OK – I finally had a chance to take a breath and get to the contest on taglines. We had some really GREAT entries. The most commonly entered was “The Garden Guru” but I’m sure somebody is using it – and I don’t think of myself as a guru anyway.

Some of the runner’s up included: “Helping You Reap What You Sow” “Getting Down and Dirty with Doug” “Making it Greener on Your Side of the Fence”

And the winner is listed in the header above.

All winners have an email in their mailbox and I want to thank all who took the time to enter. There was ton of creativity in those responses and a lot of thinking time.

My biggest THANKS to all of you.

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I’ve had several folks write asking me to offer prayers for victims of our latest world disaster.

I grieve for the individuals in New Orleans as I grieved for those caught up in the tidal wave. As for those caught up in Bopal. And for those butchered in Rwanda. And for those living on a sea of oil in Iraq. And…

You know, as a gardener and environmentalist I choose to focus my attention on the things I can change and work with. I try to garden and show folks how to garden in ways that are environmentally sound – that do not add to global warming and make our lives better.

But it’s really your choice.

If we continue to elect politicians who – like Louisiana’s governor – campaign against pollution control – then we’ll continue to reap the whirlwind we’ve sown. And it’s usually the poor who pay the steepest price – whether it’s the poor in Fiji, Iraq or Louisiana.

So yes, I think it is right that we stop and look at what’s happening down South and try to help as best we can – with your prayers or more importantly your wallet.

But if you ignore the root causes of these problems you are part of the problem and not part of the solution.

And it really is your choice.

New Articles for You

All my new articles are listed here. Click on the archives link at the site to see others.

Some new articles this week include: You may have to cut and paste these urls.

One on pond pumps http://www.water-gardens-information.com/pondpump.html

Growing tomatoes in containers http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/containertomatogardening.html

Rose pruning for hybrid tea roses http://www.learn-rose-gardening.com/rosepruning.html

How to have an indoor herb garden http://www.vegetable-gardening-tips.com/indoorherbgardening.html

The list of the best fragrant tulips http://www.flower-garden-bulbs.com/fragranttulips.html

Some thoughts on vegetable companion planting http://www.organic-gardening-tips.com/vegetablecompanionplanting.html

Want to ask a question? Click here to ask a gardening question.www.gardening-tips-perennials.com/askagardeningquestion.html

Your Questions Answered

I am having problems with my shasta daisies. I had them planted last summer. It started out really good this spring. Some of them are dying. It turns brown and I can pull them right out of the ground. We water them regularly, so I don't know what the problem is. The other problem is they attract a lot of flies and some of the plants are all black from the flies. Is there a way to avoid this and does all the flies harm the plant?

A: You’re probably overwatering and rotting out the plants. The flies sound like an opportunistic problem. In other words, you have a dying plant so they are attracting insects that aid Mother Nature in recycling the plant. Rotting stuff attracts insects that will help break it down. If the flies are small – like flying aphids, then the same thing holds true. The aphids are attracted to sick plants – they are not making the plant sick.

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My Lilac bush has a white sort of fungus on the trunk. Can you tell me what this is and is it harmful?

A: Sounds like one of the lichens and no – not harmful. Lilac are prone to getting this and while unsightly, will not really bother the plant.

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I would like to buy lily bulbs but I don't know for sure what they are called. They come up in the spring, then the foliage dies down and then they send up pink flowers. I see them blooming now. Mother used to call them "Wonder Lilies". Do you know what I am talking about?

A: Guys never know what women are talking about – we just fake it well. But in this case, your choices are fairly simple. There’s really only three bulbous plants that bloom at this time of year. Colchicum (there’s an article up on the www.flower-garden-bulbs.com website) fall crocus and cyclamen (articles planned) are in bloom now. The cyclamen are not likely what you’re looking at but either of the other two could be it depending on growing circumstances.

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I have a Hydrangea Pee Gee that I am afraid might not make it through the winter. It is a twig about 4 foot high with small cluster of leaves. I need to know someway to protect it. We are central west Pa. It is kind of protected by hills and a fence. I plan on mulching it but is there anything else I can do... burlap?

A: Ah, this is the old – I have a weak plant – how do I help it survive trick-question. If this shrub is a twig and the twig is 4 foot tall – you have more problems than getting it through the winter. This sounds like one stressed out plant! Protect it? You might want to put it out of its misery. :-)

The first step is to get it healthy by growing it properly – then you don’t have to wonder ‘bout winter survival.

But for now – yes, the burlap will help. But the real method of getting weak shrubs over the winter (besides moving them south) is to construct a fence around them AFTER the leaves have fallen off – AFTER the ground has been hit by some hard frosts so the mice are well and truly in bed. Make a fence (using snow fence or chicken wire about two to three feet from the plant. Put mouse bait around the bottom of the trunk. Wrap the trunk with aluminum foil where the mice will snack. Fill the enclosed space with dry leaves. The leaves will act as both a wind break and as a bit of insulation. A foot of dry peat moss around the base of the fence will also act to moderate the soil temperatures. We can’t stop the cold from getting to the plant but we can stop the extreme swings of temperatures that do as much damage. And we can stop wind burn.

In the spring, *as soon as* the leaves and peat thaw, remove them quickly from around your plant. Also remove the foil. You do not want your plant starting faster than any other plant – or it will get burned by a late frost. Work the peat into the garden, compost or use the leaves as mulch.

