summer – Page 3

Five Annual Cut Flowers for Fall

Love-in-a-mist flowers are airy, colorful and long-lasting. Their pretty puffy seed heads can be dried for winter everlasting arrangements.

Some of the prettiest flowers for cutting are annuals that grow and bloom fast and thrive in cool weather. Growing them is a snap. Start them in early August, and you should have lots of pretty flowers for cutting by late September or early October.

'Towering Orange' sulfur coreopsis — ‘Towering Orange’ sulfur coreopsis is a tall variety that is perfect for fall cutting!

Planting Cut Flowers for Fall

If you are someone who already plants summer cut flowers, you will likely still have zinnias, tall marigolds, and purple cosmos in the garden, but these tend to lose steam towards the end of the season. Removing declining summer cut flowers and filling in the holes with fresh, cool-season bloomers will pay off. Just be sure to turn, smooth, and clean the ground before planting, and top dress with a good, moisture-holding mix that will allow your new cut flower seeds to germinate easily. Fafard Ultra Outdoor Planting Mix is a great choice.
Once your area is prepared, sprinkle your seeds of choice over the soil, and then lightly cover with some additional mix and gently pat the area down. Annuals with larger seeds, like sweet peas, will need to be planted at least an inch below the soil. Keep newly sown spots evenly moist with daily misting or watering.
Most annuals germinate quickly, in a week or two. Once new seedlings have emerged, continue providing them with needed moisture, and be sure to remove any weed seedlings. Feed plantlets every two weeks with a little water-soluble flower food. This will help them grow and flower at top speed.

Five Cut Flowers for Fall

1) Sweet Peas

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus, 74-85 days from seed) are some of the sweetest smelling cool-season cut flowers, but they require light trellising. This is easily done by securing strong, firm stakes into the ground and lining the spaces between them with trellis netting that the peas can climb up with their tendrils. Renee’s Garden Seeds carries loads of exceptional sweet peas for cutting. The antique ‘Perfume Delight’ is especially fragrant and a little more heat tolerant, which allows them to forge through unexpected warm days. (Read Renee’s article “All About Sweet Peas” for more information about these pleasing flowers.)

Bouquet of 'Blue Boy' — The classic bachelor’s button for cutting is the long-stemmed ‘Blue Boy’. (photo care of J ohnny’s Selected Seeds)

2) Bachelor’s Buttons

Colorful bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea cyanus, 65-75 days from seed) come in shades of richest violet-blue, pink, white, and deepest burgundy. Most agree that the blue flowers are the most remarkable and prettiest in a vase. There are lots of compact varieties, but these have short stems. Long-stemmed selections are the best for cutting, but they must be staked for reliable upright growth. ‘Blue Boy’ is an old-fashioned, large-flowered heirloom with tall stems that are perfect for cutting.

3) Sulfur Coreopsis

For fiery color, few cut flowers grow faster than sulfur coreopsis (Coreopsis sulphureus, 50-60 days from seed). The long-stemmed ‘Towering Orange’ produces billows of tangerine orange flowers that will last a long time. These look beautiful in a vase with ‘Blue Boy’ bachelor’s buttons!

'Perfume Delight' sweet peas — Extra fragrant, colorful blooms are the selling point of ‘Perfume Delight’ sweet pea sold by Renee’s Seeds. (photo care of Renee’s Garden Seeds)

4) Love-in-a-Mist

Uniquely lacy flowers make love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena, 63-80 days from seed) especially charming in the garden or a vase. The dried seed pots are also visually interesting, allowing them to double as dried flowers. The flowers come in shades of violet-blue, purple, white, and pink. One of the better Nigella mixes is provided by Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

5) Annual Baby’s Breath

No flower arrangement is complete without a frothy filler flower to add loft and interest. Annual baby’s breath (Gypsophila elegans, 45-50 days from seed) is the standard choice, and ‘Covent Garden Market’ is a tall, airy variety that will bloom until frost. It is very easy to grow, and its small, white, cup-shaped flowers make more colorful blooms stand out in a vase.
Cut flowers brighten our gardens and homes, so consider planting some of these traditional beauties in August for fall bloom. You’ll save money at the farmer’s market and impress your guests.

Stay Cool and Hydrated in the Garden

During the long winter months, we dream of summer’s warmth. On hot summer days, when temperatures and humidity levels are somewhere north of eighty, we dream of holing up in a cool place.

But we are gardeners and that means we also can’t resist the siren song of the soil. Besides, everyone knows that crabgrass doesn’t care how hot and sticky it gets. In fact, it and its other weedy confederates redouble their evil schemes when gardeners are too hot to go out and pull them up. Winning at summer gardening means finding ways to beat the heat while tending the plants.

Work At Cool Times

Working in the garden — Start work in the garden early, before the days heat up, and try to work in shade.

There’s a yin yang to successful hot weather horticulture. At sunny times of the day, always work in the shade. During cloudy intervals, tend non-shady areas. Wear sunscreen no matter what, because ultraviolet rays get through cloud cover even when it is overcast. Garden early, before things heat up and return to the garden late in the day, when temperatures descend. Longer hours of daylight make early evening gardening a pleasure. Garden chores are also a good excuse to let someone else do the dinner dishes.

When temperatures are high, keep the effort level low. Take a look at the five or seven- day weather forecast and save the heavy pruning, mulch spreading and hole digging for cooler days.

Water Wisdom

Child using a hose on a sunny day — Sometimes a spritz with a hose is just what a gardener (or your kids) need to keep cool.

Beat the heat—or at least its worst effects—by keeping yourself hydrated while you work. Buy a fabric sun hat that you can soak in cold water, wring out and then wear in the garden. Make sure to wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothes. Garden fashion should always start with common sense.

