Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Garlic should be harvested when the leafy tops turn yellow and fall over; air-dry bulbs, remove tops and store bulbs in a cool place.

• Hydrangeas are full of giant pink or blue flowers all summer, filling the shade garden with color.

• Shade-loving begonias will add color and beauty in both planters and hanging baskets.

• Check for squash, or “stink”, bugs on squash and pumpkins. Hand-pick grey-brown adults and destroy red egg clusters on the leaves. Use pyrethrin spray to control heavy infestations.

• Prune rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas to shape them now. If you wait much longer, you will be cutting off next year’s flowers.

Hot-Summer Garden

Give your garden some pizzazz this summer with a flower bed of hot-colored flowers. These are the warm colors found in glowing sunsets, crackling fires and brilliant fall foliage. From clear yellows to gold, orange and red, these flowers will brighten any garden bed.

Plan your flower bed with the taller plants to the rear and the low spreaders in front. In between you can plant a menagerie of medium-sized flowers. A mix of annuals and perennials will give you the most color all summer long.

For the back row, there are yellow and orang0e daylilies, yellow coreopsis, and bright colored zinnias. Red yarrow, Achillea ‘Pomegranate’, is a nice addition.

Daylilies come in a wide range of colors now, from yellow, orange and red into shades of purple and pink. The shorter variety ‘Stella D’Oro’ reblooms throughout the summer and is great for edging the front of the garden.

Coreopsis are a favorite flower with many gardeners because of their bright, sunny colors and long blooming season. Their drifts of daisy-like flowers light up the garden with bright splashes of gold, rust and soft yellow.

Zinnias are a gift from Mexico. Tall zinnias come in all the bright colors of red, orange, yellow and purple. Flowers can be ruffled doubles or spiky cactus form. A planting of mixed colors makes a colorful statement.

In the middle of your bed, the showy banded flowers of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ will add a big splash of color with their large orange-red blossoms tipped by a ring of yellow.

Rudbeckias, also known as black-eyed Susans and Gloriosa daisies, are beautiful daisy flowers for the border. The petals are golden yellow, sometimes with splashes of red and all have black centers. ‘Autumn Colors’ produce large flowers in a range of bicolor shades from yellow through gold, orange and bronzy-red.

New varieties of Echinacea come in lots of bright colors from yellow to orange and red and bright pink. With their prominent centers, the daisy flowers are a bright addition to the border.

Marigolds come in all sizes from 8-inch French marigolds to tall African marigolds with large, fluffy flowers. The dwarfs come in a wide range of colors and bicolors while the taller flowers can be yellow, gold or orange. No annual is more cheerful or easier to grow than marigolds.

For the front of the border, look to colorful spillers like calibrachoa or Million Bells. This tough, ever-bloomer loves the sun and the heat. Look for it in yellow, rose, orange or purple.

For the front of the border, look to colorful spillers like calibrachoa or Million Bells. This tough, ever-bloomer loves the sun and the heat. Look for it in yellow, rose, orange or purple. Dwarf zinnias are bright orange and make an outstanding edging.

Bright alyssum and the bright blue shades of lobelia are excellent border plants. They bloom all summer long.

Fill in the bare spots with marigolds and zinnias of different heights and the bright flowers of petunias and you’ll have amazing color from now till frost.

Fire up your garden with the hot colors of Summer.

• Star jasmine is an evergreen vine that prefers some shade. The fragrant blossoms fill the June air with their sweet scent.

• Attract hummingbirds to your patio this summer with hummingbird feeders, so you can enjoy their iridescent beauty and charm.

• Azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons can be pruned now without sacrificing next years bloom. Ask at your nursery if you need help.

• Paint trunks of young fruit trees with Tree Trunk White. This will keep the soft bark from sun-burning which leaves cracks for borer insects, the most common cause of death of young apple trees.

• Earwigs are out and about and hungry. Control them with the new “Sluggo Plus”, which has the natural, bacteria-based spinosad added to the original iron phosphate formula.

The Cutting Garden

If you enjoy having fresh flowers in the house, it makes good sense to grow your own. With your own cutting garden, you can grow the flowers you love in the colors you want and make sure you have a selection of flowers for cutting most of the year.

Cut flowers are as easy to grow as vegetables when grown in blocks of the same kind. Choose plants that bloom for a long period and hold up well in the vase. Make sure you grow flowers that bloom at different seasons to have bouquets throughout the year.

In order to receive the maximum production of flowers, the garden should receive seven or eight hours of sun a day. The soil should be fertile with good drainage. There are also some flowers for cutting that can be grown in light shade, though flower production won’t be as great.

If you want to grow cut flowers in an ornamental garden, mix annuals and perennials with ornamental grasses, bulbs and roses. Grow at least three plants of each perennial and six of each annual to have enough flowers for cutting at one time.

