Planting
Bedding plants/annuals are now available to replace any cool-season annuals that are just about done. Zinnia, ageratum, coleus, dahlia, marigold, nicotiana, phlox, petunia, salvia and many more have brightened up our garden center. Let them brighten up your gardens. Also, try some taller annuals such as cosmos, cleome, larkspur, delphiniums, and foxgloves to add height and interest to the garden beds.

Roses, Roses, Roses. There's still time to plant roses. They are full of buds and blooms right now--and they are simply gorgeous

If you are a beneficial insect lover, flat-topped flowers like Shasta daisies, scabiosa, strawflowers, and yarrow are perfect additions to your garden for feeding them. Beneficial insects such as the almost microscopic parasitic wasps, ladybugs, etc., keep other insect pests away from your vegetable gardens by eating aphids, scale, and other annoying insect intruders! You can use beautiful flowers to tempt these garden friends into your garden. Try putting some of these flowers near to your rose garden for aphid control! We also have beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, praying mantis, and beneficial nematodes, to help get you started.

The narcissus and daffodils are blooming, as well as other spring blooming bulbs. However, as soon as the blooms are spent, you can deadhead--but don't remove the foliage! The bulb needs that green foliage to add nutrients back to the bulb for next year's flowers. Hide the clippers for a little while longer. Try the old-fashioned technique of braiding the leaves or if you must cut...leave at least half of the leaf length for the bulb. It will thank you with next year's bloom!

Also, you may see some chlorosis on your acid-loving plants like the azalea or camellia and also on your citrus. This yellowing of the leaves between the veins is a sign of iron deficiency for the plant.

Especially near the coast, this is the time we begin to see powdery mildew on our rose foliage (and other plants too). There are several different foliar fungicidal sprays to try.

Aphids will be back. Remember that you can first wash them off with water. Really, it does help. For more severe infestations, ask us to recommend something suitable for your particular plants.

Mulch, Mulch Mulch!
We will always tell you to mulch. This does not mean mound up the mulch to 5 feet. It means continue to replenish the mulch and maintain a 1-2 inch blanket over your soil. So when you hear us singing the MULCH song, you know just what we mean!

Imagine yourself on a Hawaiian beach on a sultry evening, your eyes closed, the air redolent of the heady perfume of gardenia, tuberose, white ginger, frangipani, lemon and orange blossoms, and jasmine. The ocean surf rolls in waves in the background, and when your eyelids open ever so slightly, the white shaft of the moon bounces off of the whitecaps of the water, shattering into crystals far more rich than any grouping of singular color you can conceptualize.

Now picture yourself under a full moon, sitting on your own deck or patio, your day's work over, and this time owed to no one save yourself. If you've thought ahead, you will still be able to enjoy the sensual delights of the expensive Hawaiian vacation by having planted the fragrant white gardenia, and placing a small fountain in the corner. Voilà! Scent, sound, and sight, all satisfied and for a fraction of the price.

Widely used in perfumery, the gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) is a native of the tropics and subtropics of the Old World. In 1754, Captain Hutcheson, skipper of the English ship Godolphin, was bound for home from India when he decided to make a short visit to South Africa. As he was walking along the shoreline, the sweet heavy fragrance of a plant covered with double white, waxy blossoms drew his attention. After it was dug up and taken on board, this amazingly resilient plant survived the harsh trip to England.

Merchant and botanist John Ellis named it gardenia, after Dr. Alexander Garden, a physician and botanist from Charleston, South Carolina. Apparently this was a common way for practitioners of this relatively nascent science (modern botany was begun in the late 15th to early 16th centuries) to honor each other, thus making way for a communal worldwide informational database.

Southern gardeners have for generations employed these versatile plants. With a large show of blooms in early spring, they continue to produce flowers throughout the summer and even into fall; the blossoms open white and gradually fade to gold. Used as specimen shrubs, planted en masse as hedges, used for screening, in borders, as ground covers, or grown in containers, gardenias' beauty is matched by their extraordinary perfume.

By planting them in pots, you can move them so that their fragrance is always available to you. One caveat: gardenias prefer warm, frost-free locations that are protected from the hot afternoon sun; the ideal site is one that offers morning sun and dappled shade in the afternoon. So when moving your containerized gardenia, keep its light preferences in mind. And remember to use a high-quality potting mix that contains water crystals and a slow-release fertilizer.

To repay these marvelous plants for the beauty and scent they give in return, plant them in soil with excellent drainage and a pH of around 6.0. Set the root-ball about 1 inch higher than the surrounding soil (this will help in ensuring adequate drainage) and then gently taper the soil up to the top of the exposed root-ball. Mulch to retain moisture, and treat them to monthly feedings of a fertilizer blended for acid-loving plants such as azaleas and camellias.

If the idea of an evening party with a tropical theme appeals to you, surround your gardenias with variegated hostas and fern fronds. Light from below, turn on the fountain, and pluck one perfect gardenia bloom to wear in your hair. It will be a party to be remembered for years to come.

When most people think of annuals they think about upright varieties for borders and containers. But when planning your annual garden, think about more than just upright plants. There are a number of wonderful trailing varieties that are perfect for providing a splash of color between shrubs, on a hillside or cascading over a rock wall or trailing from a hanging basket.

