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 My delightfully chatty and energetic 12-year-old niece, Sophia, has caught the gardening bug. That's her, peeking through her tomato plants.
Not only is she a good gardener, she's also a good writer. So I invited her to write an intro for this issue of our newsletter:
Dear Readers,
About four years ago, my mom and wanted to start a garden, so my dad built a 9-foot by 9-foot raised bed.
I like to garden because it is relaxing for me. I like to plant the seeds, pick the food, and eat the food we plant. I also like to pick the seeds out with my mother. My least favorite part is weeding and putting soil in because it involves a lot of lifting and trips to the garbage can.
This year we put up a fence to keep the animals out. My garden is doing super well now that we keep the animals out and used a rototiller to break up the small roots in the soil from a nearby tree. My favorite foods from the garden are strawberries, cucumbers, and peppers.
I hope you have enjoyed this article, and, if you already haven't, go out and start gardening!
Sophia Lorson
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Plant Of The Month:Joe Pye Weed
 This beautiful native Iowan got its name supposedly from a native American medicine man. The wild version of Joe Pye weed stands tall this time of year in ditches and woodlands around the state. But it's a hybridized type that sets my heart a-pitter patter: Eupatorium purpureum (sometimes labeled as maculatum) 'Gateway'.
There are many different cultivars of Joe Pye weed, but 'Gateway' is the one I grow. It gets 4 to 6 feet high with big, bronzy leaves and beautiful wine-colored stems and butterflies adore it. This time of year, it also produces big pale maroon flower heads that are so stunning that people driving by brake and ask me for the plants' name.
Bonus: I love cutting the flower heads and putting them in a big vase in my front entry for an arrangement that's nearly as much of a show-stopper.
Photo courtesy ISU Extension
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So Much Produce!
 In my own vegetable garden, the cold spring and rabbits have made harvests almost non-existent. Fortunately, my sister's garden is going full tilt, so she loaded me up with all different cultivars of tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. My kitchen counter overfloweth.
And I have lots of recipes to help me work through it all. A girl can eat only so many BLTs in a day!
One of my favs is Fresh Tomato Sauce. Just chop tomatoes and toss, uncooked, with hot pasta.
If you have fresh herbs, click here for a listing of which herbs to use in which dishes, complete with a handy-dandy printable chart to tape inside a kitchen cabinet door.
And for tips on how to harvest fruits and veggies for best results, click here.
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No Japanese Beetles!
 I was whining about all the rabbits in my yard, and a friend pointed out to me that there are very few Japanese beetles this year.
Erin Hodgson, ISU extension entomologist, says the reason is that our exceptionally cold winter killed the larvae (grubs), which overwinter in the soil. The when we had a wet spring with lots of puddles that essentially drowned those that made it through.
With all the rabbit damage I've had this year, I was glad to hear it. I'm counting my blessings!
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Monthly To-Do
 We've had plenty of rain lately, sometimes too much! But stay vigilant about keeping your plants watered. Don't allow plants to get more than very slightly wilted or you'll stress them and invite pests and disease.
Don't let the August garden get you discouraged. Heat and drought can make a garden look ratty-looking, but even 15 or 20 minutes of weeding, cutting back, deadheading, mulching, and watering can make a huge difference.
Harvest early and often for the most tender, sweetest produce and to keep plants producing well. Click here for great harvest tips!
Great late summer flower garden perk-up tip: Buy a hanging basket of annuals, often deeply discounted this time of year. Dig a hole in a bare or problem spot in a flower bed and plant the flowers directly in the flower bed. The spreading stems hide a lot of sins. You can even plant the pot and all--just be sure to keep it well-watered.
Harvest tomatoes when they're about halfway red. Bring them indoors (away from insects) to finish ripening indoors on a countertop. They'll still have that great, full home-grown tomato flavor!
Get a plant-by-plant breakdown of what produce to harvest when by clicking here.
Annual flowers can be the star of the August garden. Keep them well watered, deadheaded, and well fertilized (apply a granular or liquid all-purpose fertilizer according to package directions).
Deadhead flowers on annuals, perennials, and some shrubs. It keeps your garden more attractive and in many cases, it will encourage more flowers. Check out our videos on deadheading different kinds of flowers by clicking here.
Avoid planting, transplanting, or dividing anything other than a tree or shrub right now. It's so hot that smaller plants will struggle. It's best to wait for cooler weather.
Spring-blooming bulbs such as tulips and daffodils will start showing up in stores soon. Ignore those discount, great-priced bulbs you see at the box stores, supermarkets, and elsewhere. They are almost always undersized and won't bloom well, if at all. Instead, bite the bullet and go to a good garden center or order online from a quality bulb retailer. (Again, avoid the cheapies.) With bulbs, you get what you pay for.
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Editor's Choice
Garden Events
Saturday, August 23
Des Moines Botanical Garden
10:30 a.m.- noon
Join local food writer and stylist Annie Krumhardt in this workshop on creative ways to can and preserve the season's harvest. A talented gardener and cook, Annie brings a fresh, artist's eye to this age-old practice with her own recipes and tips, as well as expertise gained from years of working for Meredith Corp.
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Garden Quote
"Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, fertilize."
-Emily Whaley, South Carolina garden writer
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