Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Decorate your porch or patio with prolific Hanging Wave Petunias in bright pinks and purples. They make nice gifts for Father’s Day.

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

• Stake or cage tomato plants before they get any larger.

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

• 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.

Blue Bellflowers

The vast and varied family of Campanulas has something for almost every gardener. There are ramblers to hang over stone walls and plant along paths, neat cushions for smaller places and tall plants for the perennial border.

The name “campanula” is Latin for “little bell”, and the common name “bellflower” is given to several different varieties. Many campanulas do have bell-shaped flowers, while others open wide to look like little stars. Campanulas are prized for their sky-blue flowers, though they range in color from light blue to blue lavenders to royal purple. Pure white flowers are common in many species, and pink ones occur in a few.

For a carpet of blue-purple flowers most of the summer, try one of the creeping campanulas. Dalmatian bellflower, Campanula portenschlagiana, forms a low mat that bears light blue flowers from late spring through summer, while Adriatic bellflower, C. garganica, has mid-blue, star-shaped flowers on a trailing plant, 3 to 6 inches tall and 1 to 3 feet across. These are nice along paths, in rock gardens, spilling over walls or as a groundcover.

Growing slightly taller, to ten inches, is Campanula carpatica ‘Blue Clips’. It makes a low carpet of evergreen leaves topped with cup-shaped, light blue flowers, from June thru October. It makes an excellent edging plant. About the same size is Blue Bells of Scotland, C. rotundifolia ‘Olympica’. With small blue bells on one foot plants, it does well in the shade, blooming from June to August.

Taller still is the Peach-leaf bellflower, C. persifolia, growing about two feet tall. The cup shaped flowers are borne on graceful spikes in early summer. It is a good cut flower that reblooms when spikes are cut. The richly colored violet flowers of Clustered bellflower, C. glomerata ‘Superba’, are held on strong stems above basal foliage. They bloom heavily in late spring.

The cottage-garden classics, Canterbury bells, are commonly known as cup-and-saucer for their bell-shaped flowers with a flat base. They produce huge spikes of extremely long lasting blooms in various shades of blue, pink and white. This plant is a true biennial and will bloom the second year after planting. Allow flowers to develop seeds to insure plants for following years.

Campanulas are sun-lovers, but most will flower in partial shade. The larger types need good, fertile soil, while the smaller kinds need good drainage and less fertile conditions. For container plantings use a compost based potting soil and avoid peat based products.

They are hardy perennials, except for cup-and-saucer, and will live for years in your garden, blooming profusely with their blue bellflowers.

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

• When you finish cutting asparagus, feed the bed with good, rich compost that will also act as a mulch this summer.

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

• Finish planting the summer vegetable garden. Seeds of early corn, and beans can go directly in the soil and plants of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, squash, cucumbers and basil can be set out.

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

Tough, Colorful Rockroses

Well-known for their showy spring flowers, rockroses are sun-loving, fast-growing, drought-resistant shrubs that are tolerant of poor, dry soil. They are ideal plants for informal plantings, rocky hillsides or along country driveways.

Since rockroses grow wide, they are at their best where they are not confined to small areas. Use them on hot dry banks, tumbling over rocks, or in a planting of drought resistant shrubs. Given plenty of room, they are beautiful, picturesque shrubs.

Rockroses, or Cistus, are Mediterranean natives that have a long flowering season in late spring. Scattered flowers begin to appear in April; by the end of May the plants are covered with large petaled single flowers; then the blooms taper off through June.

The flowers drop their petals when they fade, so they don’t leave brown, dead flowers on the plant.

Rockrose flowers come in white, pink and lavender-rose, a very striking color. Some plants will grow only thirty inches tall while others reach four to five feet with little effort. Another genus, Halimium, are called yellow rockroses, and they have showy flowers as well.

It is important to choose a variety which will fit the site chosen as rockroses resent severe pruning. Prune only to protect a path from encroachment or to eliminate dead wood or occasional lopsided growth.

Rockroses keep their leaves throughout the year, and are effective at preventing erosion on banks and suppressing weeds underneath them. They are drought tolerant, thrive in rocky soil, and are generally deer-resistant. They also make a pleasant background for flowering bulbs.

There are two requirements for growing rockroses: good drainage and very little summer water. They will often appear at first to respond to frequent irrigation, but the excess water greatly increases the chance of die-back, induces lanky growth and shortens the life of the plants. Plants grown in more natural settings may live for 20 years or more.

Plant rockroses in full sun and add a little lime at planting time. Irrigate deeply and infrequently for the first season. By the second year, most plants can survive without water.

These are truly carefree plants that will delight you every spring with their showy flowers.

• “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.

• Attract hummingbirds to your patio this summer with hummingbird feeders, so you can enjoy their iridescent beauty and charm.

• Paint trunks of young fruit trees with Tree Trunk White. This will keep the soft bark from sun-burning which leaves cracks for borer insects, the most common cause of death of young apple trees.

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

• Earwigs are out and about and hungry. Control them with the new “Sluggo Plus”, which has the natural, bacteria-based spinosad added to the original iron phosphate formula.

Growing Gorgeous Roses

Roses attract us for many reasons: for their color, their fragrance, the beauty of each flower and their stunning display in the landscape. They are probably the most loved flower the world over, both in the garden and for flower arranging.

Roses can be grown by almost anyone. The key to success depends primarily on finding a good site in which to grow them. Look for a spot that receives plenty of sunshine, is sheltered from prevailing winds, has good air circulation and water drainage, and enough space for the varieties you want to plant.

Most roses need at least six hours of sunshine per day during the flowering season to bloom to their full potential. If sunlight is scarce in your planting area, try a white painted surface as a backdrop for your plants. Reflected light can help turn a less-than-sunny site into a bright spot for roses.

Strong winds can be hard on roses. Roses are thirsty plants, needing large quantities of water to fill their abundant blossoms. They may suffer from dehydration if exposed to constant wind. If you live where there are strong summer winds, choose a site with some protection for your roses.

Good air circulation, however, is very beneficial to roses. Air movement through the plants keeps the canes and foliage dry, which cuts down on disease problems. A slope is ideal, allowing for good air flow, maximum sunlight and good water drainage.

Soil that drains well is very important for roses. If you have only heavy soil, add generous amounts of compost when you plant. To test how well your soil drains, dig a large hole, fill it with water and see how long it takes to drain. If it takes more than two hours to drain away, consider building raised beds.

Each type of rose has different space requirements and individual growing habits. Some roses spread more than others, and relying on severe pruning to keep a rose in bounds, is no substitute for giving it the space it deserves.

Roses need a lot of sunshine, moisture and nutrition to produce all those big, beautiful flowers. They don’t do well with competition from trees, large bushes or other heavy feeders. So give them plenty of room to perform their best.

Plant roses where they can be enjoyed the most along walkways, near entryways or next to a deck or patio. Consider the views from inside the house and plant roses where they can be enjoyed from there as well. A fragrant rose near an open window will perfume the whole room.

Roses are at the peak of their first flowering now, so it is a good time to look for the ones you like best. Turn your garden into a place of charm and beauty, by planting a bed of colorful and fragrant roses.