For a hillside, it's hard to beat trailing lantana, with its showy purple and white blooms. A happy plant can reach 3-4 ft across in diameter. If you are looking for a slightly flatter foliage that hugs the ground, consider the mauve-flowering scaevola.

It's easy to perk up your landscape by planting patches of million bells (callibrachoa) in spaces between larger shrubs. This colorful annual comes in a variety of bright hot colors including red, yellow, apricot, white, pink, fuchsia, blue, and violet. Another alternative would be verbena, which is available in many colors, flower sizes and flat or mounding foliage. These plants also look great flowing over rock walls or pool edges.

For large splashes of color in the landscape, use petunias or ivy geranium. Both grow incredibly fast and come in every color under the sun. You can dress up the edges of a boring-looking vegetable garden with nasturtium, whose orange, red and yellow flowers are also edible.

All of the above mentioned plants perform well in hanging baskets but there are a few plants that make great partners with them and are particularly suited for container planting. To add some texture and unique foliage color to your hanging baskets consider using silver dichondra, licorice plant (helichrysum) or parrot's beak (Lotus maculatus). All have silvery grey foliage that provides a great contrast to other plants.

While most plants in hanging baskets perform better with a little shade from the afternoon sun, one annual is particularly suited for slightly shadier confines. Use trailing lobelia, which comes in many shades of blue, rose and white. Its cheerful little blossoms are perfect for any container.

If you are lucky enough to have a potted Easter lily, you may wish to extend your enjoyment of its lovely blooms.

As the flowers mature, remove the yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. This gives longer flower life and prevents the pollen from staining the white flowers. When a mature flower starts to wither after its prime, cut it off to make the plant more attractive while you still enjoy the fresher, newly-opened blooms.

The lily will thrive near a window in bright, indirect natural daylight, but avoid glaring, direct sunlight.

Easter lilies prefer moderately moist, well-drained soil. Water the plant thoroughly when the soil surface feels dry to a light touch, but avoid over-watering. If the pot is wrapped in decorative foil, be careful not to let the plant sit in trapped, standing water. For best results, remove the plant from decorative pots or covers, take it over the sink and water thoroughly until water seeps out of the pot's drain holes to completely saturate the soil. Allow the plant to air for a few minutes and discard the excess water before replacing it in its decorative pot cover.

If you'd like to plant your Easter lilies outside, prepare a well-drained garden bed in a sunny location with rich, organic matter.

Plant Easter lily bulbs 3 inches below ground level, and mound up an additional 3 inches of topsoil over the bulb. This creates a slightly raised bed (with soil a few inches higher than the level around it) that will help with drainage and soil aeration. Plant at least 12 to 18 inches apart in a hole sufficiently wide so that the bulbs can be placed in it with the roots spread out and down, as they naturally grow. Spread the roots and work the prepared soil in around the bulbs and the roots, leaving no air pockets. Water in immediately and thoroughly after planting. Try not to allow the soil to heave or shift after planting.

As the original plants begin to die back, cut the stems back to the soil surface. New growth will soon emerge. Easter lilies, forced to bloom under controlled greenhouse conditions in March, bloom naturally in the summer. You may be rewarded with a second bloom later this summer, but most likely you will have to wait until next June or July to see them bloom again.

Another planting tip to consider is that lilies like their roots in shade and their heads in the sun. Mulching helps conserve moisture in between waterings, keeps the soil cool and loose, and provides a fluffy, nutritious medium for the stem roots. For a more attractive alternative, plant a "living mulch," or a low ground cover of shallow-rooted, complementary annuals or perennials. The stately Easter lilies rising above lacy violas or primulas are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also sound gardening.

Answer:

Double digging is an old garden technique of amending the soil in a flower or vegetable garden that is still as effective today as it was back in medieval Europe.

But be forewarned, double digging is a lot of work. In fact, just thinking about it makes us break out in a sweat. The term comes from "double the depth" of a normal spade or shovel blade--hence double-digging. You will also be adding one third of the depth of your spade or shovel in soil amendment to the entire garden you are digging in.

To get started, dig out the topsoil to the depth of your spade or shovel in a trench one spade wide along one end of your bed and set aside in a wheelbarrow or on a tarp.

Turn, break and aerate the next spade depth and width. Work in one third by volume of soil amendment. Blend together with turned-over soil and fill in the first trench.

Now repeat the process with another trench. Blend that soil with more soil amendment, and transfer to the previous trench. At the end of the bed, place the topsoil from the wheelbarrow or tarp over the last section, add amendment, and mix it in.

Make sure to remove any rocks or old pieces of roots as you fill in each trench.

Now--if you haven't collapsed yet--go ahead and plant your flowers. Better yet, plant a new crop of veggies. You'll need the vitamins to help you recover from the exhaustion! More seriously--if you have poor soil, double-digging is one of the most effective ways to improve the soil to a good depth, one that will allow your plant roots plenty of room to grow. Rototilling and such can help too but it doesn't improve much but the top layer of soil. Double-digging may be labor-intensive, but it works.

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