Mid-Summer Rose Care Tips

Whether your roses are newly planted or well established,  pressure from high temperatures, insects and poor cultural practices means you may see fewer, smaller blooms, discolored leaves as well as leaf drop. Keeping your roses healthy and blooming through summer’s heat requires time and attention. This includes deadheading, watering, fertilizing and disease and insect control. Sounds like a lot, but if done on a regular basis, your roses will do well through the summer season, into fall. The first step is to keep up with removing fading blooms. This is called “deadheading” and it’s important to do for two reasons.  Removing fading flowers will prevent the rose plant from wasting energy producing seed hips and will encourage more blooms. Deadheading also helps shape the plant.  

Snip the old bloom just above an outward facing 5-leaf set. If there is new growth already coming on, cut above the growth and allow it to grow, form buds and flower. Make the cut at an angle sloping downward toward the center of the bush.  Hard prune any dead or diseased canes to the ground. Once you’re done pruning, seal the tops of each cut cane with Elmer’s glue to prevent insect damage.   

 

While you’re pruning, watch for indications of disease or insects. Common rose diseases include black spot, rust and powdery mildew. Insects to watch for this time of year include aphids, spider mites and thrips. Diseases can be treated by removing any obviously bad leaves or with fungicides such as Sulfur or Neem Oil.  While you're at it, take time to clear any weeds and debris that might have accumulated at the base of the rose bush. 

 

Thrips will make their presence known by the streaking discoloration of the rose bud. Thrips and other insects can be managed with Spinosad or Bee Safe 3-in-1, an organic product developed to control fungus, mites and insects. Releasing lady bugs into the garden also helps controlled aphids and other insects. Fungicides and insecticides should be applied in the evening, when pollinators are not present, and temperatures are cooler. Roses should be well hydrated prior spraying any pesticide. Roses typically need one to two inches of water per week. The best way to water roses is slowly and deeply, at the base of the plant. Watering overhead encourages disease problems. 

You have a wide choice of liquid and granular rose food, including locally produced Mile High Rose Food or ferti-lome Rose and Flower Food. These organic fertilizers promote healthy soil, strong canes and vigorous blooming. Keeping your roses pruned, fed and hydrated is the best defense against bugs and fungus. Finally, know don’t guess. What looks like a disease problem could be caused by an insect. Bring us a sample of the problem you’re having. We’ll diagnosis it and come up with recommendations to solve your rose and plant issues.   ferti-lome products

Now’s the Time to Plant Hardy Hibiscus

 

If you’re looking to add spectacular color to your summer garden for many seasons to come, plant hardy hibiscus. Blooming from mid-summer to first frost, Hibiscus moschetto's or hardy hibiscus are tough, resilient perennials that can take our winters and come back strong. Also called rose mallow, these cold-hardy woody-based perennials were developed from native plants and are hardy down to Zone 5. Hardy hibiscus is a fairly easy to grow perennial. They like their place in the sun, so select a site in the garden where they'll get as much sun as possible. They can be grown in partial shade, such as an East-facing location, but the flower production may not be as great. 

Once established, hardy hibiscus can easy grow 6' high and 6' across so keep this in mind when you're choosing a planting spot. There are dwarf varieties of hardy hibiscus that only get about 3' tall and 3' wide, if you don't have room for a full-sized plant. Hardy hibiscus like well drained soils, so prepare the planting site by adding organic soil amendments that include compost and peat moss to your existing soil at the rate of about 50:50. Add some Root Stimulator to the planting hole to ensure good root production. Planted now, you should get flowers yet this season. Hardy hibiscus flowers only last a day, but the flower production will go on all season, right up to first frost. In our area, the canes will die back after the first hard frost. Once this happens, cut the canes to the ground. Around Thanksgiving, apply a two-to-three-inch layer of mulch. This will help keep the ground stable and retain moisture. Water the root ball occasionally during the winter. Hardy hibiscus plants are among the last to emerge in the spring, so give them plenty of time. Too often, people think the plant has died over the winter when in fact it's still alive, just dormant and slow to make an appearance. 

‘Dark Mystery’ 

‘Candy Crush’ 

'Evening Rose'

Planting hardy hibiscus will add unique color to your garden landscape for many seasons to come. Please note that hardy hibiscus differs from tropical hibiscus. Flowers and foliage are similar in appearance, but tropical hibiscus will not survive our winters. They must be grown indoors when the weather turns cold.  Shop for hardy hibiscus in our Perennials Section. 

