HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

Our family celebrates the 4th of July today with festivities in our great city--North Ogden.  Some of the activities include a local parade, fun run, car show, golf tournament, entertainment, sports tournaments, dutch oven cook off, kids crafts, booths from businesses, amusement rides, fun foods and a scavenger hunt before the fireworks display to top it all off.  I am grateful to live in this beautiful city, with family and friends that are wonderful!  And, I am proud to be an American and blessed to have the freedoms that I enjoy; I honor those who have fought for those freedoms, and thank them for their service.  Have a Happy Holiday weekend everyone!  For a quick, easy, refreshing drink for your fourth, try this old recipe from my mother for WATER PUNCH.  I get the citric acid at the pharmacy.  It's carbonation-free and, served ice cold, it really hits the spot on a hot day!

WATER PUNCH
5 qt. water
3 Cup sugar
1 Tblsp citric acid
1 Tblsp Lemon EXTRACT

Mix all ingredients together, dissolving the sugar, and chill well.  Before serving, add ice (I like crushed ice) and lemon and lime slices for garnish. 

REFRESHING ICE WATER

Another way to serve ice water that I hadn't ever heard of came from my daughter, Merrin.  She said to add cucumber slices to the water for garnish instead of lemon and lime slices.  Very refreshing!!

THANK GOODNESS FOR EARLY SUMMER COLOR!

I'm always a little sad as the late spring blooms finally come to a close.  I wish the lupine, iris, poppies and peonies would bloom just a little longer!  Cleaning up the beds seems to be a monumental job--with all the rain we had, the beds were (and some still are), a  jungle!   This year I did something a little different; because of the torrential hail storm we had earlier in the season, there was much damage to the leaves of the iris.  I cut them into their fans early this year.  I just couldn't bear to see them looking so damaged.  I'm anxious to see if that affects their blooms next year.  I'll be sure to let you know.  I'll be cutting back the poppies and the lupine in the next day or two, then the yard will seem more manageable and 'tame."   I've planted some petunias-- Thank goodness for the colorful roses, clematis, salvia, coral bells, Jupiter's Beard,  and a few petunias!  The zinnias, some hosta, begonias and  flax are also adding some much-needed color, since I have mainly perennials and their blooms have a little "dead" period this time of year.  Just around the corner, however, there are lots of Asiatic lilies starting to bloom, the daylilies are close, and the orientals will be right behind them.  I also see a few buds on a few of my all-time favorites--the dahlias, as well as the monarda and obedient plant.  The baby's breath is close, too.  I still have some plants that need a home--a daylily, a chocolate bush (beautiful!), lady's mantle, poppy, iris, and a few others.  If you're interested let me know.  (Although it's really not the time for transplanting, I'm afraid they might not be as healthy  later on because they're going to be fully covered up by the bed of ever-growing big hostas they're planted with.  With hotter days ahead, make sure to water deeply to stimulate those plant roots to grow deeper.  I find it harder to garden this time of year--I'm out at either 6:00 am or 8:00 pm, when it's not so hot!  Have a great gardening day!   ****P.S.  I saw the first little grasshoppers yesterday in the garden--I don't like grasshoppers at all!  I hope there won't be a million!****

WE WANT SOIL, NOT JUST 'DIRT'

Having good SOIL is not just important, but is essential to being successful in your flower beds.  Soil is more than just 'dirt.'  Good soil is a mixture of organic matter, both plant and animal, minerals, air and water.  These ingredients are necessary in releasing nutrients that promote plant growth.  Good soil is 'alive' and makes the difference in a plant growing or not, and the difference in its thriving or just growing.  Our area isn't really rich and fertile naturally.  We need to amend the soil in order to make it look dark, rich, and well-drained.  I amend my soil every fall and spring, with a product from Miller's--TOP SOIL PLUS.  Many local places have the bags, or you can have anywhere from 1/2 yard to 5 yards delivered to your home from Lomond View Nursery  There are three types of soil:  Sandy, Clay and Loamy.  If you know about your soil, and which you have, you'll be able to adjust  things so you will have a perfect blend.  You can get a soil test from the Utah State Extension Service for a fee.  I have a soil tester and would be glad to share it if anyone is interested in testing their soil. Testing your soil gives you a good starting point in determining what to plant and where.  A good soil will provide these things:  it will hold sufficient water, nutrients, and oxygen for plant roots, it will hold the plant up, it insures good flowering if the plant blooms, and it helps in keeping it healthy for the whole growing season.   If you don't have good soil, it's time to whip it into shape and improve its quality.   You can do this by digging in organic matter, mulching to conserve moisture, composting, using fertilizers, and nutrients, like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.  There are other trace nutrients that are important, as well.  Utah has alkaline soils, and our soils are high in calcium, which contributes to iron chlorosis in plants, which usually shows up in July or August.  Leaves will start to turn yellow with this problem.  Sometimes people think they need to water more to green up the leaves, but over-watering actually kills absorbing roots.  So, we need to make sure that what we are doing is really going to solve our problem.  In the  long run, what we need to keep in mind is a regular schedule of fertilizing, deep, infrequent watering (preferably watering the soil, not the plant), and keeping the weeds down.  If you see a problem, a quick response is always the best action to take, before the problem gets out of control.  Use amendments that are fully composted, which has been treated to kill pests and weed seeds.  I think the use of herbicides should be kept to a minimum--only in the case of extreme infestations, etc.   Well, that's the 'dirt' on soil--the essential element in successful gardening!

