Garden Checklist

From The Fresno Bee: June 18 (edited)

"Flowers Endure in a Gentle Spring"--Elinor Teague

This is "the longest, mildest spring" Elinor can remember since she moved to Fresno 35 years ago. Usually, by this time the spring flowers are gone and the summer flowers are stressed by the heat. She comments that both the spring and summer flowers have been blooming together beautifully.

Many flowers we plant are perennials (they come back year after year), although some don't make it through our intense summers and are treated as annuals (plants that live one season only). Queen Anne's Lace is one such flower. It "is a major host plant for lady beetles and a significant pollen source for honeybees." Other beneficial insects, butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to it, too.

Columbine and Queen Anne's Lace are fairly drought-tolerant. These flowers reseed themselves readily. Columbine flowers stop producing flowers and seeds when temperatures reach 90', and will die back. They sprout again in the fall, overwinter, and start blooming in the spring. Queen Anne's Lace produces so much seed that it can become invasive. These "volunteer" plants can be transplanted when they are several inches high, or they can easily be pulled out.

The alstroemeria go semi-dormant in summer and winter,
therefore requiring little water. This flower has underground tubers that are very hardy, and resists the heat of summer and the cold of winter. The fading flowers are not cut off, but the entire stock is gently pulled from the base. This stimulates the tuberous roots to produce more flowers after it reemerges from dormancy.


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Garden Checklist:

"Enjoy the balmy June evenings with a poolside barbecue, an ice cream social or outdoor dining."

Tasks: water in the early morning to prevent leaf diseases on plants and lawns.

Pruning: Watch for and cut away fire blight in apple and ornamental pear trees.

Fertilizing: Almonds, apples, peaches, nectarine and plums.

Planting: fortnight lily (Dietes); geranium (Pelargonium), sage (salvia), pincushion flower (Sacbiosa); Plumbago auriculata, dwarf pomegranate (Punica nana); from seeds--pumpkins, squash.

Ponder: "A walk around the garden just before dark can be a good opportunity to hunt for snails as they emerge to feed at night."