Take advantage of nature’s generosity and work in the rain. As long as you avoid thunderstorms, you will be fine. It is also nice to take advantage of the hose or sprinkler for a quick refreshing spritz. Playing in the sprinker has never lost its charm with kids either. Placing a clean tarp beneath a sprinkler will keep their feet clean, and if set in close proximitiy to a bed, you have doubled the benefit.

Weeds pop our more easily during and just after heavy irrigation and rainstorms, so digging and dividing plants takes much less effort. Planting is easier too. Walk around beds and borders rather than through them, to avoid compacting wet soil.

Right Chores, Right Place

Gardening tools — When it’s too hot to work in the hot sun, do other garden chores, like cleaning and sharpening your tools.

If you must work outside on a hot, sunny day, garden in small time increments. If tools are close at hand, you can accomplish a lot in ten or fifteen-minute spurts. This strategy works well for most garden chores and is especially good for those you hate.

If it is too hot to even move, think about what you can do indoors in an air-conditioned place. Repot container plantings or root cuttings in cool comfort. Store necessary tools and supplies like Fafard Ultra Container Mix With Extended Feed With Resilience™ indoors in a plastic tub. When you are ready, cover the designated work area with newspaper or oilcloth, bring out the supply tub and create some beautiful containers. When you are finished, simply drop the tools and supplies in the tub, shake out the newspaper or oilcloth and return the plants to their outdoor locations.

Cool, indoor locations are also good places to clean and sharpen tools, wash out plant containers and make plant labels. This is also a good time to clean up potting benches and organize garden supplies.

Another good activity for hot days is garden planning. When it was chilly last winter, you snuggled under an afghan and paged through online and print plant catalogs. Now, you can sit in the shade or the air conditioning and plan your fall containers, bed schemes, and vegetable plantings. By the time those plants arrive, it will be cool enough to get them into the ground.

Fanciful and Fun Container Gardening

Used shoe of galoshes as container of succulents — Used shoes of galoshes make very cute containers for flowers and succulents. (image by Maureen Gilmer)

Gardening, no matter what or where you plant, should be fun. Container gardening has an overwhelming fun quota because experimentation, creativity, and even mobility are part of the experience. Planting in pots is also a great equalizer. The smallest children can start seeds in paper cups, as can seniors, the disabled and just about anyone else. The idea that some people are born with a green thumb is a myth. The contagious fun of growing flowers or edible crops in interesting containers has been known to turn even lifelong black thumbs bright green.

Find It

Interesting containers, like interesting people and ideas, are everywhere. Look around the house, apartment or garage. Are you harboring an out-of-commission tea kettle? Fill it with boiling-hot-colored portulacas. Up to your eyeballs in plastic detergent containers? Cut them off to form bright-colored oval planters and pot up some of the currently fashionable succulent plants like hens and chicks (Sempervivum). Put a miniature African violet in an orphaned teacup from the local antique shop. In some parts of the country, people have been making “crown tire” planters out of bald tires since rubber began hitting the road. The tires can be decorated to suit your fancy. If your neighbors will be offended by a front-yard tire display, put it in the rear.

Shell container with pink Kalanchoe blossfeldiana — A pink Kalanchoe blossfeldiana looks seaside-ready in a turquoise shell container.

Avid container gardeners are always on the prowl for unique planters. Yard sales are a good source, as are dollar stores. Check out local curbsides on bulk pick-up days. People discard an amazing number of plant-worthy containers.

Repurpose existing receptacles. A picnic caddy, designed to hold plates and cutlery for outdoor dining, also makes an interesting, portable herb planter. Make an ultra-fashionable statement by making a container garden in an old purse or insulated lunch sack. Plant a gaudy croton in an old wastebasket. Once your mosquito-repelling citronella candle has burned down, take out the leftover wax and use the candleholder as a plant pot.

Doing It Right

Picnic caddy with ornamental herbs — This old picnic caddy is filled with fragrant, ornamental herbs.

Once you have found your planter, get your supplies. Create simple temporary plantings by sinking nursery-potted specimens into imaginative containers lined with plastic. Disguise unsightly edges with sphagnum moss. For more permanent plantings, check the bottom of the chosen container. If it already has drainage holes, you are all set. If not, and the vessel can withstand being pierced, create holes in the bottom. If making drainage holes would ruin the container, create drainage room by covering the container’s bottom with a one-inch layer of fine gravel before adding the potting medium and plants.

Good potting mix is essential. Most plants benefit from an excellent all-purpose medium like Fafard® Ultra Potting Mix with extended feed with Resilience™. Depending on the types of plants in your containers, you may need specialist planting media, like Fafard® African Violet Potting Mix or Fafard® Cactus & Succulent Potting Mix. Differences among the various potting mixes are determined by the amount of drainage material incorporated into the mix, as well as the addition of nutrients specific to different plant types.

Picking Plants

Cactus fountain — An old fountain is repurposed as a beautiful succulent container garden. (photo by Maureen Gilmer)

Pick plants for containers the same way you select garden plants—right plant, right place. Container specimens in small to medium-size vessels are easy to transport, so it is sometimes easier to match light requirements to plant types. Sun-loving plants, including most flowering varieties and many edibles, require full sun, which means at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. Shade lovers, like begonias, can get by with as little as a couple of hours of dappled sunlight.

No matter whether you plant a miniature blueberry bush in an old spackle bucket or an entire small vegetable garden in a leaky wheelbarrow, be sure to water regularly. Container plants tend to be more thirsty than those grown in-ground. Fertilize regularly as well, especially if your plantings are nutrient-hungry annuals.