MARKING YOUR PLANTS

PLANT MARKERS are invaluable in the beds.  I use them for a number of reasons:  (1) So I can quickly identify which cultivar is which.  For instance, after the iris have bloomed, they all look alike.  So, I have the name of the iris on the marker to identify which iris it is.  The same goes for many other plants in the garden, like roses, poppies and peonies.  (2)  If a certain plant is late to emerge or break dormancy, the marker tells me where it is, reducing the risk of disturbing it, like the hosta or hibiscus. (3)  I also mark the areas where I want to plant things in the fall or spring.  An example of this is when the tulips and daffodils are blooming in the spring and there are some 'dead' areas where I want to plant more, I mark the spot where I want to plant them, and so when fall comes around, I know right where to plant.  I actually use T-Markers for the existing plants, and plastic table knives to mark planting areas.  I use clear knives, where I can write on the handle for the tulips, and  white plastic table knives for daffodils.  I also make a note in my plant booklet where I've put them, because in the fall, many plants have grown big and may cover up the knife marker.   (I started doing this after I had a hard time finding all the areas I had marked).  Other markers I have used are copper markers that you can emboss (these are pricey, though), 1" levelor slats (in 6" pieces),  tongue depressors or Popsicle sticks (These end up breaking or disintegrating--don't use!), and plastic forks (with the tines in the soil).  My favorite are the T-Markers.  I buy them at WalMart, but have seen them in other gardening stores.  You can also order plant labels from mail-order companies.  They come with a grease pencil, and I have found if I write nice and dark, it lasts for several seasons.  If it does fade, I simply re-write the name on, or if I need to change the name for some reason, I can use an eraser, and some elbow grease, and erase the existing name.  I have never had any break, and they are small enough to be inconspicuous, but big enough to write the names of plants on.  I recommend marking your plants--it's easy, inexpensive, and keeps things orderly in the garden bed.

GIANT HIBISCUS - ONLY A DAY'S BLOOM, BUT WHAT A BLOOM!

HIBISCUS are giant, 6-10-inch wide, disc-shaped flowers that bloom in summer in white, pink, red, or variations, on shrubby-like 4-8' plants.  Their flowers only last a day, similar to the daylily, but they have so many on the plant that they will bloom for weeks.  It's  important to deadhead these flowers immediately, because their spent blooms are pretty unattractive, looking kind of like limp tissue paper.  They are easy to grow in full sun or partial shade.  They do best in rich, moist soil.  They are the latest perennial I have to break dormancy, so mark the location of your clump so you won't accidentally dig into it or disturb it.  One thing that's neat about them is that seedlings may start to bloom the very first year.  If your clump gets too big for your area, you can divide them, but they are hard to divide, because their clumps are VERY woody.  When I divided mine, it was about 3 years old and I spent a long time doing it.  It was difficult, but it survived and bloomed the next spring (I divided in fall, after the plant was done blooming).  When we went to Kauai last year, one thing I loved was the vast variety of Hibiscus.  Because of this, I added two more to my flower beds.   (I already had three).  They will bloom in July.  I loved Kauai--they call it "The Flower State."  I was amazed at the unusual, breath-taking, and distinct varieties of flowers of every kind, they had! They have so many--sadly, ones that wouldn't make it in our zone.  There were even some yellow hibiscus (rare here)  that were especially beautiful!  I want to go again just to see the flowers--especially the Hibiscus!   When mine bloom, it will remind me of Kauai!

HEUCHERAS / ALUMROOTS - ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE and FLOWERS

