Summary: June is the month of beautiful roses. Shasta daisies, lilies and daylilies in the Soulh. Enjoy them all and look ahead to a garden of bloom all year. Spring flowers have finished in the south and time has come to fill in the empty spaces along with increasing the perennials grown in the garden.
Every month is a flower month in the South. Here, with just a little planning you can have a year around succession of bloom. Think ahead, and order now the bulbs which will be needed next fall. They will arrive at the proper time for fall planting and you’ll be able to get ready for them beforehand.
Spring annuals which have finished flowering should be pulled up and the empty spaces filled in with newly started plants. Seeds of these annuals may also be sown where they are to bloom in the garden. Sweet alyssum is one of our best annuals for edging borders and will often last over the winter. Omit the rampant portulaca – spreads and deteriorates every year. Ten years ago I planted good colors and ever since have been trying to get rid of the small single magenta-flowered plants which come up in their places.
Increasing the Perennial Collection
Add Penstemons to your perennial collection. These very hardy plants bloom steadily throughout the year and make heavy groundcovers. Plumbago capensis and the rosemallows, Hibiscus palustris, are colorful in the garden from June until frost. In my garden it is necessary to replant these two each year because, with limited time, it is difficult to do things at the right time and the plants are not given protection over the winter. The replacements are moderate in cost, however.
Lawns – Cutting Grass
Lawns should be cut regularly. If yours is of centipede grass, fill in any bare spots with stolons lifted here and there where growth is heavy. Centipede lawn grass grows quickly and is easily transplanted. Rotary sprinklers are fine for watering lawns.
Blooming Roses On Second Push
Roses are now in their second period of bloom. There need be no let-up in rose bloom. Faded flowers should be removed, cutting the stem so that two full leaves remain on the plant. When cut in this way, the stems will put out new flower buds and provide a continual display of bloom.
Polyantha and floribunda roses are surely everblooming. the only requisite being this removal of flowers. Plan now to increase your rose plantings and order some of the All-America Rose Selections for the year.
by L Julia
