HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
MASTER GARDENER
JEAN LAIRD

Have you bedded down your azaleas for the hot summer months? It is time to trim, fertilize and put a two-inch mulch on them for protection from the hot weather that is coming. I trim just enough to keep them in the shape I prefer. I use cottonseed meal to fertilize for it is a natural product and will not burn your plants. Make sure the contents of the sack is cottonseed meal. I have found some sacks to contain only 35 percent cottonseed meal. Spread your fertilizer around the base of your plant, then cover with a 2-inch pine bark or cedar mulch and water thoroughly. compost, cottonseed meal and cotton Burr will enrich your soil and will not burn your plants. If you use commercial or azalea fertilizer, be sure and read the instructions and follow them carefully. Pine needles are fine, but you need about a 4-inch mulch of them. Do not allow pine straw too close to your house as a safety measure in case of fire. Be sure and keep your mulch 3 inches from the crown of the plant.

Have you noticed all the beautiful hydrangeas? Most of them are in bloom now. A beautiful example is from Dorothy and Kyle Bates' home on Clay Street. Drive by and see them. Dorothy is nursing a broken neck right now, so she may not be in her yard yet.

Hydrangeas like morning sun and shade in the heat of the day and no competition with large tree roots. They thrive in moist soil. Enrich with peat moss, fertilizer and pine bark mulch. There are several varieties such as, Mini Penny and Endless Summer. These bloom all summer. Oak leaf hydrangeas have white flowers and are also popular. They are available in single and double flowering types. Snowflake and Snow Queen are great selections. Try Limelight hydrangeas for a late show of color. All are stunning in your garden, and dry beautifully for placing in your arrangements. Simply cut the stems (early in the morning) and hang them upside down in a dry, w4ell-ventilated place for a couple of weeks before using.

I promised to list some awesome annuals. Annuals last from spring to fall. They are our hot weather plants, and they die in the winter. Occasionally, they surprise us and show up the next spring, but don't count on it. Zinnas: giant, intermediate or dwarf (please read the labels). These add masses of color to the garden while providing cut flowers for inside the home. available in a large variety of colors.

Marigolds, Cosmos, celosia, and Mexican sunflowers are great choices that produce all summer too. Try supertunia Vista Bubblegum petunias and Dipt in Wine coleus that offers continuous blooms. Spirit Apple Blossom Cleome is an annual, but it makes its own seeds. This plant creates a lasting impression, especially in large planters.

All these flowers will be awesome thru the summer if you start with good soil, enrich existing soil with humus and a slow-release fertilizer, trim plants by one-third when planting (this is very hard for me to do), fertilize every two weeks with an all-purpose fertilizer, and water regularly. Pinch off spent flowers for repeat blooming. Have FUN as you trim, fertilize, mulch, water and prepare for the oncoming heat.

The Happy Gardener

"Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into." Henry Beecher