Organic Cucumber Growing

Cucumis sativus — Pickling cucumbers should be picked when they are very small and crisp.

Cucumbers have their fair share of pests and diseases, but growing them organically is not too difficult if you choose the right variety for your area and give them the right care. Experience is the best teacher.

When I first began growing cucumbers, it was a challenge. I failed to amend the soil properly, feed and water them enough early on, and then they developed a bad case of powdery mildew. Cucumber beetles, and the diseases they vector, were also a problem. My plants yielded only a few small fruits. That was about 20+ years ago. Since that unproductive season, I’ve mastered growing these fast-growing annual vines – and you can, too! The great thing about cukes is once they’re happy, they produce like gangbusters! Before you know it, it’ll be time to break out the tzatziki and pickle recipes and find friends willing to take a few off your hands.

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are frost-tender, warm-weather vegetables; which means they grow when days and nights are relatively warm and the sun is at its brightest. They tend to sprawl but can be trained to grow on a support to save space and make harvesting easier.

The vines are lined with large, prickly, green leaves and produce two types of yellow, funnel-shaped flowers, male and female. The pollen-producing male flowers bloom first, followed by the fruit-producing female flowers. Female blooms are easily identified by their elongated, bulbous ovaries at the base, which are destined to become cucumbers. The flowers are pollinated by bees, so smile when these productive insects visit your plants, and refrain from using broad-spectrum, non-organic pesticides that will kill them. (Look out for the small, native squash bees that like to visit cucumber vines!)

Cucumber size, shape and color depend on the type of plant you grow. No matter what variety you choose, proper site selection and good soil preparation can make or break your cuke-growing success.

Cucumber Types

Lots of cucumber types exist. Americans are most familiar with slicing cucumbers, which tend to be large, broad, and thick skinned when mature and have tougher, bigger seeds. In contrast, thin-skinned Asian cucumbers are long, straight and small-seeded as are English types. Pickling cucumbers, which include gherkins, have a pleasing shape when young, dense flesh and are picked immature, when they are most crisp.

Cucumis sativus Slicemaster — ‘Slicemaster’ is a common American slicer that’s easy and prolific.

Several varieties are better adapted to hotter, drier growing conditions. These include lemon, or dosakai, cucumbers, which are almost completely round, yellow-skinned, and originate from India. Israeli Beit Alpha cucumbers are smaller, seedless (parthenocarpic), sweet-tasting, and well-adapted to dry climates. ‘Socrates’ is a larger Beit Alpha cultivar worth growing. Another favorite, heat-tolerant “cucumber” is the curved, thin-skinned Armenian cucumber (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus), which is technically not a cucumber but a melon (Cucumis melo) variety.

Growing Cucumbers

Full sun is essential for good growth and fruit production, so choose a planting location that’s open and sunny. Deep, friable, well-drained soil high in organic matter yields the best crops. The best rule of thumb is to dig and work up the soil to a depth of a foot or more, then amend liberally with good compost. The more room your plants’ roots have to develop, the healthier the plants. If your garden is at a low topography, create raised berms to plant your cucumbers. Enrich the berms with OMRI Listed Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost or Garden Manure Blend for best performance. (Generally, I start my seeds outdoors in 4-inch pots and plant them once they’ve reached 3 inches long and the threat of frost has past. Other home gardeners may opt to direct-sow the seeds following packet directions.)

Feeding and watering cucumber vines are simple tasks: Just apply good organic fertilizer (like Black Gold® Tomato & Vegetable Fertilizer) early in the season and make sure established vines get a deep application of water twice a week (by rain or hose). The next consideration is deciding whether or not to trellis your plants.

Cucumis sativus Lemon — ‘Lemon’ is a popular Dosakai cucumber that tastes best when picked before the round fruits turn lemon yellow.

Trellising Cucumbers

Trellising has lots of advantages: It saves space, makes harvesting easier and encourages airflow, which discourages foliar diseases. Some standard trellis types are vertical ladder trellises, bentwood or teepee trellises. Trellis-grown cukes will be straighter than ground-grown. If you don’t mind your vines on the ground, be sure to pad the ground with hay or straw. This will keep your cucumbers clean and discourage rot, as well as keep weeds down. If you don’t have a lot of gardening space, you can grow dwarf cucumber varieties in large containers.

Cucumber Pests and Diseases

There are a few cucumber pests and diseases to be mindful of. Striped and spotted cucumber beetles are the worst of them. Both pests are elongated, around ¼ an inch long and have beaded antennae. Striped cucumber beetles have bands of yellow and black stripes, and the spotted ones are tannish-yellow and are typically marked with 12 black spots. Both chew on the leaves and vector a nasty bacterial wilt disease that can kill vines. The best means of defense is to use botanical insecticidal sprays like pyrethrum-based sprays, always carefully following label directions. (Planting disease-resistant strains, Like the small-fruited ‘H-19 Little Leaf’, is also helpful.) Begin to spray when the plants are young, and refrain from spraying when bees are actively pollinating the flowers. Squash bugs are another common pest that can be eradicated using this method. Aside from bacterial wilt, powdery mildew is the second most common disease of cucumber vines. (The organic fungicide, GreenCure®, clears up powdery mildew fast and is safe to use.)

So, whether growing cucumbers for pickling or slicing, feel confident you can cultivate happy cucumbers this year. By fulfilling just a few smart steps, new gardeners can avoid a first-time cucumber catastrophe and enjoy a cornucopia crop instead!

Small-Space Gardening

Profusio Zinnias and Swiss chard — Compact Profusion Zinnias and Swiss chard are great choices for smaller gardens with less space.