This system can be used for any tender plant or shrub.

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Quick question, we have a garden -actually the garden is my boyfriends but he does share the enjoyment with me ----3 sides of the garden are all doing very well however, nothing seems to be able to establish itself along the actual part that backs onto the wall of the house. Wondering what you might suggest - peat did nothing.

Wondering on your thoughts on MOO POO and anything else? and would it be ok to transplant to that area this fall or better to wait til spring and amend soil one more time before transplanting? Your advise will be much appreciated.

Thanks for your time and effort you put into your work. I look forward to reading your "mail" and it makes my day when it fianlly arrives.

A: If this is a south facing wall, then you have to go with sun loving plants that will take the heat. Look on the www.gardening-tips-perennials.com website for sun loving plants. Also, you may want to watch for the upcoming article about double digging – a useful technique that will turn any rotten soil into gardening gold.

Moo-Poo is simply expensive manure that some marketing firm has packaged to get rid of a waste product.

And I’ve always been a fan of spring planting for the vast majority of plants (with the exception of peonies) as I’ve always had fewer plant deaths with spring planting than fall planting.

But double digging will do the trick re soil amendment.

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I’ve been asked several times in the past few weeks about adding soil to the garden to “improve” it. The short answer is that this is a waste of time and money. If you want to read the long answer – it’s on this webpage. :-)

http://www.organic-gardening-tips.com/addgardensoil.html

From My Garden To Yours

This is the season that commercial growers evaluate their plants for summer performance and I had the opportunity last week to take a ride down to southern Ontario to view one of the larger summer plant trials in this province. To give you a sense of how these plants are trialed, each plant is put into a 14-inch plastic pot that is shaped like a clay garden pot. They are all given the same soil, the same feeding regime and the same amount of sunlight and heat along with individualized drip watering systems. What you have is rows of pots, each plant on its own individual plant metal plant stand and growing away.

Or not. It became very evident as we (there were literally hundreds of growers there as well) walked up and down the rows that some varieties just didn’t cut it when it came to garden performance in containers while others were superstars. I took over 300 digital images to back up my impressions of each of the different plants on trial. I think I’ll be organizing them well into next year as I label each one of them and file them on the computer.

As a former grower, I know that some plants do not look very good in May when consumers hit the greenhouses but these same plants “turn on” and become garden stars. And sometimes the best-looking May plants are the summer’s worst dogs. Here are a few of the better plants I saw this past week. You can grow them with confidence knowing they’ll perform very well for you all summer long.

If you want the blue tones of Ageratum and you always found this plant to wimp out and disappear, you may want to search out Ageratum ‘Hawaii Royal’, this bright violet-blue flower with what appears to be a darker eye on unopened flowers was the class of the trials for Ageratum. The reliable Salvia ‘Heavenly Blue’ was exactly that – heavenly with its spikes of violet blue. This is one plant that benefits from being deadheaded. The more you cut off the old spikes, the more new ones that will be produced. I was truly impressed by Agastache ‘Acapulco Orange’ and while it is technically a perennial, it was awesome in these container trials. Never for a moment leaving out that crowd-pleasing favourite Bacopa, the new 'Abunda Blue Improved' was still putting on a good show with its light lavender blooms. If you’re looking for good trailing petunias next year, look no further than the ‘Wave’ series. I’ve grown these for quite a few years and if you feed them well, they will easily outgrow and outflower anything on the market. The trials confirmed that again for me.

If you’re a daisy fan, you’re definitely going to be looking for Argryanthemum ‘Melinda Monroe White’. While some of these daisies take a break during the heat of the summer, this one was in full and glorious bloom. Helichrysum ‘Baby Gold’ with scads of golden yellow flowers was a perfect match in yellow.

My own containers are a mixed blessing this year. The variegated Ginger is doing much better once I got it out into the full sun and it is looking better than it has looked in several years. I may even get a late flower from it. The roses were good but got hit by slugs and small green worms again while I was away. While the blossoms are still being produced, the leaves look pretty tatty. The geraniums are doing very well as are the calibrachoa. The petunias are a mixed bag as one pot is looking spectacular while the slugs seemed to have enjoyed the other. In fact, it is so ugly I’m about to give it a decent burial.

The secret to keeping your containers looking good is to feed them regularly. I tend to give mine a weekly feeding with fish emulsion and this keeps them growing strongly. Without that feeding, they’d be looking pale and stretched out right now. Mind you, the other thing is giving them a regular pinching to keep them bushy and growing new growth. As I’ve said in the past, it is the new growth that gives you new flowers. You still have time to get another crop of flowers if you do some pinching this week. Simply look for the growing tips and pinch the very tips of that new growth off. Don’t cut them back as they won’t have time to recover between now and frost. A heavy feeding and good pinch will work marvels.

The tomatoes are looking very good and I’ve put the first batch of sauce into the freezer. Lots more to come! The slugs are getting their fair share out there as well on those lower fruit sets. What looks initially like a crack turns into a tunnel across the surface of the fruit and you know that slugs are the culprits. I think they’re getting more of my cherry tomatoes than I am but that’s my fault as I allowed those plants to sprawl on the ground. Next year, the cherry tomatoes get put back upright or off the ground so at least the slugs have to work for their dinner. At least the slugs are better than the family of raccoons that ate all a friend’s harvest. Slugs share.