Come to our August Sale! We are having a big sale beginning Tuesday, July 30th and running through August, while supplies last. All of our Weeks & Proven Winners Roses as well as our evergreen, flowering, fruit and shade trees are 20% OFF!!! There is still a good selection so come early and often.
We also have our Lake Valley & Pagano Seeds on half price through August 10th. Stock up for fall planting this year or spring next year.
Divide Iris. After 3 or 4 years Iris will become overcrowded and their blooms will diminish in size and quantity. This is a good time to breathe new life into them by dividing the bulbs. Dig the clumps and separate them saving the largest rhizomes with healthy leaves and cutting away old leafless portions. Trim the saved bulbs to 6" of leaves above the rhizome and 6 inches of roots below. Let them dry over night before replanting in soil that has been amended with Back to Earth Compost Blend and a source of phosphorus such as Bone Meal, Bulb Food or Soft Rock Phosphate. Plant 1 to 2 feet apart with the soil coming to the top of the bulb. Water thoroughly and you will be amazed at how much better your iris perform next year.
Control Snails. With all of this rain we have been getting (Yaaaaaay!) the snails are returning in droves. They hide out under garden debris and other shady areas during the heat of the day and come out to dine on your plants when it's cool. They have toothlike jaws that eat holes in your plants' leaves and flowers. To control them start by clearing out their hiding areas. You can fill shallow containers with beer or a little yeast and sugar mixed with water and this will lure the little lushes in to drown. Happy, but dead. There is also an organic product called Sluggo. This product, which we sell, is simply iron phosphate with a bait additive. It is very effective and after eating the bait, slugs and snails will stop feeding, become less mobile and begin to die within three to six days. It is OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) registered and can be applied at a rate of 1 lb per 1000 square feet or 1 teaspoon per square yard. It is safe to use around pets, wildlife and homo sapiens.There is also a Sluggo Plus that is iron phosphate with Spinosad added and it controls sow bugs (aka pill bugs or rollie pollies) as well as snails and slugs. It is also organic and eco-friendly.
PLANT OF THE MONTH:
Caryopteris x clandonensis. Blue Mist or Bluebeard is a deciduous shrub that will grow from 3-4' tall and wide. The variety we carry is 'Dark Knight' and it blooms from July through September with deep blue flowers that attract butterflies and bees. The flowers appear in clusters on the top part of the stems and the leaves are gray-green. It would work well in a perennial bed, along a walkway or as a foundation plant. To keep it full you should cut it back to a foot tall in the spring. This shrub will sometimes reseed but is not invasive. We also grew a dwarf variety of the species this year called 'Petit Bleu'. It is a Proven Winner and has a more compact growth habit, only reaches 2' tall and wide and its foliage is darker green. All of the Bluebeards are drought tolerant once established, will grow in full sun or part shade and are cold hardy to zone 5 or 20 degrees below zero.
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| Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Petit Bleu' |
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