Small-space gardening is the triumph of inspiration over limitation. Space is the limitation. Inspiration, which is free and universally available, trumps space limitation every time.

Fafard Ultra Container with Extended Feed RESILIENCE pack — Fafard Ultra Container with Extended Feed is a great choice for small space container gardening.

You can plant a garden in an old washtub, grow it up a trellis or cultivate intensively in a two by two-foot raised bed. Small-scale landscapes can be housed in boxes perched on porch railings, bags or planters hanging from walls, or grow bags on asphalt driveways. They are perfect for the minuscule ribbons of earth surrounding a townhouse. Combine any small site with appropriately scaled plants, a little effort and quality soil like Fafard ® Ultra Container Mix With Resilience™ and a garden is born.

Choices, Choices

Getting down to the business of small space gardening requires a few choices. What do you most want to grow? If you have sunny space—six hours of direct sunlight per day—you can raise an array of edible crops, not to mention ornamentals and herbs. You can even mix those categories as long as you group plants with similar cultural needs. Light shade limits choices a bit but does not preclude any kind of small-scale gardening. Bear in mind the small-space gardening mantra—“no ground—no problem.” Find a container that will hold enough soil to grow your choice of plants and your garden is on its way.

Space limitation also means choosing plants that give “bang for the buck”—high-yielding fruits and vegetables, and/or flowering varieties that rebloom regularly during the growing season. Colorful or variegated foliage helps maintain visual interest between flushes of flowers.

Pick the Right Edibles

Many popular vegetable and fruit varieties are available in compact or even dwarf sizes. Cherry tomatoes—either standard size or dwarf–are a flavorful option for tomato lovers on a space budget. Stake or trellis them for space-saving vertical culture. Many zucchini and other squashes come in tidy, compact bush forms. Bush beans, sometimes known as “string beans”, also work well in small gardens.

Fruit lovers with large containers or small plots can grow dwarf blueberry varieties like ‘Top Hat’, which rises to only 24 inches tall and produces several pounds of blueberries per season at maturity. Strawberries will thrive in raised beds or pocketed strawberry jars. Dwarf apple, pear, and plum trees are well suited to large pots or can be trained (espaliered) to grow against walls or other supports.

Coreopsis Li'l Bang™ 'Daybreak' — Coreopsis Li’l Bang™ ‘Daybreak’ is a wonderful summer perennial for small spaces. (image care of Skagit Gardens)

Vest Pocket Blooms

Getting lots of flowers from a small space used to mean buying annuals every year. You can still go the annual route with free-flowering compact forms such as the many-colored zinnias in the Profusion series. An array of modern, smaller perennials will do the same job, and save labor by returning from year to year. Try a reblooming daylily (Hemerocallis), like little ‘Black-Eyed Stella’, which is yellow with a contrasting central “eye” and a maximum height of 12 inches. Another good perennial choice is one of the small-scale tickseeds (Coreopsis), like those in the bright-colored Li’l Bang series. Vertical growers like annual morning glory and perennial clematis use little ground or container space as they clamber up trellises or tuteurs.

Miniature Roses

Miniature roses, at 12 to 24 inches tall, feature all the traits of their larger relatives, minus the gangly stature. Fragrant, apricot-pink ‘Barbara Mandrell’ for example, boasts the high-centered flowers typical of hybrid teas. Miniatures are also available in the climbing form, which is handy for those with more vertical than horizontal space.

Made for Partial Shade

Container gardening is a great option for gardeners with little space or time.

Partial shade does not have to mean dashed hopes for space-conscious gardeners. Lovers of baby greens can grow mesclun in spaces with dappled shade and only about two hours of sun per day. Pots of parsley or oregano will be fine with only a few hours of sunshine. Try annual wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri) for purple or cream flowers in small borders, window boxes or containers. It thrives in shade and grows only six to 12 inches tall and wide. For foliage color, look for variegated-leaf perennials, like blue and cream Hosta ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’, which catches the eye and grows only six inches tall and 12 inches wide.

Succeed With Succession Planting

Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost Blend pack — Top dress small plots with Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost.

Get maximum growth out of small, sunny spaces by using succession planting. When spring bulb-grown plants, like tulips and daffodils, fade seed in annuals, such as nasturtiums, cosmos, or compact zinnias, in the same spaces. When cool weather returns, incorporate cool-season annuals for fall, like nemesia, pansies, or diascia.

Troubleshooting

Intensive cultivation of small spaces can lead to nutrient depletion. Top dress small plots with amendments like Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost, which can also be mixed into container medium. Small spaces—especially containers and window boxes—tend to dry out quickly, so check for dryness and make sure to water every day in hot weather.

Fantastic Fragrant Garden Flowers

Paeonia lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt' — Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is an old-fashioned pastel pink bloomer with a heady sweet fragrance. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

By the end of winter, gardeners long for the sweet scents of flowers. Some of us take solace in cut flowers from the florist or supermarket while thumbing plant catalogs and indulging in flowery daydreams. Convert those daydreams to reality by planning a few fragrant garden flowers to your beds, borders and containers.

Scents of Early Spring

'White Pearl' Hyacinth — The ultra-fragrant ‘White Pearl’ is an exceptional hyacinth for the spring garden. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

Daffodils (Narcissus spp.) are the essence of spring and some varieties are delectably fragrant. ‘Campernelle’ is one of them, a multi-flowered yellow species narcissus that blooms early and gracefully. Towards the end of the daffodil season, luxurious ‘Rose of May’, a double-flowered white bloomer, lives up to its name, exuding a sweet scent.

