rose or portulaca makes a very colorful statement. Flowers come in bright red, orange, yellow, purple and pink that glow above glossy green, succulent leaves.

Fuchsias are popular for shady areas. Their lush foliage and bright hanging flowers are frequently visited by hummingbirds. The flowers come in many shades of red, pink, purple and white and they bloom all summer if the seed pods are removed.

Lovely hanging begonias are ideal plants for the shade. Their bright colored flowers are produced in profusion from mid-summer to frost. The bulbs can be stored and grown again and again.

You can create your own hanging gardens with combinations of colorful annuals. Impatiens, begonias, lobelia and coleus provide summer-long color in shady areas. Petunias, alyssum and verbena give lots of color in sunny locations.

If you like the mossy look, you can create a hanging basket using a wire basket and some green moss. With flowers growing out the sides as well as the top, it makes a spectacular lobe of color. For an easier, but similar, look use a coconut liner and slit holes in the sides for plants or just plant the top with trailing plants.

Hanging baskets should be fertilized weekly and watered daily in hot weather. Pinch off faded blossoms for continuous color all summer and enjoy the beauty of summer flowers all around you.

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

• Petunias, in bright pink, red and purple, will add beauty and color to sunny borders all through the summer.

• Azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons can be pruned now without sacrificing next years bloom. Ask at your nursery if you need help.

• It’s time to set out Brussels sprouts for fall harvest.

• Attract birds to your garden with a concrete bird bath. They come in many attractive styles and make good gifts.

Roses Love Water
The Secret To Their Success!

Gardeners all over the world know that roses return more to you for your time and effort than any other flower. To grow roses successfully in any climate, you only need three things: plenty of sun, water and fertilizer.

Nothing is more important for a rose bush’s survival and performance than water. Roses absolutely love water. But the amount of water a rose needs depends on sun exposure, type of soil and the method of watering.

In general, roses should be watered deeply, but infrequently. Since the original planting hole was 15 to 18 inches deep, water which does not reach that level will only encourage the growth of surface roots that will be less hardy than deeper roots. The soil around the roots should always be damp but never saturated with standing water. Add water when the soil is dry in the upper 1 to 2 inches.

A mature, average-sized rose bush can lose up to 5 gallons a day when it gets really hot and dry! Roses should not be allowed to wilt as wilting indicates root damage has occurred.

For container roses, keeping close tabs on the soil’s moisture condition is very important. Initially, water the plant well to get it firmly established. During the growing season, stick a finger in the soil to check for moisture. If your finger comes out literally dry, it’s time to add water. Muddy soil means the plant is getting too much water. Moist soil should be an indicator that the water amount is just about right.

Here are some other basic rules to follow for watering your roses:
• Roses should receive 1 to 2 inches of water, or 5 to 7 gallons, each week for a mature bush.
• Avoid wetting the plant’s leaves during regular watering, which can spread disease.
• Spray bushes with water about once a week to wash off dust, dirt and spider mites or other harmful insects. But never sprinkle bushes in the late afternoon or evening, which can promote disease.
• Water in the morning to help prevent black spot and mildew.
• Mulch (2 to 3 inches around a bush) to help retain moisture from watering and reduce watering needs. Mulching also helps keep the soil cool and helps control weeds.

Treat your roses right and they will reward you with gorgeous, fragrant blossoms all summer long.

• Cover cherry trees with bird netting to protect your crop.

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

• Feed rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias with an acid plant food to encourage lush growth. Pinch or prune to promote full, dense growth.

• Fertilize container plants every 10 to 14 days with a liquid fertilizer. Pinch off faded blossoms and they will keep blooming all summer for you.

• Red, white and blue petunias, verbena or combinations of these with lobelia, geraniums, impatiens and salvia will make a nice display for the Fourth of July.

Plant a Great Garden!

It’s not too late to plant a great garden. If the weather and circumstances have prevented you from getting your summer garden planted, take heart: there’s still time to do that.”¨ While it is true that fruiting plants like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants need to be set out now, many summer vegetables will grow even more quickly from seed planted in early summer when the soil has warmed up and is teeming with life. You’ll be surprised how fast seeds will germinate and explode with growth when planted now.

Plant seeds of beans to grow up a teepee; plant a hill of summer squash or cucumbers by poking half a dozen seeds in a circle; and plant a row of beets, radishes or carrots. Start a crop of salad greens in a spot with bright light but out of the full, hot sun. You’ll get a variety of lettuces and other tasty greens to spice up summer salads.

You can plant heat- and sun-loving herbs like basil, oregano, thyme and sage from seed but keep the seed beds well moistened as they germinate and begin to grow. Plant cilantro and parsley where they get shade from the hot sun. You can also set out starts of many kinds of herbs.Ӭ Even if you already have beans, squash, chard, carrots and basil in the ground, June is a fine time to start a second crop to have ready for a late summer harvest when the first crops of these staples have finished up.

In July you can start seeds for fall crops like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, and cabbage. Toward the end of summer, start seeds of spinach, Swiss chard, lettuces, radishes and Asian greens like pak choi.

You still have time to plant flowers, too! Petunias, marigolds, cosmos, impatiens, zinnias and dianthus are just beginning to bloom and will continue through the long hot days of summer. Alyssum, lobelia and moss rose are attractive border plants that bloom continuously up to frost. They all grow very quickly in warm weather, so there’s still plenty of time to fill up your flower beds and containers with colorful summer annuals.

June and July are also good times to start seeds or set out plants of perennials to bloom next spring. Most perennials need to establish themselves for a season before they are ready to bloom. By planting lupines, Shasta daisies, Iberis, blanket flowers and forget-me-nots this summer, you’ll be able to enjoy their lovely flowers next spring and summer.

Don’t be discouraged if you’re getting a late start this year. The ground is warm now and it’s time to plant a great garden!