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I am under the delusion that summer is the time I am obligated to be on the go. I look at all the sales ads and magazine articles and feel like I am supposed to be hanging out on a beach in smartly accessorized activewear, or grilling up a storm for friends, or going on vacation somewhere highly photographable.
But the truth is I'm a lazy homebody. I treasure few things as much as a quiet morning on my screened porch with coffee, a stolen hour or two getting to deadhead flowers or pull a few weeds, or sitting in a lawn chair at night and listening to the chorus frogs' all-encompassing song while looking up at the stars.
Summer in Iowa is all too brief. I am determined to savor every moment of it, and I can't think of a better place to do so than in my garden.
Appreciatively yours,
Veronica Lorson Fowler
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Still Planting To Do 
Some seeds do best if you wait until the soil is thoroughly warmed up before planting. These include beans, squash, cucumbers, melons, and corn. Since we've had such a long, cold spring, now is the time to plant these. Just be sure to keep them well watered!
For a complete list of what to plant when in Iowa, click here.
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Mow Right
 With all this warmth and rain, the grass has been growing faster than I can mow it. However, for the healthiest lawn, mow it often enough that you are removing no more than one-third of the blade. Also, sharpen your mower blade at least once if not two or three times during the growing season. You can tell your blade needs sharpening if your grass gets ragged beige ends two or three days after mowing, giving the lawn a beige cast. That's because the blade is ripping rather than cleanly slicing the blade, leaving unsightly ends on the blades. For more a useful schedule of what to do to your Iowa lawn when, click here!
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Bye, Bye Tulips
 If your tulips didn't bloom well--or at all--this year, it might be because most tulips are not true perennials.
After you plant them in the fall, they look good the first spring, less good the second, and often don't flower at all the third. Now, after their foliage is faded, is the time to just pull out whatever remains of these second- and third-year tulips that didn't bloom well.
In fact, all those beautiful tulips displays you see in public gardens? They are usually dug up each summer and replanted with new bulbs each fall.
So for the best tulip displays, replant every other year or so.
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Monthly To-Do
 Plant now seeds of squash, cucumbers, corn, beans, and other seeds that need warmer soil (usually 2 weeks past the last average frost date).
Go ahead and buy plants on clearance, but buy only those plants that look healthy. Avoid runty, dried out, or otherwise tired-looking plants. They're unlikely to rally.
Keep your lawn looking its best by checking out our Lawn Care Schedule for Iowa.
Weed, weed, weed! Get them now while they're small and prevent big problems later. Click here for tips on how to wipe out max weeds in minimum 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 year, they'll struggle to get established and may well die.
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 then, the plant is using it to 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.
Check out the bulb catalogs and on-line sources. Ordering now assures the type and quantity you want this fall, when supplies run low.
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Editor's Choice
Garden Events
Now through Oct. 25
Reiman Gardens, Ames
I love the 8 fun "treehouses" now erected in Reiman Gardens through fall. Walk through, climb up and explore these creative interpretations of treehouses. Then enjoy the beautiful, fascinating plantings to make a morning or afternoon of it!
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Garden Quote
"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade."
-- English garden designer Gertrude Jekyll
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