The legendary courtesan, Madame Pompadour, loved hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis) and nearly three centuries later, they still carry the fragrance banner into mid-spring, with stocky heads of highly scented florets in an array of Easter egg colors. At about the same time, intensely fragrant lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) scent shaded places with their unique “Muguet des bois” aroma, long a favorite of perfume makers. If you already grow lily-of-the-valley, dig up a budded clump, pot it up with some Fafard Natural and Organic Potting Soil and enjoy the fragrance indoors while the flowers last. Afterward, return the clump to the garden.

Late Spring Fragrance

Deep purple blooms of sweet pea 'Cupani' — The deep purple blooms of sweet pea ‘Cupani’ offer spicy fragrance from late spring through summer. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

In pots or trained against walls or trellises, old-fashioned annual sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) send out a ravishing scent. The maroon and purple Cupani types are among the most fragrant, but all varieties please the nose while tantalizing the eye with delicate orchid-like flowers. Get a jump on the season by starting sweet pea seeds indoors in trays or cell packs filled with Fafard Natural and Organic Seed Starter.

By late spring, fragrant garden peonies (Paeonia lactiflora) command center stage, with tall stems, handsome dissected leaves, and big, bountiful flowers. Older varieties, like the rose-pink double, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, offer winning fragrance and make excellent cut flowers as well. Well-tended peony plants will live for decades in the garden.

Summer Scent Extravaganza

Sweet scents abound in summer. Biennial stocks (Matthiola incana) are sun lovers that grow one to three feet tall and bear colorful, dense clusters of spice-scented flowers. Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) echo that clove fragrance, with familiar ruffled flowers in single and bi-colored combinations of reds, whites, yellows, pinks, and purples. Both stocks and carnations can be grown from seed started indoors eight to 12 weeks before the last frost date, but are also available from nurseries in starter packs.
Standing tall at the back of the early summer border, nothing perfumes the air like Oriental lilies (Lilium spp.). Hybridized from several different Asian lily species, Orientals grow three to four feet high and may require staking. The effort is worth it to support the enormous scented trumpets that are borne in profusion on mature plants. Freckled pink ‘Stargazer’ and pristine white ‘Casa Blanca’ are among the best-known Oriental lilies.

Evening Stars

Nicotiana 'Domino White' (DOMINO SERIES) — The Nicotiana alata hybrid ‘Domino White’ scents the air on summer nights.

Fragrant night-blooming plants open their petals in the evening hours to attract pollinators. One of the best is flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata), which bears long tubular flowers that flare into white or yellow-green trumpets. Look for the fragrant species form, rather than unscented hybrids, and plant near seating areas or paths where evening visitors can enjoy them.

Fall Scents

Fragrance is harder to find as the growing season winds down, but plants that provide it are worth seeking out. Perfume shady spots with cimicifuga, sometimes known as black cohosh or bugbane (Actaea racemosa). Rising four to six feet tall, Cimicifuga bears elegant, deeply dissected foliage. Sweet-smelling white flowerheads, each one bearing scores of tiny fragrant blooms, wave high above the leaves in the early fall.
Dahlias are great garden and cutting flowers, but are not known for fragrance. It pays to plant the few that combine beauty and scent. ‘Honka’ is one. Thriving in sunny spots, the single flowers sport eight narrow yellow petals apiece. The combination of beauty, scent, and hardiness won ‘Honka’ the Royal Horticultural Society’s coveted Award of Garden Merit.

Location is Everything

Position fragrant flowering plants strategically throughout the garden and combine them with a selection of shrubs, trees and foliage plants that also exude distinctive scents. Even weeding seems easier when the fragrance of flowers hangs in the air.

Many Dianthus are highly fragrant. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

The Summer Garden Harvest Revs Up

Tomatoes and toaster — Tomatoes are in full swing by late summer. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

As summer starts to wind down, the harvest revs up. August finds many gardeners harvesting daily, as the hard work of spring and early summer is transformed into bountiful crops. Vegetables, fruits, and herbs hover at the peak of ripeness, almost crying out to be picked. Flowers can be dried for winter arrangements and next year’s garden waits in the wings in the form of seeds ready for collection. In the midst of all that abundance, the biggest challenge maybe finding time to capture and process the plentiful harvest while keeping the garden productive well into fall.

Vegetable Harvest

Tomatoes, squashes, eggplant, peppers, beans, cucumbers, broccoli and a host of other summer vegetables require regular harvesting to keep plants productive. Earlier generations of gardeners spent late summer afternoons, evenings and weekends canning or drying the surplus produce. These techniques, plus freezing, are still an option, but so is donating extras to local food pantries or soup kitchens. Non-gardening neighbors may appreciate gifts of fresh produce as well.

Basket of fresh herbs and vegetables — A basket of fresh herbs and vegetables from the garden.

In between harvesting sessions, keep production high by enriching the soil around plants such as cucumber, squash, and broccoli with fertilizers like Fafard Garden Manure Blend or Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost Blend. After mid-August, gardeners in northern areas with short fall growing seasons should remove excessive bushy growth and flowers from tomato plants, so the plants’ energies go into enlarging and ripening existing fruits before frost.

Herb Harvest

Harvest herbs, especially vigorous types, like basil, regularly, to ensure a continuing supply of young leaves. Cut off any flower stalks as soon as they appear, because the flowering process gives herbs a bitter taste. If plants have become leggy or unwieldy, cut them back by about one third, to stimulate bushy new growth.

