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| Hot Plants! Even Hotter than the Temperatures!! |
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Wow what warm temps! It is hot hot hot and we celebrate the heat with a list of 10 Hot Plants from Skillin's that you "ought to" check out for your garden. Check out the list in the next section of this newsletter.
Also, it is dry dry dry out there in Skillin's Country. We talk about watering in our Garden Talks section also later in this newsletter. I have been "out there" in the garden a little bit over the last few days but the "dryness" of the soil is still surprising me.
Portulaca Sundial Mix |
It is good to being sending you a gardening email and hopefully you will find some helpful information here. IF you want more frequent and timely gardening advice, just check out our Skillin's Garden Log found at www.skillins.com!
Skillin's Garden Log! |
We post to the Garden Log on a regular (quite often daily) basis with some very timely and we think helpful information. So make the Garden Log one of your "Favorite" hangouts!
Also follow Skillin's at www.twitter.com/skillins. We "tweet" all types of quick Skillin's news and announcements. Chances are when something goes on sale, or we get excited about a particular plant or flower, we "tweet" about it first! Also we send out frequent short and sweet audios and videos right here from Skillin's--and pictures of our colorful flowering plants as well! We send out Twitter "tweets" all the time so check out www.twitter.com/skillins often!
Speaking of "Twitter" audios, Jumpin' Joe Kubetz produced and hosted a couple of very fine, short and fun Twitter productions last week. Click here for a fun 3 minute video tour of some Skillin's plants and click here for a "Jerry Maguire" inspired 2 minute audio interview with Tim Bate our Nursery Manager. You will laugh and yes you will also learn!
Just last Wednesday evening Terry Skillin appeared on the WCSH Channel 6 program "207". Terry talked about many great gardening ideas. Terry has been gardening since 1885 and he has much wisdom to pass on! Here is the link to that great program! Oops Skillins has been around since 1885, not Terry! Well, I can assure you he is no Spring Chicken nevertheless! Thursday July 8 is Terry's birthday. Send him birthday greetings at skillins@maine.rr.com and our favorite greeting will earn the greeter a $25 Skillin's gift certificate!
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Whew! These soaring temperatures have brought summer to Skillin's Country in a hurry! I don't know about you but I don't mind some heat--especially after the cool summers of the last few years.
You can garden in the heat! Take it slow and easy. Wear plenty of sun screen. Hot weather is a good reason to wear your favorite floppy hat AND some light colored clothing. Drink plenty of healthy liquids and spend some time in the shade. Enjoy each breeze that comes along. Say a quick thanks for some cloud cover. Breezes, sunshine and cloud cover are meant to be enjoyed. When you water your plants water them deeply (more on that in a minute). Remember cars and kids are meant to be sprayed by hoses--not plants!
To celebrate the summer and to celebrate the heat we have derived a quick list of 10 Hot Plants for a hot July 2010. The following list of 10 plants are JUST A FEW hot performers that we feel you should consider for your home and garden. Many more choices await you at Skillin's in Brunswick, Cumberland and Falmouth. We would love to talk to you about any of these plants or any other plants you want to talk about.
1. Hydrangea Limelight. Hot? With the light this plant produces there is a lot of heat here!
2. Hydrangea Quickfire. This plant is Quick to Fire the blooms and the petals burn brightly into the fall!
3. Hydrangea Incrediball. The Incrediball is just a great example of white heat! Great balls of white fire!
4. Hemerocallis Rocket City. Fiery mass of flowers from this Rocket City daylilly!
5. Hemerocallis Hush Little Baby. Do you know what is a hot trend in daylillies right now? Rebloomers!
6. Liatris "Gayfeather" and its "electric" purple plumes!
7. Monarda Bee Balm. Red and hot pink flaming flowers up to 6 feet off the ground! Attract those butterflies and hummingbirds right into your garden!
8. Echinacea Coneflower. Bright pinks, purples, yellow and oranges also loved by butterflies and hummingbirds!
Bee Balm and Coneflower; Just Watch for the Hummingbirds and Butterflies! |
9. Portulaca Sundial Mix. Some like it hot, the portulaca loves it real hot and sunny!
10. Gazania Mix. I love the combustible combinations of reds, oranges, whites and yellows. I am the one "in heat" when I see this plant in action! |
Garden Talks!!
