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Mary, Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow? by Mary Crowell
 June is the month that one notices how well and showy the roses are the great weather we have been having. Mine bloomed like crazy and just now have been deadheaded so that new growth can occur. Contrary to popular myth, roses are not as fussy as some would lead you to believe. Following are some easy steps for the care of roses: Make sure they have good air circulation and lots of sun by pruning out the inner branches and removing lower leaves at the bottom foot of the plant. If you deadhead (remove the spent blooms) regularly, water on a regular basis, and feed every 4 weeks with a balanced rose food, you will see marvelous blooms all summer long. To prevent powdery mildew and hit a few aphids, it might be necessary to spray every few weeks with a mix of 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp hort oil, 2 tsp of dishwashing soap in a gallon of water. A few spoonfuls of epsom salts at the base of the plant seems to help along with a product called Pay Dirt.
Now is the time to feed camellias, feed and water summer flowering bulbs, and water citrus well, as it is essential for great tasting and juicy fruit. Pinch your mums back to have many more blooms in the fall. Cut grass longer than usual, water more often, deeply and fertilize every 6 weeks. Finish pruning late blooming shrubs such as weigelia, spirea, forsythia, philadelphus and cut back vines such as wisteria, honeysuckle and passion vine. Trim hedges. Lift and divide iris after blooming. Stake tall plants and order fall bulbs. This is also a good time to take cuttings of geraniums, plant herbs and summer perennials, such as coreopsis, scabiosa, feverfew, lantana, verbena and my personal favorite salvia. Last year I planted a new salvia for me, called “hot lips”, a red and white one, very cute and it is doing well. This is also the last month I usually repot and split cymbidiums, usually every 3 years, so that the new root growth is in place before the winter. Correct watering year round is so very important but especially critical in the summer, especially if it is hot! Remember to give your lawn, trees, shrubs and flowers, deep watering rather than sprinkling the top. Don’t over water natives and remember to check container plants for moisture. as they dry out much more quickly than plants in the ground. Use water saving devices such as soaker hoses, drip irrigation, and mulches to cut down on evaporation.
It is not too late to plant June veggies such as beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, parsley, peppers, squash and tomatoes. Get seedlings rather than seeds at this stage of the game. Plant some herbs in baskets and containers right outside your kitchen door to make for easy access. I have those five chimney flues planted with tomatoes, basil, lots of other herbs and a “pink lemonade” lemon tree in one of them.
As most of you know, who know me personally, my real passion is epiphytic cacti, epiphyllum if you want to goggle the plant, the “Oh WoW” flower and I am just beginning to come into season. With about 400 different plants who are currently in bud, I should have a great showing this month and next. The other exciting thing going on in my yard is my blue agave in the front yard is going to bloom, the flower stalk is about 12 inches in diameter and 12 ft high visibly growing inches daily. It is something to behold, unfortunately the plant will die after blooming but then there will be more space to plant something else. As I am limited in gardening ground, I am looking forward to making some choices of what to fill in the space, probably something to use in floral design, proteas maybe?
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or the San Mateo Garden Center 650-574-1506
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