Harvest herbs in the early morning, after the dew has dried. The easiest way to dry parsley, sage, rosemary, lavender, and other herbs that are shrubby or have a relatively low moisture content, is to hang cut stems upside down in a warm dry place. Basil and other mint family members with higher moisture levels dry best when the leaves are separated from the stems and arranged on trays to dry. All herbs are ready to store when the leaves can be crumbled easily.

Oakleaf Hydrangea — The aging blooms of oakleaf hydrangea turn pink as they dry and are great for cutting.

Fruit Harvest

August is the time to harvest figs, some melon varieties, late-bearing blueberries, everbearing strawberries, plums and even the last of the cane fruits, like raspberries and blackberries. During the harvest period, use netting to protect ripening fruits from hungry birds. After the fruit has been gathered, prune back fruiting canes and check near the soil line for signs of cane borers. Remove and discard any infested wood.

Flower Harvest

Many varieties of flowers, grasses and seed heads are ready to be harvested and preserved for crafts and indoor arrangements. As with herbs, the most popular preservation method is air drying, which works best for flowers like strawflower, yarrow and globe amaranth that contain relatively little moisture. Flowers with higher moisture content can be submerged in a granular desiccant compound, pressed between layers of absorbent paper, or preserved using a glycerin solution.

Harvest flowers just as they open, choosing unblemished specimens that feature graceful forms and growth habits. Strip off all leaves before tying and hanging flowers for air drying. Hydrangeas, especially “peegee” (Hydrangea paniculata), oakleaf (Hydrangea quercifolia), and mophead (Hydrangea macrophylla) types, may also be ready for August harvest. Choose flower panicles that have already begun to dry on the plant, with petal edges that are somewhat crisp to the touch. In the case of white-flowered peegee and oakleaf types, the flower panicles will have turned pink. Many mophead hydrangeas will display greenish petals.

Seed Harvest

Beginning in August, save seeds of heirloom or unusual varieties of edible and ornamental plants. Some seeds can be harvested “dry” by simply removing dried seed pods or receptacles from stems and shaking or blowing out seeds. Others, like tomato seeds, must be gathered “wet” and soaked in water, along with some attached plant material. During the soaking process, seeds tend to collect in the bottom of the soaking vessel, while other plant debris floats to the top. Wet-gathered seeds are then air dried. All seeds should be stored in cool, dry, dark conditions and labeled according to seed type and date of collection.

August marks the beginning of the harvest cycle that brings the growing season full circle. The month’s “to do” list may be long, but for most gardeners, the end result makes the labor worthwhile.

Growing Garden Gladiolus

Few gardeners feel ambivalent about common garden gladiolus (Gladiolus x hortulanus). In the decades since the first large-flowered hybrids were developed in the late 1830s, the tall flower spikes have been in and out of fashion many times. But glads and the gardeners who love them are nothing if not persistent. Even when horticultural fashion arbiters ignore the genus, the many-colored blooms show up in all kinds of places, from the end rows of vegetable gardens to carefully tended perennial borders and florists’ bouquets.

The tall garden hybrids are impressive, but the genus is full of other winning plants, including petite species and varieties that are well suited to container and small garden culture. Many species glads have an informal look that is more reminiscent of the wildflower garden than the florist shop. Some are also fragrant. All gladioli share the characteristic long, sword-shaped leaves and summer bloom time.

The following is a brief guide to some of the stars of the gladiolus galaxy.

Gladiolus Grandiflora Hybrids

These are the plants that come to mind when most people hear the word “gladiolus.” All grow from corms that are tender in cold winter climates. Standard grandifloras soar between 3 and 6 feet tall. The trumpet-shaped individual flowers, which can be up to 6 inches wide, open from the bottom of the spike to the top. Vendors carry scores of named varieties in just about every imaginable color. Bi-colored glads are available in an amazing array of combinations. Breeders have also developed shorter, dwarf varieties, including the vividly marked “butterfly” types, which reach only 1 to 3 feet.

Gladiolus Primulinus Hybrids

These plants, formerly known as Gladiolus primulinus, are now classified as Gladiolus dalenii. Somewhat shorter, at 2 to 4 feet tall, the individual blossoms are hooded, rather than open like the grandiflora types. They also tend to be smaller and less crowded on the stems, giving the plants an informal feel. The primulinus glads are especially useful to cold winter gardeners, because they are hardier than grandifloras. Some varieties, like golden-apricot ‘Boone,’ are cold hardy to USDA zone 6.

Gladiolus Nanus Hybrids

Also smaller and less formal than the grandifloras, the Nanus Hybrids, bred from Gladiolus nanus, bear up to three slim flower stalks with up to ten relatively small individual flowers. These cold-tolerant miniatures may also feature distinctive markings.

Byzantine Gladiolus

Native to the Mediterranean, Gladiolus communis var. byzantinus blooms somewhat earlier than grandiflora types and is also more cold-tolerant. The 24- to 36-inch stems are slender and arch gracefully, bearing ten to twelve individual, open magenta flowers per stem. Byzantine glads bloom earlier than their large-flowered relatives and naturalizes readily. They are fixtures in old southern gardens and have often been passed along from gardener to gardener.

Abyssinian Gladiolus

Formerly known as Acidanthera, Abyssinian gladiolus (Gladiolus callianthus ‘Murielae’) has a distinctive, orchid-like appearance and a pronounced fragrance. Introduced in the late nineteenth century, the blossoms feature sharply pointed white petals with dark purple centers. Abyssinian glads grow on slender stems that rise from 3 to 4 feet in height.

Growing Gladiolus

Gladiolus in basket tray — Dig tender gladiolus in fall and overwinter them in a cool, dry place.

