Oh yes, we all love the hot sunny days of summer! But, as much as we enjoy our summer days, our gardens must not be neglected. The scorching days of summer can damage your plants and flowers if we are not careful.

We all tend to look at summer as a time of fun and vacation time. While this is great for us, it is bad news for our gardens. Yes, we should enjoy our vacations with family and friends, but it is our responsibility to make sure that our flower gardens are taken care of as well.

The key to a healthy flower garden that will tolerate the hot days of summer is nutrient rich soil. When the soil is good, your plants will thrive in any climate. During the summer, apply some fertilizer at least every six weeks until late summer. And, be sure to water your garden regularly.

In very hot climates with intense heat and sun, be sure to have a thick covering of mulch in your garden as this will protect your plants from some of the heat, it will retain moisture and control weeds. This is a good thing to do if you are going on vacation. One thing I make sure of before I go away, is that my garden is fully watered and moist.

Enjoy your gardening and vacations,
Diana

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

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Gardening is very relaxing and a wonderful hobby for lots of people. But along with this relaxation and great hobby of ours comes the realization that our flower gardens will become diseased. It is a fact. Your garden plants will get some type of disease. The thing to remember is that you need to take care of the situation right away in order to protect the rest of the garden from contamination.

While garden diseases are not entirely avoidable, one way to ensure that your garden is healthy is the have good soil for your plants to thrive on.

Most garden diseases are caused by fungi which will make your plants look sick or have a powdery mildew or black spots on the leaves and they start to wilt. You will also notice that the flowers are not as healthy as they suppose to look and this is a sure sign that the plant is diseased.

What I have noticed is that although plants can get diseased at any time, it is more visible in late summer. However, it doesn’t matter when you notice that there is something wrong with your plants, you just have to take care of the situation immediately.

Some gardeners believe that most garden diseases occur during the rainy season. I do agree with this and also the fact that since most plants do prefer sun, extended cloudy conditions can accelerate plant diseases.

It has been said that diseases and fungus can be transmitted from one plant to another in a short period of time. For this reason, if you see a particular plant that looks very sick, just remove it from your garden.

While there are many products available to treat plant diseases, a friend of mine has suggested something called Serenade to treat all plants. Serenade is supposed to protect the most common fungal and bacterial garden diseases and it is non-toxic. I personally like Fungicide to treat most plant diseases and it works very well.

I also like a product called Bayer 3-1 because it protects most plant diseases and fertilizes as well. Whatever product you decide on, just be sure to follow the instructions given when you purchase it.

Just remember that sooner or later disease will enter your garden and possibly infect other plants. If and when this happens, don’t panic. Cut a couple of leaves from one the plants, go to you local nursery, explain the problem to the person in charge, show them the leaves, and ask them to recommend a product that will take care of the problem.

To your healthy garden,
Diana

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

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While it is good practice to water our flower gardens regularly, be aware that too much water is not good for the plants and can actually kill them. Here in Florida where I live, we go from having long periods of drought to a rainy season where it will rain for several hours just about every day. We are having that rainy season right now and I am constantly checking my garden for puddles of water.

The important element in well drained soil is oxygen which allows plants to grow when the roots are not constantly in water and it will not allow water to settle on it. Soil that does not drain well is usually oxygen deficient which results in drowned and rotted roots. Once the water is gone, oxygen flows into the roots of the plants and they will be fine.

Test your garden for drainage by digging holes in various locations during the rainy season. If you see water in the hole the next day, you have slow drainage. If this is the case, get some compost and mix it in with the soil that is there now. Compost is the best to rectify this situation.

It is also good practice to use mulch in areas prone to intense heat in order to keep the roots cool and reduce the amount of evaporation that takes place in the surface of the soil. If you do use mulch, be sure to always test the soil under the mulch for good drainage.

Good drainage in your garden is the key to having beautiful, healthy plants and flowers. This is especially true if you have a rose garden like I do. Roses like moist soil but they don’t like to be in puddles of water. So be sure to test your garden soil for good drainage during the rainy season. Your garden will love you for it, and you will love your garden!

To your well-drained garden, Diana

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

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Yes, there are green flowers and some are very scented! While we don’t normally associate green with flowers, over the years green flowers have become very popular. Years ago, green flowers were scarce but now you can find them just about anywhere. The trend seems to be to go green with everything and a green hue in your garden will add beautiful accents to your existing plants.

Lime green is a very popular color that is used by many florists. But you can use green flowers as contrasting colors between borders, containers or why not mix them in with your darker plants. You know, since green flowers are somewhat a neutral color, you can use them in conjunction with any other flower color in your garden.

For an awesome look, try mixing red flowers with a large mass of green flowers and you will notice that this will make the red flowers ‘stand out’ in your garden. You can also have a small planting of green flowers added to a large mass of red blooms and somehow, it makes the green electric. Try it and see for yourself.

The possibilities are endless with green flowers and while there are many varieties of these in the market today, here is a description of some that I am familiar with.

Hydrangea ‘Limelight’ – Botanical name is Hydrangea Paniculata Limelight
Here is a new Hydrangea which is considered a shrub. The amazing thing about this one is that the blooms open in green and then change to four different colors. And, when it stops flowering in the fall, the foliage turns bright red.

Limelight begins to flower in early summer with lots of chartreuse to lime green flowers appearing all over the shrub. As these mature, they turn to pure white, then darken to pink, and finally turn to a rich rosy hue. If you cut them at any point in the color that they are at any given point, they will remain that color. This means that you can literally create a bouquet of fresh cut flowers in four different colors from the same shrub. Amazing!

The Limelight shrub is approximately 6-8 feet high and wide, tolerates heat, humidity and poor soil. It is recommended that the shrubs be spaced at least 6 feet apart when you plant them and give it plenty of water the first year or two until the plant is fully established. Grows well in zones 4-8.

Peony ‘Green Halo’ – Botanical name is Paeonia Lactiflora Green Halo
Here is a new look in Peonies. Green Halo has green and white colors and it is beautiful. The clusters of large double flowers which measure 5 inches across, open in apple green petals and are somewhat curled. In the center of the bloom, tiny tufts of white appear. Green Halo is easy to grow and it is ideal as a cut flower to place in a vase.

It grows up to 30 inches tall and about 3 feet wide and it is resistant to deer, rabbits and insects. Grows well in zones 3-8.

Primula ‘Francesca’ – Botanical name is Primula Poivantha Francesca
If you like Primrose, you will love this one! Francesca is a long blooming one and has bi-colored flowers in lime green and yellow which are slightly ruffled. The flowers begin in mid spring and are 2 inches wide.

It grows to 14 inches high, likes rich moist well drained soil, and needs a good covering of mulch to keep the roots cool. Francesca grows well in full sun in the North but prefers some shaded area in the South. Grows well in zones 5-9.

Heuchera ‘Citronelle’ – Botanical name is Heuchera x Villosa Citronelle
Citronelle has bright chartreuse green large rounded, lobed leaves for an amazing look to any garden. In mid to late summer, tiny creamy-white bells appear, but the chartreuse green color remains dominant. Plant these among your pink and white flowers in the garden and you will have a spectacular display.

Citronelle grows up to 15 inches high and about 20 inches wide. It is recommended that the plants be spaced at least 18 inches apart in part shade to full sun. Grows well in zones 4-8.

Enjoy your green flowers,
Diana

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

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