One perennial that has been widely hybridized recently is the HEUCHERA. Their mound-shaped ornamental foliage comes in an assortment of colors and showy leaves.  I have them in the foreground in several places in the yard.  Heucheras grown for their flowers are commonly called coralbells, while those grown for their foliage are typically referred to as alumroots, or simply heucheras (which is what I call them).  Coralbells have tiny flowers on long, erect spikes, and although the mound is only 6-8 inches off the ground, the spikes of flowers can reach as high as 2 1/2 feet.  They come in shades of pinks, reds, corals,  rose-reds and white.  Their airy and delicate looking flowers can put on quite a show from late spring into summer, and even longer if deadheaded regularly.  Their rounded and scalloped leaves have 5-7 lobes and are quite pretty.  Heucheras for foliage may be listed under "alumroot."  I think their leaves resemble Maple leaves, and they come in all colors.  I have a lime green one (Key Lime Pie) and several that are purplish and rose-burgundy.  Popular ones  are Palace Purple and Ruby Ruffles.  Their sprays are long-lived and  good to use as fillers in arrangements.  They are extremely hardy, but watch to see if they have heaved out of the soil in winter, and if so, reset them.  They need to be divided regularly for best performance--in spring, every 4-5 years is best.  What I like about them is that they are not invasive; they stay in their mound.  And, if they do become woody in the center, it's very easy to dig the clump and divide it, taking out the woodiest part of the plant.  They are equally as easy to take starts of--and can be replanted almost any time of the year with no problem.  They just need to be kept evenly moist, although they are fairly drought tolerant.   Heucheras have been heavily hybridized in recent years, and cultivars may be listed under different species, some without any species name at all.  But, just look for cultivar names you recognize or that have  been recommended to you for the best ones for your garden.  I recommend Splendens, White Cloud, Palace Purple, Raspberry Ice, Ruby Ruffles, Peach Melba (wonderful, with a peach front and raspberry back-I gave mine away but am replacing it this fall), Key Lime Pie (BRIGHT Lime Green), Citronelle (Bright Yellow-Green), Velvet Knight and Hercules (A variagated leaf).   They are lovely, long-lived, hardy, non-invasive, easy to grow and take care of, do well in our area, have a wide range of colorful leaves to choose from, and most nurseries in our area have a wide variety  to choose from.  (I have also ordered from catalogs, but if I can get a nice-sized cultivar I want from a local nursery, that is what I prefer to do).  You just can't go wrong with HEUCHERA!  

PEST CONTROL SOLUTIONS

It seems no matter how hard we try, we are always fighting  PESTS IN THE GARDEN.  There are more than 50,000 different insects in Utah, but the majority of those don't bother the plants, they eat other insects.  But the 100 or so that do damage to our plants make it pretty frustrating, to say the least!  But, we can diminish the problems with these pests if we follow some guidelines in  the garden:  (1)  Water the SOIL, not the PLANTS   (2)  Don't over water  (3)  If any plant is diseased, remove it immediately  (4)  Keep the garden area cleaned up, free from old leaves or dead flowers  (5)  Plants need good circulation--don't over-crowd  (6)  Experts also tell us to rotate flowers regularly  (7)  Fertilize if needed, and  (8)  Choose plants that are disease or pest resistant .   When you first see signs of a problem it's important to find out what it really is.  There's no sense applying pest control methods if it's wrong.  Over the years I have learned to identify certain problems that, if taken care of promptly, have been lessened to a large degree, and in some cases, alleviated completely.    Two of these problems have been slugs and snails, and aphids.  I regularly went out at night "hunting down" slugs and snails.  I would go out about 9 or 10:00, armed with a flashlight and ziplock baggie.  (I now have a head lamp that my kids gave me for Christmas--so my hands are free.  I really like using it).  I found many, and I just put them in the baggie and then threw it in the trash when done collecting.  After doing this regularly for a few years, I have minimal slugs and snails.  We were told at Temple Square to never smash them, because their eggs can still hatch with as many as 100 new snails.  I am still on the lookout for them, and use a slug and snail bait.  I sprinkle the pellets sparingly along the curbing and the fence retaining cement wall.  This has done a great job!  Several companies make it.  I prefer the pellets.  Some are water resistant, and work for up tp 4 weeks.  Other pests that need control are aphids--they get on the new growth  of plants, especially the roses.  I use a rose systemic on them, and use it every month or two, depending on the year and the weather we've had.  I've seen some aphids this week, and so I could even use a stream of water to wash them off the plants.  They rarely seem to crawl back up the plant.  Another thing I've seen this week is the damage from spider mites.  I haven't had this problem before, but first thing tomorrow I need to spray some insecticidal soap or pyrethrin on a few of the tall oriental and Asiatic lilies.  I recognized the problem from the webbing on the plants and leaves.  They suck the buds and leaves of plants, leaving them dry, and the buds usually fall off without blooming, or else the bloom is small and usually falls off.  They are so small, but if you take a piece of paper and shake the plant a little, you can see the tiny mites as they fall onto the paper.  Many mites and insects go through multiple generations in just one season.  So, it really pays to control the pests in the very earliest stages.  A good stream of water is sometimes one of the quickest and easiest ways to curb them.  Since I use soaker hoses, this is one problem that can actually be helped with overhead water use.  Most insecticides only last 1-4 weeks so you have to re-apply,  and sometimes their use is the only  way to control pests.  I use pesticides only as a last resort, though.  One year I sent for 1,000 "stay-home" ladybugs, and several preying matis eggsacs.  They were just marginally effective, though.  The lady bugs did not "stay home", but I really enjoyed the preying matis.  I think the best way to control pests, though, are the first 8  ideas mentioned here.  Whatever your problem, you can go to the internet and look them up and find out good information in helping you control your particular problem.  Remember, consistency and staying on top of things before the problem gets out of control will pay off in the long run.   Happy Gardening!