*It is VERY dry out there!
Quality waterings are needed! We have had no rain in the last week and nothing meaningful for rain is in the forecast right now.
New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two quality waterings per week. A steady rain of an hour or more qualifies as a quality watering. A "quality watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots. In lieu of rain a quality watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for at least 20 to 30 minutes and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in.
This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:
Quality rain (0).
Quality waterings required by you: (2).
If you have met the quality watering requirement for this past week, congratulations! If not, pay careful attention this coming week and beyond and make sure that your new plants get those required quality waterings!
Let us know if you have any watering questions!
*Japanese Beetles are here! Sound the alarm! If you catch them early or see just a few (I only have a few right now) we offer a few all natural sprays that can be quite effective. If you have many and you have a rather large yard than baiting them and trapping them can be quite effective. We have all the products needed to help control those voracious beetles. We also offer a couple of all natural options to kill off the Japanese Beetle grubs that spawn future generations. Come see us and let us help you out!
*July is here and now is a great time to apply either all natural Kelp Booster or Microbial Soil Conditioner to your lawn. Both products are manufactured by Organica. Neither are fertilizers. Both contain specially designed microbial bacteria that once introduced into the soil will help to bring a much healthier living area to your lawn--a better soil! Better soil means better roots for your grass. Better roots means better grass! In this hot weather now is not a good time to feed your lawn with active fertilizers. Also remember to mow your lawn "high". I am seeing a lot of burnt lawns; yes it is dry but lawns mowed too short burn out easily and pave the way for weed invasions!
*Got plants living in pots? I do! Remember flowers and vegetables growing in pots is a great idea. But they need regular attention. Like plants in the ground your containers probably need two quality waterings per week (maybe 3 if they are in the hot sun; may be just 1 for shade dwellers). I also liquid feed my containers weekly with Neptune Harvest's Fish and Seaweed fertilizer (sold right here at Skillin's!). Click here for a recent update by Melissa M of Skillin's Falmouth about her vegetable container garden.
* Continue sowing or planting lettuces, beans, peas, radishes every 10 days to 2 weeks if you have the time, space and inclination. The lettuces and other greens appreciate shade right now so plant them in a shady spot or under some "remay". Beans and peas can be "succession planted" from now until well into August or maybe even early September. Their seeds will "pop" out of the ground and give you some healthy yield in no time. We have lettuce and bean plants available right now and soon will have broccoli for a broccoli re load. And we will have fresh crops ready for next month as well!
*July is a good time to apply some all natural Garden Tone fertilizer to your garden--it is great for the soil and vegetable plants are heavy "feeders". For best performance in our short Maine season our vegetable plants need a good natural nudge. I actually side dress with the Garden Tone this month and also water every week or so with the Fish and Seaweed food by Neptune's Harvest. My gardens and containers are always planted a little late and thus need some extra natural nurturing to catch up and the Fish and Seaweed food gets me there quickly and naturally!
*Good gardening friend and Skillin's associate David K posts a terrific garden blog called A Garden in Maine. I highly recommend you check his blog frequently as David is a wonderful local Maine home gardener who is learning all the time, growing a great variety of plants and he loves to pass on what he learns!
Got gardening questions??? Call us at any of the phone numbers listed below or email us at skillins@maine.rr.com!
Thanks for being a friend and a customer!
Mike Skillin
Our store locations and contact information are as follows:
Skillin's Greenhouses, Brunswick, 422 Bath Road, Brunswick ME 04011 442-8111, 800-339-8111
Skillin's Greenhouses, Cumberland, 201 Gray Road, Cumberland ME 04021 829-5619, 800-348-8498
Skillin's Greenhouses, Falmouth, 89 Foreside Road, Falmouth ME 04105 781-3860, 800-244-3860
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Color,
More
Color!! |
For our email subscribers:
Present this coupon for $4.00 savings for a $20 or more purchase. For coupon to be valid you must be purchasing at least ONE flowering plant! Limit of one coupon per sale; coupon must be presented with sale.
Skillin's clerks: Use sku *MAIL and credit memo a $4 selling price. Limit of one coupon per sale. May be combined with other discounts! | | Offer Expires: July 18, 2010 |
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