Native Pasque Flower - Photo courtesy of Sage Advice

Why not pledge to do one thing that is sustainable? Here are some ideas from Seasonal Solutions:
 
Water conservation:
Install a rain barrel this year;
Water your vegetable garden from below rather than overhead.
 
Soil conservation:
Make your own compost or use an organic soil amendment like Cotton Burr Compost or Organic Soil Condtioner to feed the soil;
Pledge to avoid turning the soil whenever possible so as not to disturb its structure;
Use a board to distribute your weight when you must walk on your beds;

Shred fallen leaves and return them to flower beds to compost.
 
Plants:
Try out at least three native plants that will grow well together;
Prune carefully and at the proper time for each shrub or vine.
 
Insect and disease control:
Use pepper spray or soapy water to remove insects that are damaging your plants;
Plant one shrub that will attract birds;
Use plants the deter insects - Marigolds, scented Geraniums, and Nasturtiums.

 

Lawns:
Mow high; Top dress your lawn this fall -- more on this in our next issue.

 

 

Harvest herbs often to keep the plants from flowering. Once flowers appear, the leaves may become bitter - so remove the flowers to promote more growth.
 
As you harvest, watch for insect or fungal damage. Water the garden from the bottom when possible, since wetting the leaves will promote disease. If you water with an overhead sprinkler, do so in the early morning before the day becomes hot. Watering in the evening allows the leaves to remain wet all night and further encourages disease.
 
Check daily or every other day for vegetables that are ripe and ready to pick.  Avoid walking on the garden soil if you can, as this compacts the soil. A few lengths of board in the garden will provide a makeshift walkway to distribute your weight.

Photo courtesy of Sage Advice

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is one of the most popular native plants with our customers, for its brilliant orange, dome shaped flower clusters and its attraction to a variety of butterflies, including the Monarch, Queen, Tiger, and Black Swallowtail. It is also a great plant for native bees and hummingbirds.

 

A member of the Milkweed family, Butterfly Weed blooms in mid to late summer, after the spring perennials are done blooming. After blooming, it forms the characteristic Milkweed seed pods. Despite its name, Butterfly Weed is not aggressive in the garden. It maintains a neat, 2-foot cluster.

 

Butterfly Weed is beautifully combined with any native grasses, with purple and white Coneflower, native prairie clover or Catmint. Also consider pairing it with purple perennials such as Russian Sage or late-blooming Salvia.

Native plants are known to be the hardiest in standing up to the heat of midsummer. What is a native plant, anyway, and do you have to have a "prairie garden" to consider using them in the landscape? 
 
Strictly speaking, a native plant is one that has been propagated with seed collected from the wild, within a limited radius (about 80-100 miles) of the immediate area. As natives have become popular, suppliers have created stock beds to propagate native plants for the purpose of collecting seeds and growing additional plants, so not all natives these days come directly from the wild. They are, in a manner of speaking, the descendents of plants from the wild.
 
Plants native to northern Illinois  are a sure bet in your garden because they are already proven to be viable and hearty in our climate and soil. Once established, they take care of themselves. Seldom if ever do they need watering or soil amending. They also bloom both earlier and later in the season than cultivated perennials and they attract birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, and beneficial insects to the garden.
 
Native plants form natural communities, growing together when they do well in similar soil, light and moisture. Thus, plants that like sunny wet conditions will be found growing together and those that like dry sun will do likewise. If you are considering a native planting, it is important to use plants that require similar conditions. However, you decidedly do not have to want your own little prairie to use native plants successfully. 
 

Spiderwort - Photo courtesy of Sage Advice

Native plants can also be combined successfully with perennials that grow in similar conditions. Many gardens these days combine native plants, grasses and perennials for a stunning display of color that has the added benefit of requiring less care than a display of plants that are not adapted to our weather and soil and therefore may require fertilization, watering and soil amending on a regular basis.

  
Adaptable to wide ranging moisture from dry to very wet, full sun: Wild Senna; Dogtooth Daisy; Prairie or Dense Blazing Star; Bergamot; Black-eyed, Sweet Black-eyed, or Brown-eyed Susan; Cupplant; Ironweed; Culver's Root, Sedges; Switch Grass; Indian Grass; Prairie Cordgrass.
 
Well drained gardens in sun to part shade: Butterfly Weed; Blue False Indigo; Stiff Coreopsis; Rattlesnake Master; Downy Sunflower; Wild Quinine; Ohio Spiderwort; Smooth Penstemon; Prairie or Rought Blazing Star; Little Bluestem; Prairie Dropseed.

 

No one wants to plant when it is 90 or 100 degrees! It's just too hot, right?  Not for Knockout roses! This is one plant that just keeps on performing, and providing vibrant color, even in the heat. 
 
What can you do to keep your garden looking fresh and interesting during the hot season? Here are some ideas:
 
Keep up the deadheading of spent flowers to encourage a second round of blooming. For Yarrow, Phlox, Veronica, Coreopsis, Catmint, Bellflower and Centranthus, you can cut the stalks back by about a third to stimulate fresh foliage and blooming.
 
Add potted tropical plants to your patio or deck. We have Jasmine, tropical Hibiscus and Gardenias available and on sale at the garden center now.
 
This is the time of year to divide Bearded Iris that have become crowded. Dig the thick, underground stems (called rhizomes) with a spade. Cut the leaves back to 1/3 their original height. Wash the soil from the rhizomes and roots with a steady stream of water. Then cut the rhizomes apart with a sharp knife. Each division should have a fan of leaves, a healthy rhizome, and several large roots. In a hole large enough to accommodate the rhizome and roots, build a mound in the center. Place a rhizome on top of the mound and spread the roots in the surrounding trench. Then cover with soil. When planted, the rhizome should be just below the soil surface. Water thoroughly when transplanting is done. Bearded Iris will be arriving soon at the Garden Center!
 
Plant trees and shrubs you wish to add to your landscaping. Completing this task before the end of September will allow the woody plants to become established before winter. Come see what we have in stock and check out our planting services.
 
Avoid pruning shrubs and fertilizing roses at this time of the year, as this will stimulate tender new growth that could be damaged in the winter.