Check list for the Mid-Summer Garden

The blooms are beautiful, and your garden is a sight to behold! Doing a few extras will keep the flowers going strong for the rest of the season: Stake any tall flowers that may be falling over (or have the perennials to fall over). Delphiniums, holly hocks, or even foxgloves will appear statelier with a strategically placed stake giving them support.

Deadhead the spent blooms! The whole reason a plant makes flowers is to produce seeds. If you prevented the plant from making seeds, it will try even harder to do so. Thus, more bigger and better blossoms. Just cut dead flowers off at the stem. Depending on the type of plant, you will see better results next year or more flowers this season.

Give your planes a dose of fertilizer. Roses, for example, need to be fed monthly. Water-soluble fertilizers or granular (10-10-10) are both good types of general energy boosters. Start watching for Japanese beetles, spider mites, or other insects that will be lured to your tasty flowers. Beetle traps, insecticides, or natural methods should be employed at the first signs of damage.

Water deeply during hot weather and enjoy!