Musical Slideshow, The Butchart Gardens

Personalize a photo album

First Video on Gardening TIps

With the help of my friends Dave and Suzanne Rimmer, whose front landscape we renovated early this summer, I am showing how to cut back select perennials and give them new life again. If your plants are looking leggy and weak, even if they are still flowering, it is time to take the shears to them and boost them with a little fertilizer. This will give them a fresh and healthy flush of new growth to take them through September looking great. Here is the link to the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBCUTU4BEM The variety of plant we are pruning here is the Veronica 'Goodness Grows'. In the garden, Lyn

Here come the photos

Kept wishing I had a better camera, but some of these are pretty good.

It doesn't hurt to have perfect conditions...they make for some beautiful plant material. Today's selection is Dahlias and antirrhinums (Snapdragons). Working on the album by shade and by sun.

Staying cool

I'll be staying cool this week in the Pacific Northwest. The heat will no doubt still be entrenched when I return.

When the temps start climbing above 90, it's time to pull out every weapon in your water-retention arsenal.
First, if you planted with well drained soil and organic amendments, you gave your plant the very best survival armor it could get. Weather conditions like these separate the strong from the weak. And some plants need babying. I am putting every potted plant I have, in or on the edge of, the shade. Other things you can do to help your potted plants include adding large saucers and make sure those are full, as well as watering the plant well first thing in the morning.

For inground plants, give them a good drink at least every other day. If you were smart enough to install a drip system, run it in the morning.  Add some extra mulch on the surface, particularly if yours has gotten thin over the summer. Plants also use their leaves for transpiration, and with high heat, can really use a misting. Consider doing this in the late daytime hours, between 6-and 8 pm.

I'm getting help to ensure my plants stay healthy while I am away, and these tips should help you with yours as well. I know it's hard to believe, but we will be planting pansies before you know it!

Butchart Gardens Bound,
Lyn