Many of the best annual cut flowers are in the daisy family: asters, bachelor’s button, calendulas, cosmos, dahlias, marigolds, zinnias and sunflowers. Some contrasting flowers include gladiolus, dianthus, gayfeather, Victoria Blue salvia, snapdragons and stock.

Everlastings make great cut flowers for fresh or dried arrangements. Baby’s breath, globe amaranth, pink candle celosia, yarrow, statice and strawflowers are easy to air-dry without losing their color or form. Some, such as purple coneflowers and black-eyed Susans produce bold, bristly seedheads that are nice in dried arrangements.

Perennials from the daisy family include: aster, gaillardia, chrysanthemum, coreopsis, black-eyed Susans, Shasta daisy and painted daisy. Cup-and-saucer campanula, delphinium, lupine and penstemon offer tall spikes of bold flowers. Iris, poppies, peonies, daffodils, lilies, tulips and roses have individual flowers to uses as centerpieces of your arrangements.

Ornamental grasses add drama to flower arrangements. Use Northern Sea Oats, fountain grass, feather reed grass (Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’), or Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) in both modern and country-style arrangements.

For long-lasting cut flowers, be sure to include carnations, Peruvian lilies (alstromerias), delphiniums, roses, lilies and sunflowers in your cutting garden. Their blooms will last in the vase for 6-14 days.

In areas that receive less than two hours of sun a day, you can grow astilbe, columbine, foxglove, and old-fashioned bleeding heart. If your flower bed is under deciduous trees, daffodils and tulips will flower nicely before the trees leaf out in the spring.

Whether you create a cutting garden, or add cut flowers to your ornamental flower beds, it’s easy to have lots of pretty cut flowers to enjoy indoors all season long.

• Remove suckers on rose bushes. These vigorous canes emerge from below the bud union and should be cut off as far down as possible.

• Hydrangeas are full of giant pink or blue flowers all summer, filling the shade garden with color.

• Fountains create the sound of moving water that is restful and cooling on the patio or in the garden.

• Dig and divide crowded spring-flowering bulbs and tubers including daffodils, scillas, muscari, and bearded iris.

• Sow seeds of perennials like columbine, coreopsis, delphiniums and cone-flowers now for planting in the fall and beautiful blooms next year.

Hot-Summer Garden

Give your garden some pizzazz this summer with a flower bed of hot-colored flowers. These are the warm colors found in glowing sunsets, crackling fires and brilliant fall foliage. From clear yellows to gold, orange and red, these flowers will brighten any garden bed.

Plan your flower bed with the taller plants to the rear and the low spreaders in front. In between you can plant a menagerie of medium-sized flowers. A mix of annuals and perennials will give you the most color all summer long.

For the back row, choose from tall yellow yarrow, brilliant colored zinnias and canna lilies. Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’ is a yarrow that grows to 3 feet tall with gray-green fernlike foliage on plants that thrive in a hot, dry, sunny spot. Golden yellow flowers bloom in summer on flat, upward facing flower clusters.

Bold-colored canna lilies add a tropical accent to the flower bed. Their large leaves resemble banana leaves and the lily-like flowers come in bright red, yellow and orange.

Zinnias are a gift from Mexico. Tall zinnias come in all the bright colors of red, orange, yellow and purple. A planting of mixed colors or bold ‘Big Red’ make a color statement.

In the middle of your bed, the showy banded flowers of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ will add a big splash of color with their large orange-red blossoms tipped by a ring of yellow.

Penstemon come in many bright colors from dark purple ‘Midnight’ to cheerful ‘Huntington Pink’ to bright red ‘Firebird’. The maroon foliage of ‘Husker’s Red’ has tall stems of white flowers.

Rudbeckias, also known as Black-eyed Susans and Gloriosa Daisies, are beautiful daisy flowers for the border. The petals are golden yellow, sometimes with splashes of red and all have black centers.

Potentilla is a large genus of plants that includes shrubs as well as perennials. The shrubby form, ‘Goldfinger,’ is a neat little plant with butter-yellow flowers that bloom over a long season. ‘Monarch’s Velvet’ makes a low mound with strawberry-like foliage and raspberry-red flowers with crimson centers that rise on tall stems.

For the front of the border, look to colorful spillers like calibrachoa or Million Bells. This tough, ever-bloomer loves the sun and the heat. Look for it in yellow, rose, orange or purple.

Gazanias are a must-have for the hot summer garden. Their boldly striped blooms provides a carpet of color throughout summer.

Fill in the bare spots with marigolds and zinnias of different heights and the bright flowers of petunias and you’ll have amazing color from now till frost.

Fire up your garden with the hot colors of Summer.