Gladiolus corms should be planted 4 to 6 inches deep in rich, well-drained soil. Before planting, amend heavy clay soil with organic material like Fafard Garden Manure Blend or Fafard Natural and Organic Compost Blend. For container-grown specimens use a complete potting medium such as Fafard Ultra Potting Mix With Extended Feed. Tender gladiolus hybrids can be grown as annuals in cold weather climates. To keep desirable varieties from year to year, lift the corms in fall and store in a dry, frost-free location. Replant in spring after all danger of frost has passed. Grandiflora types may need stakes or other support to prevent the heavy flower stalks from flopping, but shorter varieties can stand on their own.

Gladioli are sometimes known as “sword lilies” for the sword-like shape of their foliage. Arm your beds and borders with these “swords” and they will cut through the summer garden doldrums.

Spectacular Summer Flowering Bulbs

Orienpet Lily 'Pontiac' — The Orienpet Lily ‘Pontiac’ is a subdued stunner. (photo by Jessie Keith)

As perennial favorites, hardy bulbs are unexcelled at providing sudden swaths and splashes of vibrant color, whether in the open garden or in containers. And that goes for summer as well as spring (and fall and winter!).

Summer Lilies

Consider the lilies, for example. The voluptuous, richly hued blossoms of these fleshy-bulbed perennials are just the thing for alleviating the dullness that sometimes descends on the post-spring garden.

Asiatic Lilies

Early summer welcomes the typically flat-faced, upright, freckled blooms of the Asiatic Hybrids, which flower in warm hues of yellow, orange, red, and pink, as well as white. Numerous narrow leaves clothe their sturdy, 1- to 4-foot stems. Hundreds of Asiatics have been introduced over the years, including the famed ‘Enchantment’, whose orange, dark-speckled blooms still frequently appear in bouquets.

Arisaema ciliatum has both fantastic flowers and foliage.

Oriental Lilies

Arriving somewhat later, the Oriental Hybrids carry the delicious fragrance and rosy-or-white, purple-flecked, often gold-emblazoned coloration of their two primary parents, Lilium speciosum and Lilium auratum. The large, waxy, bowl-shaped flowers with slightly backswept petals open on 2- to 4-foot stems, which are rather sparsely set with relatively broad, green to blue-green leaves. Nodding to outfacing flowers are the rule, but some cultivars have semi-erect blooms (including rose-red, white-edged ‘Stargazer’).

Trumpet Hybrid Lilies

Blooming alongside the Oriental lilies (but usually above them, on 4- to 6-foot stems), Trumpet Hybrids are noted and named for their huge, spicy-scented, funnel-shaped blooms. Notable selections include the African Queen Strain, which flowers in various shades of cantaloupe-orange. Prone to toppling because of their colossal proportions, Trumpets often need staking (or a sheltered position) to keep them upright. In recent years, the Trumpets have been interbred with the Oriental Hybrids to create a popular new class of showy-flowered hybrids, the Orienpets, which add to their usefulness by having flop-resistant stems.

Species Lilies

Among the many Lilium species well worth growing are Turk’s cap lily (Lilium martagon) – which has parented some beautiful hybrids of its own – and Eastern North American natives such as Canada lily (Lilium canadense) and wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum).

Lilium 'Ladylike' — The colorful Asiatic lily ‘Ladylike’ is in warm hues of red, gold and pink. (photo by Jessie Keith)

Growing Lilies

Whether species or hybrid, most lilies do best in full to partial sun and a fertile, humus-rich soil. Or grow them in deep containers fortified with Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost Blend. Unfortunately, all lilies have two potentially mortal enemies: viruses and the dreaded red lily beetle. Many hybrids and species shrug off viruses, but all are red-lily-beetle-susceptible, and any lily planting in a beetle-infested area will need protection, either by hand-picking or by spraying. Releases of parasitic wasps in Rhode Island have resulted in dramatic local reductions of red lily beetle numbers, so there’s hope that this bête rouge will soon make its exit.
Lovely and varied as they are, lilies are far from the only valuable hardy summer bulbs. Other worthies include the following bulbs for summer.

Crocosmia

Crocosmia hybrids, with long, curving midsummer spikes of dazzling, often fiery-hued blooms that attract hummingbirds. Although hailing from southern Africa, these sun-loving perennials include a few hybrids hardy to USDA Zone 5 (such as the smoldering orange-red ‘Lucifer’). Plant their crocus-like corms in rich soil that doesn’t dry out in summer.

The pale chartreuse-yellow drumsticks of Allium obliquum appear in early summer.

Lycoris

Several species of Lycoris, East Asian bulbs which bear clusters of fragrant amaryllis-like blooms on tall, naked stems that magically arise in mid- to late summer. Far too rarely seen in gardens or catalogs, hardy Lycoris are most often represented by the lilac-pink-flowered Lycoris squamigera. Other showy hardy species include gold-flowered Lycoris chinensis; creamy-yellow Lycoris caldwellii; white Lycoris longituba; and white, rose-striped Lycoris incarnata. All produce strap-shaped leaves in spring, which die back months before the flowers appear. Hardy Lycoris remain almost unknown in American gardens, despite numbering among the most beautiful summer-blooming perennials. Their narcissus-like, fleshy-rooted bulbs store poorly, contributing to their obscurity. Purchase freshly dug or container-grown bulbs, and plant them in good soil in full sun or light shade.

Hardy Arisaema

Numerous East-Asian species of Arisaema, the genus that also includes Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum). Their hooded inflorescences range from bizarre to beautiful, and their spoked or lobed, compound leaves are often equally remarkable, and sometimes gargantuan. Perhaps the queen of the tribe is Arisaema candidissimum, which in early summer sends up a large, ivory-white, green-streaked hood surmounted by an enormous, broadly three-lobed leaf. The flowers cast a faint, sweet scent. These Asian Jacks tend to want more sun than the native, and less winter moisture. Mark the places where you plant their tubers; they may not break ground until late June.

