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Ahhhhhh!
Greetings!
 I'm sure I'm not the only one who is loving these freshly arrived dog days of summer. The spring gardening rush is over (though I'm still playing weeding catchup after all this rain and heat) and I finally have a moment to sit back and enjoy. The big futon on my back screen porch is one of my favorite places on earth on a sultry summer day. It's filled with potted flowers and looks out into a little courtyard garden with a tiny burbling fountain in the center. When it's warm and humid, the scent from the flowers planted nearby (I purposely chose highly fragrant ones) is intoxicating. My teenage daughter tries to read out there, but says it's so pretty, it's hard to concentrate. Problems like these, I like having! Yours in lazy gardening,  Veronica Lorson Fowler |
Save Money on Water, Beautifully
 Rain barrels are a time-honored way to save water and provide the best chemical-free water for houseplants and flowers.
This 40-gallon classy rain barrel from Petty Vinyl in Gladbook, Iowa, is not only functional but has a unique planter box in the lid for planting. Unusual! Click here for details on how it works.
The rain barrel normally sells for $229.99 plus tax and shipping, but as a subscriber to The Iowa Gardener, it's yours for only $199.99 plus tax. Shipping is free (for a limited time).
For information or to place an order, call Petty Vinyl at 1-888-477-4474 or email them. Don't forget to mention this ad in The Iowa Gardener to receive your discount! And find out more about other outdoor products at pettyvinyl.com. |
What's Eating You?
 I've been getting lots of questions from people, trying to figure out what's eating their plants--slugs, rabbits, other insects--what? After all, to solve the problem, you need to know what the problem is. Click here for photos and info on how to figure out what's eating your plants.
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Heckuva Harvest
I've been looking for my favorite green bean 'Blue Lake Pole' (tender, flavorful, produces lots, no strings) all over and everyone's sold out. The seed racks are ravaged. It just confirms what I've heard from various gardening professionals-that seed sales this spring have been up 20 to 50 percent. We're going to have a lot of harvesting to do in a month or so!
I'm finally done with the canning workshops I've been teaching all over the country for Ball and Gardening How-To- Magazine. If you're wanting to learn how, I highly recommend the Ball Blue Book-and I'm not just saying it because Ball hired me. It's a classic in the canning world. It's simple, with excellent how-to illustrations, lots of very clear recipes, and will tell you everything you need to know in order to can easily and safely.
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Weeding Trees
We live close to a large, wooded park and my backyard desperately wants to join it. The tree seedlings are going nutters! This year especially, I've been pulling deep-rooted tree seedlings out of my garden. It's not too hard to pull those that are just a few inches to a foot tall, as long as I do it when we've had several days of rain. But I get tired of cutting back the very same tree seedlings year after year, only to have them sprout bigger and stronger from their long taproot year after year. Finally, I've struck on a method of eradicating them.
I simply use my big garden knife which looks kinda like a hunting knife, to dig down a few to several inches around the sapling. Then I use the serrated edge to saw it off well below the soil surface. The piece de resistance? A squirt of Roundup--or any non-selective herbicide (so called because it's not selective about what it zaps--it kills or damages all plants it touches). Leave the little hole open because this chemical works better with heat and light.
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Container Care
As we move into hot weather, it's more important than ever to take good care of your containers. Click here for some easy tips that will make them look as good as those showy things you see in garden centers, public gardens, and other places where the pros are taking care of them.
One must? If they're flowering plants, fertilize them with a bloom-booster type liquid fertilizer every two to three weeks, as directed on the label. It doesn't cost any more than other fertilizers, and it really pushes them to bloom better!
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Win a Free Gardening in Iowa Book!
 Forward this email to a gardening friend and you'll automatically be entered in a drawing for a free "Gardening in Iowa" book, published by the University of Iowa and written by me. In order to enter the drawing, you must use the following link to forward the newsletter. Click here to forward to a friend. Click here to find out more about the book. (It makes a great gift!) |
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Sales-O-Rama
Now is the time to hit your local garden center to check out sales. Trees, shrubs, and perennials, especially, are a fabulous value this time of year. Many are as much as half off because stores need to get rid of them.
My rule of thumb: As long as they look vigorous and healthy (not spindly or yellowing), they are. But be especially careful with annuals. If they're looking leggy or ragged, it's tough to get them to recover, especially with our super-short growing season.
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Ask Veronica a Question
If you're a subscriber, email Veronica with your garden questions and she'll do her very best to get back to you within two business days. Click here! |
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Garden To-Do List
 Weed, weed, weed! All this rain followed by warmer weather makes for perfect conditions for weeds to take off with sonic speed. After weeding, mulch
to prevent weeds from returning.
You can divide perennials that bloom in the spring now, as needed or desired. Hold off on dividing those that bloom in late summer or fall. For them, it's too close to show time!
Deadhead flowers on annuals, perennials, and some shrubs. It keeps your garden more attractive and in many cases, it will encourage more flowers longer.
Continue to plant container-grown or balled-and-burlapped trees, shrubs, and roses now. However, avoid planting bare-root roses and other bare-root plants. This late in the season, they'll struggle to get established.
Time to practice tough love. If a tree or shrub is still struggling with winter damage or overall sickness, with significant amounts of dead wood, it's almost certainly time to dig it up or cut it down.
Remove the browning foliage of tulips and daffodils once it pulls away easily. Until that point, the plant is using it rejuvenate for next year.
Pinch mum buds until the 4th of July. This helps them produce larger, bigger flowers on stronger stems.
Harvest early and often for the most tender, sweetest produce and to keep plants producing well. Pick zucchini, for example, with the yellow flower still attached.
Most lettuce by now has started to bolt, that is, send up tall, elongated stalks. At this point, it turns bitter. Pull it up and pitch it on your compost heap.
Remove old raspberry canes after the plants stop producing fruit.
Check out the bulb catalogs and on-line sources. Ordering now assures the type and quantity you want this fall, when supplies run low.
Check out our month-by-month listing of what to plant when in Iowa!
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Garden Events
Dancing Lady Gardens
10th Annual Open Garden
Sunday, July 12
SE of Altoona at 8363 NE 38th Ave. 9 AM-2 PM. The eccentric, fun "Sharon Nelson-Vaux" shows off her remarkable garden and art. $5.00 per adult with a portion given to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Call 515-967-0947 or Steve at work at 515-986-7477.
Project GREEN Garden Tour
Sunday, July 12
10 am-3pm. Stroll through four park-like Iowa City gardens.
Central Iowa Water Garden Tour
Saturday, July 18
9 am-4 pm. Beautiful water gardens in Slater, Ames, Boone. Tickets $10. For more info, call 515-278-0939
Iowa Arboretum Ornamental Grass Sale
Saturday, July 25
9 AM. Select from a wide variety of grasses and see them established and growing in the gardens as well!
Include your group or business garden-related events in this listing for no charge. Click here!
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Quote:
"The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses."
- Garden book author Hanna Rion
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