 

 

 

Now’s The Time to Feed your Tomatoes

 

When it comes to getting the best from your vegetable garden, it’s important to understand the role fertilizers play in achieving optimal yields. Not all vegetables require supplemental fertilization. Light feeders such as beans, peas, carrots and radishes will do very well growing in soil that’s been amended with high-grade compost. Tomatoes and peppers are heavy-feeders, meaning they require a steady supply of organic food in order to produce their best yields. This is especially true at this point in the season, when they’re flowering, setting fruit and trying to cope with summer’s high temperatures. There are a number of good vegetable garden fertilizers available, both organic and non-organic, so the choices may seem complicated. 

Let’s start with the basics. Liquid or granular, every fertilizer will list the three major ingredients on the front of the container in this order: Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potash. The first number on the label is always Nitrogen. Nitrogen promotes plant growth. The second number is Phosphate. Phosphate plays a key role in growing strong roots as well as promoting fruit set and production. The third number is Potassium. Potassium is important to overall plant development. A good organic tomato and pepper fertilizer would typically contain numbers such as 4-9-3, 2-5-3 or 2-4-2. 

The number represents the percentage of each major component in the package. Note,  in each case the middle number is the highest, putting an emphasis on fruit production rather than plant growth. Good organic fertilizers will also contain elements such as Mycorrhizae and Bacillus designed to improve the soil microbiome, as well as enhance nutrient uptake. The presence of an OMRI seal on the package is your assurance the product has been certified organic according to the Organic Material Review Board. Fertilizers are most effective when plants can absorb them through the roots.  There are fertilizers that can be sprayed on, but for lasting results, tomatoes and peppers do best when taking up nutrients from their roots. Granular fertilizers are applied around the base of the plant at the rate of two to three cups per ten square feet. Liquid fertilizers are mixed and used to water at the base of the plant, being careful to avoid getting the foliage wet. Beyond basic ingredients, fertilizer effectiveness is determined by a number of factors, including soil structure, pH and fertility. If you have questions, stop in and let’s have a conversation about which fertilizer is best for your garden.  

Growing Hardy Lavender in Colorado

Recognized for its contribution to a variety of culinary and medicinal applications, hardy Lavender is also an outstanding addition to your garden, providing color and fragrance to the landscape as well as providing support for pollinators. There are two types of hardy lavender that do well here: English and French hybrid. English lavender - Lavandula angustifolia, includes Munstead, Phenomenal and Hidcote varieties. French hybrids include Grosso and Provence. 

 

'Hidcote Superior’ is a compact English Lavender that grows only 18-24 inches tall, with highly fragrant, deep purple-blue flowers. An excellent choice for both fresh and dried bouquets, 'Hidcote Superior' attracts pollinators and is rabbit and deer resistant. 

'Phenomenal’ is a hybrid of English Lavender and Portuguese lavender. This variety is cold hardy and tends to stay in bloom longer. 'Phenomenal' is a taller variety, typically growing to 30” tall. ‘Provence’ is also a good choice, if you're looking for taller varieties, often growing to three feet tall with mauve-purple flowers.  

 

'Munstead' is an English Lavender that has fragrant, cool lavender-blue spikes and gray-green, mounded foliage. Can be planted with other perennials as long as you give them adequate space.  

 

Another long-blooming variety, 'Grosso' Lavender is very showy, with large and spiky dark purple blooms set against silver foliage and purple bracts, adding to its colorful presence in the garden. Sometimes referred to as “the lavender of Lavenders". 

Hardy lavender can be planted now and through the fall. Hardy lavenders do best when located where they will receive full sun and in soil that drains well. When planting hardy lavender, soil preparation should include the addition of coarse organic material to the planting site. Earth Essentials Top Soil is a good selection to add to your existing soil because it contains compost and bark fines. Mix Earth Essentials Top Soil at a 50:50 ratio with the existing soil. We do not recommend adding rock or sand to our typical clay soils. Once the planting site is ready, apply Root Stimulator at the rate of three and a half tablespoons per gallon of water. Root Stimulator should be applied again, one month after planting.  Once established, pruning helps to extend the life of the plant by promoting growth, branching, and blooming.  Because lavender blooms on new stems, pruning should take place when green leaves start to emerge from the base of the plant in the spring. Remove approximately one third of the top. Pruning keeps the plant from splitting open and becoming too woody. As a rule, hardy lavender does not require fertilization. Use this colorful, aromatic perennial in your herb garden or in a perennial bed to provide interest and support pollinators as well as harvest fresh lavender whenever you choose.