Midsummer heat is always trying on bodies and souls, especially so in the southeastern states where there is sometimes great humidity and more often extended droughts. This means that gardens suffer and much intensive work is needed.
Pests
Pests should be carefully watched and treated regularly and often with the best and safest spray you can find – try Neem Oil – for control of various pests.
Conifer
Conifer tip-shearing is always a “must” for August. Go over these evergreens carefully and remove all dead twigs and branches. Clip the ends of the outside stems to keep them symmetrical. Do this with the junipers, biotas or thujas and cypresses; even the larger trees will need some careful pruning.
Sowing Seeds
Sowing seeds for spring bloom is important. Seeds of perennials and biennials sown now, will be ready for permanent placing in October or later. Dianthus of all kinds, long-spurred aquilegias, Beauty of Nice stock, hollyhocks, and campanulas and anchusas for blue tones, along with the new carnations. will give many more flowers than the average gardener has room for. Why not choose some of those you need most, let your garden-loving friends choose different ones and then exchange?
Canterbury Bells
CANTERBURY BELLS (campanulas) last only one season; this is also true of sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) but the cost of the seed packet is so small any gardener can afford them. My personal preference is for fragrant pinks and carnations with a longer season of bloom and permanence in the border.
IRIS of all kinds must be planted in the next six weeks, so you had better make out your lists and send them to the growers so that your choice can be supplied. and shipment made at the proper time.
LILIES also must be ordered. Lilimn leucanthum chloraster (L. centifolium), L. regale, L. candidum and the Olympic hybrids are especially desirable and beautiful. They grow well in all parts of the South. Good drainage is a necessity, and with shade on the roots, which can be supplied by low-growing annuals like verbena or Phlox drummondi, these lilies last over the years.
ROSES and all kinds of flowering trees and shrubs should be examined for dead wood and all of this should be removed carefully. Picking off the (lead flowers is an important part of garden work at all times.
NARCISSUS will he well ripened now. If they are too crowded and the clumps need separating, get them settled in their new locations, for then you can plant your spring annuals over the, beds. Tulips planted deep enough will not require this lifting.
ZINNIAS and marigolds are usually planted too heavily everywhere. Some zinnia colors are so hot and heavy that they clash with the softer perennials. If gardeners would use only the soft creamy white, salmon, rose and lavender zinnias and omit the heavy red shades, the picture would be much more refreshing and attractive.
Lawn
LAWNS should be kept cut. Use a flat edge-cutter to trim the borders often.
Nothing detracts so much from garden beauty as ragged lines along these edges. Cut along the border with an axe, if need be, and throw the excess earth into the beds, leaving the lawn line clean and clear-cut. Centipede grasses tend to become thick and heavy. You can thin out the heavy spaces and use the stolons for thickening bare spots. Soon it will he time to sow the winter grass seed, so the lawns should be kept neat and trim now as at all times.
DOWN IN FLORIDA and up the East Coast line there are wonderful masses of hibiscus in many soft, rich colors. Oleanders and abelias, along with buddleias, give variation. Low lines of blue ageratum, lilac salvias and many kinds of lantanas add interest everywhere. The soft creamy yellow of Tethys lantana, which does not set seed, is most desirable, but the fiery reds and orange starlets usually mar the beauty of many gardens.
PHLOX DECUSSATA in the beautiful white of Mary Louise and the soft pink of Columbia are supreme highlights of the garden now. These, with the fine new types of Shasta daisies, are better than many of the stronger tones. Hemerocallis continues to provide radiant color everywhere. Especially desirable are the light yellow and deep rich maroon and soft red tones. The range of their growth is so wide and the planting and soil conditions so varied they seem to be everyman’s flower. Use them freely and send out your daylily orders now before the growers are sold out of the choice varieties.
GLADIOLUS, planted at intervals since March, provide highlights in the background of the border. Leave them alone and they will return in glory year after year.
PLUMBAGO CAPENSIS, in celestial blue, is one of the finest of the summer flowers. The clusters appear daily and add delightful masses of soft radiance anywhere they are used. Especially pleasing are plantings of this half-hardy perennial around the base of tree roses such as The Doctor or Heart’s Desire. They add charm as well as contrast.
VINES are also needed for summer glory. The deep blue of the South American Ipomea leari, dawnllower morning glory, makes a continuous summer song. The fingerleaf morning glory. Ipomea digitata, with its finely cut foliage, clambers all over trellises or climbs along the vines of wistaria and yellow jasmine without other support. The color is a very soft lavender with a deep mauve throat. Both will bloom until frost cuts them down late in the fall. Usually they come up again next year.
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