Allium

A host of ornamental onions. In most cases, summer-blooming alliums grow from slender, scallion-like bulbs and have persistent, grassy leaves (unlike the early-dormant spring-blooming species). Lovely but little-known summer alliums abound, including Allium ramosum, a white-flowered beauty which blooms earlier and self-sows much less rampantly than the otherwise similar garlic chives (Allium tuberosum); Allium togashii, an August-blooming pixie with bright lilac-pink heads; and the elfin, blue-flowered Allium sikkimense.

Bold, Tropical Colocasias

Giant Colocasia — Thai giant Colocasia is as bold and tropical as it gets! (Photo care of Logee’s (www.logees.com))

Is your garden (or greenhouse) going tropical this summer, with bold leaves and eye-catching hues? Then you’ll doubtless want to accent it with a plant (or three) of Colocasia esculenta. Commonly known as elephant ear, this frost-tender, warm-season perennial produces broad, prominently lobed, heart-shaped leaves that can indeed reach pachydermic proportions, giving it obvious cache for tropical-flavored planting schemes. It also comes in a wide range of colors and sizes, suggesting other design possibilities.

Colocasia 'Illustris' — Colocasia ‘Illustris’ is a classic variety with black-stained leaves. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

Elephant Ears

Its suitability for eating is what first brought Colocasia esculenta into cultivation some 10,000 years ago. Today, it remains a dietary mainstay throughout much of the tropics, represented by hundreds of varieties and nearly as many common names (including taro, dasheen, eddo, and cocoyam). As a comestible, it is prized more for its plump, starchy, underground tubers than for the long-stalked leaves that arise from them (although the leaf blades and petioles are sometimes consumed).

Most ornamental elephant ears, on the other hand, possess little food value, having been selected for looks rather than flavor. Additionally, almost all varieties (culinary and otherwise) require cooking to neutralize the acrid, needlelike molecules that lace their tissues. Uncooked tubers or leaves can cause intense discomfort if ingested. So look; don’t munch!

Electric Blue Gecko™ is a real beauty with its textured, all black leaves. (Photo care of Logee’s)

If what you’re looking for is something in an extra-large, an elephantine Colocasia may be just the ticket (are 3-foot leaves on 3-to 6-foot stems big enough for your tropical paradise?). Gargantuan cultivars include ‘Fontanesii’, whose dark green leaves have deep purple stems, veins, and margins; ‘Coffee Cups’, with theatrically folded, olive-green, purple-veined leaf blades atop black-purple stems; and ‘Burgundy Stem’, named for its stem color but equally remarkable for its pale green, chalky-veined, purple-suffused leaf blades. (Then, of course, there is the monstrous green-leaved Thai giant (Colocasia gigantea)). Of somewhat smaller size but equally dramatic coloration are numerous other selections such as ‘Illustris’ (black-stained, pale-veined leaves); ‘Black Magic’ (with black staining enveloping the entire leaf); ‘Mojito’ (apple-green, purplish-stemmed blades with black-purple mottling and flecking); and Electric Blue Gecko™ (slender, textured, pure black leaves with a metallic overlay).

The dwarf of the tribe, Colocasia affinis, is also well worth growing for its purple-flushed, 6-inch-long leaf blades. It’s usually represented in cultivation by ‘Jenningsii’, a deep charcoal-colored form with pale green veins and ash-gray midribs.

Black Magic leaves — The soft black leaves of ‘Black Magic’ add depth and interest to beds and borders. (Photo care of Logee’s)

Alocasia

You might also want to take a look at the many species of Alocasia, a genus once included in Colocasia. Members of this elephant-ear clan typically bear large, corrugated, arrowhead-shaped leaves of metallic hue. The foot-long, deep green, heavily puckered leaf blades of Alocasia cuprea have a pewter overlay and sunken, burgundy-purple veins. Alocasia x amazonica brandishes gleaming, wrinkled, almost black-green leaves with silver-white veins and heavily scalloped margins. A few alocasias rival or even surpass the largest colocasias in size, with some selections and hybrids of giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos) producing immense leaves (as well as a trunk-like stem) from massive tubers. Giant taro’s close relatives A. odora and A. portei are of similarly jaw-dropping stature.

Fafard Ultra Container Mix with Extended Feed pack — This mix contains Moisture Pro™ water holding crystals, to maintain mix moisture for longer.

Growing Elephant Ears

To grow elephant ears worthy of the name, plant them a few inches deep in ample sun and fertile, humus-rich soil after the ground has warmed (tomato-planting time is ideal). Amend the planting hole with an organic medium such as Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost Blend, liberally so where soils are sandy or heavy. These evergreen to semi-evergreen perennials die back in fall in areas that experience frost, returning in spring if their tubers don’t freeze. Many cultivars will survive USDA Zone 7 winters under a deep leafy mulch. If necessary, plants can spend the winter indoors, either in pots (in a warm sunny niche) or as dormant tubers (stored in dry potting mix in a cool dark well-ventilated room). Or grow them year-round in a sunny warm greenhouse. A moist, fibrous, well-drained growing medium such as Fafard Ultra Container Mix works beautifully.

Colocasias and their kin achieve their greatest grandeur in regions with humid, frost-free climes (think southern Florida). A few varieties will even spread by runners, forming veritable herds of elephant ears. From the steamy Deep South to the wintry Far North, no plants are better at bringing a taste of the tropics to the garden and greenhouse.

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