August (late August) Garden Talks

Hello again,

What a wonderful gardening season it has been! Yes, it has been hot but my feeling is embrace the heat--I love it! We had some dry lawns and soils in the first part of July but since then rains have been pretty timely.

*Some of my gardening peers discourage feeding of flowering plants at this point of the year. I take a different tact. I know I can be accused of trying to sell lots of fertilizer. But I garden naturally and my take for most flowering situations (perennials, shrubs, vegetable gardens) is that we ask a great deal of our plants and soils in a short amount of time. Therefore, my feeling and experience is that most flowering plants perform best with 2 gentle, spaced apart, feedings of all natural fertilizers. This would be something like Pro Gro by North Country Organics or Flower Tone by Espoma for most flowering plants and Holly Tone by Espoma for acid loving plants like evergreens, blueberries and blue hydrangeas. Directions should be followed.
My thought is that the feedings should be spaced apart. For example, Spring and late Summer; Early Summer and Fall, etc. I believe that these foods work with the biology of the soil and the plant's roots benefit first. The roots become bigger and stronger with better biology in the soil. Then the plant's performance becomes more vigorous over time. The plant can then better withstand our cold winters, wet springs and dry, hot summers with deeper and stronger roots.

Most of my plants have had their Spring and early summer feeding. Now it is time for the late summer and fall second feeding!

*I recently sowed another crop of red sails lettuce, broccoli and swiss chard in containers. It is not too late and we have a great selection of 2013 seeds available now from Botanical Interests!

*Now is a great time to divide and transplant peonies! (And iris as well). Plant both plants very shallow and start off the new divisions with some nice organic matter in the soil. I use Flower Tone by Espoma as a soil conditioner because of the beneficial microbes and bacteria the product contains.

*Paul Parent brings some great advice about Butterfly Bush. First of all it is a MUST in anyone's yard and garden. He gives great advice about trimming the Butterfly Bush:

"Butterfly bush is another plant that will bloom all summer and right up to frost if you keep removing the faded flowers from the plant. The first flowers made will grow up to 10 inches long before they fade, but if you remove them, the plant will make two new flowers to replace the one. Within a couple of weeks a flower bud will form on each side of the bud you removed and they will grow to 6 to 8 inches long. When they fade, remove those two faded flowers and 4 new flower buds will form in their place. They will be smaller 4 to 6 inches but there will be 4 of them to keep your plant colorful and attracting butterflies to your garden. Just keep removing the faded flowers and the plant will keep flowering."

 

Butterfly Bush--One of the Best Repeat Bloomers!

 

*Great gardener Margaret of A Way to Garden writes about gardening in August: "Think of it as spot cleaning, you know, when you dab at the ketchup on your shirt rather than wash the whole thing right then and there. That’s what August is for in the garden: spot cleaning.... But I can try to trick the eye ...with some targeted trimming, mulching and edging. The August chores that follow will make for greater personal visual enjoyment late summer and fall, reduce hiding places for pests and disease—and after all, it’s really just a headstart on fall cleanup, one spot at a time. [read more…] 

*Margaret goes on to make a great point about weeds: "Every weed pulled now is a hundred (a million?) you don’t have to deal with later. Don’t let them go to seed. Make a pass through each bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Too many to handle in a particular area? Smother them with cardboard and mulch, like this."

Click HERE for the full listing of August Garden Chores by Margaret of A Way to Garden.

*Rains will be more plentiful soon and along with the warm soil this means it is a great time to seed over gaps in the lawn as well as overseed thin areas. Click HERE for easy to do Skillin's Lawn Program.

*More tips soon!


Thanks,

Mike Skillin

Buddleia--Butterfly Bush

 Hello again,

Good gardening friend Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club sends out a great newsletter every week with pertinent gardening topics. I encourage you to go to his website to sign up for his newsletter. Paul can also be heard every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 10 AM at his website or at WBACH (104.7 FM) every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 9 AM.

Recently Paul sent out a great post about the beautiful Butterfly Bush (Buddliea). He brings us some great pointers:

This summer, when you sit on your patio or deck, would you love to have a flowering shrub to look at that will bloom all summer long and attract butterflies and hummingbirds? Impossible you say, but there is such a shrub--the butterfly bush. If you have a sunny spot in your yard that is a bit protected from the winter winds, you're ready to plant. The butterfly bush will grow from five to ten feet tall and just as wide. You can prune to direct the size of the plant in your yard or just let it grow. This beautiful flowering shrub will grow in almost every yard. It adapts to your needs in the landscaping you planned for your yard. Use the plant in a perennial border, plant several in a row for a privacy hedge or place one on the corner of your deck to bring nature closer to you, as the butterflies will feed on its nectar all summer long. Did I tell you it is also fragrant and the plant will flower from June to first frost?

The butterfly bush is an old fashioned shrub once cherished for tranquility in the garden. The new cultivars have brought it back into style today and if you like flowering shrubs, this is the plant for your garden. The butterfly bush will grow with long arching branches much like the forsythia shrub does. The branches are slender and create a mounding look to the plant. The leaves are long and slender--4 to 8 inches long, and the color varies from gray-green to dark green in color, with a soft and silvery and soft underside. The leaves, which hold onto the plant well into the fall, do not have any fall color change.

The fragrant flowers develop in June and resemble miniature lilacs. The first flower can be as long as 10 inches long and last on the plant for 3 to 4 weeks. When they fade, prune them off and two side shoots will develop with blooms 6 to 8 inches long. Prune them off again when they fade and now the same branch will make 4 flowers 4 to 6 inches long. The more you clean the plant the more it will flower. Butterfly bush flowers come from white, pink, lavender, red and purple.

Butterfly bush will come in a pot, instead of dug from the ground, as the plants do not transplant well. When you plant it, do not try to move it around your yard; plant it and leave it alone. Plants do best in a well-drained soil that you can keep moist or a rich loam type soil. Plant the Butterfly Bush with compost and organic fertilizers. Water two times a week until established; it will take 2 to 3 months for the plant to be well rooted. When it gets hot, the plant will grow fast and requires more water. Once established, in the second year the plant will tolerate heat and drought conditions. If the plant can get a little shade at the end of the day, I have noticed more butterflies on the plant. 

In the spring, cut the plant in half to encourage new growth, unless you want it to grow large for privacy hedges. All plants will require spring pruning to remove dead branches and cleaning of the plant after winter. Never prune this plant in the fall. Fertilize in spring only--never in the fall--or it will not begin to harden off the growth and prepare for the winter. The butterfly bush also will not tolerate wet soils or road salt so keep plants away from the side of the road. The best place to plant it is where you spend your summer relaxing. It is also a great plant to put near the vegetable garden, as the flowers will attract honey bees all season long. Having more bees near the garden means better pollination and more vegetables to harvest. The flowers come on long stems and make a great cut flower for the kitchen table, lasting a week or two. Plant one or two this spring and find out why the plant is called the butterfly bush--you will think that the plant is moving in your yard. Enjoy.

Thanks Paul!

Mike Skillin

Skillin's Greenhouses

June 6, 2012